Panthers edge Falcons to win title
The host Pelham Panthers proved to be inhospitable hosts, defeating the St. Catharines Falcons 3-2 in the championship final at the Doug Burr Memorial Tournament Sunday afternoon at the Meridian Community Centre in Pelham.
Pelham owner Tim Toffolo was thrilled to see his charges come away with the championship, but perhaps even more excited simply to see the return of hockey after last season’s Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.
“It was unreal,” Toffolo said. “It was great to see 10 teams here and all the people and the fans in the building, and everybody really excited and happy to see their kids back playing hockey.
“I think it was great for the mental health for everybody here. I want to thank all the teams for coming and all the fans. It’s great for the town.”
Falcons coach Tyler Bielby agreed.
“It was definitely a loss of words, to be honest,” Bielby said. “Just to see how much the boys are feeding off it. It’s really a bunch of strangers in that dressing room, but it’s like they have been together for months and months the way they handled it.
“There was a lot of passion and a lot of excitement to be back on the ice.”
Pelham coach Chris Lukey was gratified to see his team come together so quickly.
“I’m extremely proud,” Lukey said. “Being a new coach of the team, they seemed to have jelled really fast so far. We’ve only had a week of practices and we didn’t go over a whole lot. We have a lot of kids who are still trying out and we started to find some chemistry between some of the players and it came together.”
The Panthers topped Caledon 2 2-0 Sunday morning in one semifinal before the Falcons edged Caledon 1 3-2 in overtime in the other semifinal.
The Falcons then had only about 40 minutes to prepare for the final.
“We talked to the boys about working a little smarter, rather than harder,” Bielby said. “The mental fatigue starts to set in, that’s where I was asking them to make smart plays and keep their heads up so they weren’t putting themselves into positions to get hurt.
“The third period was the best period for them so that speaks to the character in that room.”
Bielby said he stuck with mostly a young lineup through the tournament.
“We were dedicated to play young guys and prospects this weekend and give them a chance,” he said. “They were the ones who had the success all weekend and brought that energy.”
The Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two on goals by Jordan Tutt, Cody Miskolczi and Luca Marandola.
The Falcons rallied with a pair of goals in the third by Aiden James-Cupelli, and also had a handful of good chances to tie the game.
Pelham goaltender Brayden Kelso came up big after securing a shutout earlier in the day.
“It’s hard to explain,” Kelso said when asked was like to be back in action. “We haven’t done this in so long. It’s been a year off. The emotion was great.”
Lukey tipped his cap to the veteran netminder from Erin.
“He stood on his head for us this morning and he’s really calm, cool and collected back there for us,” Lukey said. “On the back end, he’s our leader and he really hold things together for us.
“It really helps having a mature goalie who’s played on the team before.”
FRIDAY
Caledon 3 Avalanche 2
Caledon: Elias Najem 2; Noah Crispo.
Hamilton Avalanche: Jake Proulx, Tristan Huinink.
Bombers 6 Corvairs 4
Caledon Bombers: Erik Thomen 2; Ivan Mikuljan, Jonathan Calleja, Wyatt Kerr, Peter Lopes.
Caledonia Corvairs: Ethan Doyle, Terry Bridgeland, Alex Brown, Kessler Skye.
Hawks 3 Meteors 3
Fort Erie Meteors: Antonio Pugliese 2; Landen Ward.
Thorold Blackhawks: Joey Furlano, Owin Hendsbee, Harris Goan.
Falcons 2 Canucks 2
St. Catharines Falcons: Owen Simpson, Mitchell Armstrong.
Niagara Falls Canucks: Matthew Riva, Noah Patrick.
SATURDAY
Caledon 4 Hawks 1
Caledon: Tyler Bortkiewicz 2; Cameron Shepheard, Remy DalBen.
Thorold Blackhawks: Liam Loftus.
Falcons 5 Navigators 0
St. Catharines Falcons: Jordan Schanbacher 2; Lucas Staresinic 2; Matthew Stranges. Shutout by Josh Johnson.
Hamilton Freight Navigators: No scoring.
Avs 3 Corvairs 1
Hamilton Avalanche: Chris Dirracolo, Brendan Cattrysse, Braden Carruthers.
Caledonia Corvairs: Ty Boone.
Panthers 4 Meteors 2
Pelham Panthers: Jonah Devereaux 2; Jordan Tutt, Tyler Toomey.
Fort Erie Meteors: Thomas Gualtieri, Jacob Sapienza.
Bombers 5 Canucks 5
Caledon Bombers: Roenick Jakielaszek 2; Peter Lopes, Andrew Reynolds, Nathan Bucca.
Niagara Falls Canucks: Kyle Cupolo, Matthew Riva, Jake McKinstray, Wade Bolton, Liam Mahoney.
Navigators 2 Hawks 1
Hamilton Freight Navigators: Nick Evangelo, Tate Proulx.
Thorold Blackhawks: Jack Sykes.
Panthers 4 Caledon 2
Pelham Panthers: Devon Sanders 4.
Caledon: Remy DalBen, Brady Hunter.
Corvairs 3 Meteors 3
Caledonia Corvairs: Nick Cutaia 2; Terry Bridgeland.
Fort Erie Meteors: Mike Angrilli, Gianlui Amato, Cameron Thorpe.
Canucks 2 Avs 2
Niagara Falls Canucks: Sam Ostafin, Zach Mambella.
Hamilton Avalanche: Lucas Romeo, Tristan Huinink.
SUNDAY
Panthers 2 Caledon 0
Pelham Panthers: Devon Sanders, Jonah Devereaux. Shutout by Brayden Kelso.
Caledon: No scoring.
Falcons 3 Caledon 2 OT
St. Catharines Falcons: Owen Simpson, Matthew Stranges, Jordan Schanbacher.
Caledon: Tyler Bortkiwicz 2.
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