Weekend junior B roundup: Aboflan a nice fit in Pelham
Noah Aboflan is no stranger to travel, having suited up for seven teams since the 2019/20 season in a variety of leagues in northern Ontario.
The 18-year-old Elliot Lake native Aboflan joined the Pelham Panthers in early January and is hoping he has finally found a home.
“My advisor had good connections with Zac (Pelham coach Zac Rinaldo) and thought it was best for me and I thought it was a great fit too,” Aboflan said.
Aboflan had no problems packing up and moving south.
I’ve been doing it since I was 15 in Sault Ste. Marie,” he said. “It’s a little father than that so I didn’t find it too hard.
“I just think it’s the best thing for my next step in me growing as a player and as a person. I’ve already learned so much and I keep learning every day.”
Aboflan quickly made his presence felt with the Panthers, scoring in his first game and has proven to be a solid addition with three goals and eight points through seven games.
“It meant everything to me (to get off to a quick start) and I just want to keep getting better and keep proving my point to everyone,” he said.
Aboflan joined the Panthers from the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
“I find this league more skilled; there are better players,” he said. “I enjoy playing here better.”
Rinaldo loves what Aboflan brings to the table.
“I like his mindset,” Rinaldo said. “He’s a very determined, very passionate kid about the game. When he gets his feet going he has very strong, powerful, fast strides and at the same time he can slow himself down to create space and inside of that space he is very gifted with his hands and his vision.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement still so I’m very excited to tap into that Pandora’s box we still need to unlock.”
Rinaldo loves that aspect of coaching.
“If I can polish that player up, those small details go such a long way. That’s what I’m in it for. I’m in it for the passion of the game and the development of the young players,” he said. “The player has to do the work. For the most part Noah has done a really good job of buying into what I’m trying to teach him. We just have to keep growing his game and growing him as a person.”
The Panthers dropped a pair of games over the weekend, 6-3 at Strathroy Saturday and 5-3 to St. Mary’s Sunday afternoon at home.
Liam Wicks had two goals, one on the power play and the other shorthanded, versus St. Mary’s while Max Schaubel also scored.
Aiden Thomson made 30 saves for the Panthers.
Wicks, Aiden Cupelli and Brendan Grenville scored in the loss at Strathroy.
The Panthers, who have lost three straight, sit in sixth place with a 13-26-1-1 mark, one point behind Welland.
“We got outworked (in Strathroy),” Rinaldo said. “I took pride in hard work when I was a player so I was very disappointed in the work ethic and the urgency. We capitalized on our chances but they wanted it more and the game slipped away through our fingers because of our work ethic.”
Rinaldo said Sunday’s game produced a better, albeit uneven, effort.
“I thought we played a strong game, a great first period. I thought we let the second period slip away and then we had a great third period. Unfortunately, we only played 40 minutes of hockey when there should be 60 minutes of play.”
Meteors 7 Bombers 3
Seven players hit the scoresheet as the Fort Erie Meteors defeated the Caledon Bombers at the Leisureplex.
Caleb Bidgood, Baedden Pollett, Zach Mizzi, Georgy Toroptev, Liam Beamish, Cameron Thorpe and Kyle Adamo all scored while Rylan Masterson collected three assists.
Falcons 5 Bandits 3
Grayson Gare scored twice as the visiting St. Catharines Falcons topped the Brantford Bandits.
Luke Gualtieri, Tyler Hunt and Brenden Anderson added singles.
Hayden Jeffery made 33 saves for the win.
Junior Canadians 3 Stars 2 OT
Noah Garthe scored just 35 seconds into overtime as the Welland Junior Canadians edged the visiting St. Thomas Stars Sunday.
Jack Ryan and Cooper Reid also scored for Welland, which have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games to climb out of the basement.
Ben Rossi kicked out 29 shots for the win in goal.
The Junior Canadians also dropped a 2-1 overtime decision at Komoka Saturday night.
Braden Carruthers scored the lone Welland goal.
Andrew Welch made 43 saves in a losing effort.
Corvairs 4 Warriors 0
Keegan Jackson made 23 saves for the shutout as the Caledonia Corvairs blanked the Stratford Warriors.
Sami Douglas, Markus Dempewolf, Tyler Savard and Noah Baltzer scored.
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
Welland at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Port Colborne at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Pelham at Fort Erie, 3:30 p.m.
St. Catharines at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
Hamilton at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Fort Erie at Welland, 1:30 p.m.
STANDINGS
1. Caledonia 30-7-1-1-62
2. St. Catharines 29-10-1-1-60
3. Fort Erie 29-9-1-0-59
4. Hamilton 19-19-4-0-42
5. Welland 13-26-3-0-29
6. Pelham 13-26-1-1-28
7. Port Colborne 10-25-4-1-25
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