Meteors ready for Corvairs; BPSN analysts predict outcome
Less than 24 hours after a historic win over the St. Catharines Falcons, the Fort Erie Meteors got back to work.
The Meteors hit the ice Tuesday afternoon in preparation for their upcoming battle with the Caledonia Corvairs for the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference championship.
Game 1 is Wednesday in Caledonia at 7:30 p.m. with Game 2 in Fort Erie Saturday at 7 p.m.
It is the first time the Mets have advanced to the league finals since the 1990/91 season when they lost to Welland. Fort Erie has never won a GOJHL or Golden Horseshoe title. They did win a Niagara District Hockey League championship in 1979, the final season of the league before it was renamed the Golden Horseshoe Hockey League.
“It will be a slower day today and a lot of communication and knowing what we have to do tomorrow,” Fort Erie general manager/coach Nik Passero said. “We should have our legs about us. I expect guys are going to be sore but we have to push through that and be ready for tomorrow.”
The regular season champion Corvairs took the season series 4-3 but the Meteors won the last two matchups.
“I think in the last two we really clamped down defensively and found a structure that irritated them both home and away,” Passero said. “We stuck to the game plan both nights and it was a time where we were struggling to find an identity at the end. Guys were in and out of the lineup and those were two big games we won going into playoffs that set us on fire.”
The Corvairs, like the Falcons, feature a deep, talented offensive lineup.
The Meteors, meanwhile, focused their attention on defence all season.
“The good thing about us is we don’t have to change the game plan much from this past series,” Passero said. “There’s not much better firepower than (Tyler) Hunt, (Caleb) Thompson and (Brenden) Anderson so I think we did a pretty good job against those three.
“We have to go into this battle with (Jayden) Lammel, (Steve) LaForme and (Markus) Dempewolf and we have to be ready for those three and be sure we know when they’re on the ice. We have to be prepared for how deep their attack is but I think we have the defence and the goaltending capabilities to make it really tough for them.”
Passero feels the Meteors work ethic could play a big role in the series.
“Every play matters and the good thing about our group is our identity is just hard work,” he said. “We don’t stray away from that too often. We’re on Game 60 now and I don’t think we’ve had more than two or three nights when we didn’t work hard. Our top guys, that’s their identity. When they’re going and working hard, the whole team follows.”
Passero doesn’t seem worried the Meteors are in rarified air, playing for their first title in decades.
“I just think the group — it’s a positive — they’re naive. They just want to win. That’s all they care about. It really showed after Saturday night’s loss at home. They were disappointed, not in their effort, but it the result and they came back Monday ready to go so I don’t think that will be a problem,” he said. “It’s new for us and it’s exciting. I’m leaning on a lot of people in hockey to get us through this time. There is a huge buzz around this town for us and in the entire region. I think a lot of people wanted us to win the last round and I think it’s going to carry on into this one.”
To help predict the outcome of the series, BPSN granted anonymity to a pair of people associated with the Golden Horseshoe for their assessment of the series.
Analyst 1
“In my personal opinion I would say Caledonia will come out on top because they had the rest in the first round which was huge and only played five games in the second round so they’re probably not banged up. The way Caledonia plays, they have these high-end players who are big, not overly physical, but they are big, fast dudes and they play the game care-free. They aren’t really worried about making mistakes, they aren’t worried about the system side of things, they are just waiting and reacting and that’s a hard team to beat. When it comes to Fort Erie, if they can buy into their own systems and by physical and wear them down and slow them up with their speed and do their video and dissect into detail everything they’re doing, especially on the special teams, that will go a long way and they might pull out a game or two.”
Analyst 2
“I think Caledonia has a bit of an older team and that being said, Fort Erie has a lot of energy and are playing the game the right way with a lot of pace which will put Caledonia most likely back on their heels. It’s two great teams who are hungry to win. It’s going to come down to discipline and who makes less mistakes and goaltending will be big as well.”
BPSN predicts: Caledonia in 6.
Game 1
Wednesday, April 3 at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2
Saturday, April 6 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
Game 3
Sunday, April 7 at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m
Game 4
Wednesday, April 10 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
*Game 5
Thursday, April 11 at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 6
Saturday, April 13 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
*Game 7
Monday, April 15 at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
*if necessary.
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