Adamo powers Mets past Corvairs
A big night by Danny Adamo Tuesday at the Leisureplex helped the Fort Erie Meteors take a 3-0 stranglehold over the Caledonia Corvairs in their Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, best-of-seven conference semifinal playoff series.
The 17-year-old Fort Erie native, who now lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, scored the first two playoff goals of his junior hockey career to power the Mets to a 5-2 win over the visiting Corvairs.
After managing just a single assist in six games versus the Cambridge Redhawks in Round 1, the Grade 11 student at A.N. Myer now has two goals and four points in three games versus Caledonia.
“It was awesome. That first goal was a pretty decent shot, I think. The guy slid out and I took a step and shot it.”
The. 5-foot-8, 150-pound forward has been happy with the way he has been playing but was thrilled to finally get rewarded on the scoresheet.
“It feels really nice. Sometimes I wouldn’t be playing good and I would get points handed to me but now I am playing probably the best hockey I have played all year. The goals are not really coming but tonight that changed.”
The former Niagara North Stars U16 AAA player believes his improved play is because of the time of year.
“It’s a playoff mentality. With the fans and everything, it is way more intense and it gets you into that mindset.”
Adamo had 10 goals and 33 points in 49 regular season games with the Meteors while learning to be a more complete player.
“This year is the most I have ever developed with Nik and Anthony (Passero) telling me about the 200-foot game. Before this year, I was really just cheating for offence but now they have made me into a more complete player and it’s just going to pay off in the long run.”
He agrees it was a difficult transition.
“It is really hard to break natural habits, especially when the coaches are down your throat.”
His first full year of junior hockey hasn’t been easy.
“It was difficult because junior hockey and minor hockey are a lot different, especially as an under-sized player. It’s a lot tougher out there and it requires being more disciplined. I wasn’t disciplined and now I am a little bit more.”
He knows he is a far from a finished product on the ice.
“The main thing is that I can’t control my growth but I can definitely eat and get stronger and faster.”
He is having a blast playing junior hockey in the town he grew up in.
“It’s amazing. I see all the people in the stands that I used to see all the time in school and everything. It gives a different meaning to hockey.”
Head coach Nik Passero feels Adamo has been good all playoffs.
“He is a kid who we were really hard on all year, making him play the right way. In playoffs he has been great player for us,” he said. “He hadn’t found the net but today he did and he deserved it.”
Passero knows it has been a journey for Adamo.
“It has been a long year for him and I think he would tell you that. He learned how to play defence and play the right way. He will always have the gift of offence and it was just learning to play both sides of the puck. Now it has all come together for him.”
Passero was pleased with his team’s performance Tuesday.
“It was solid in all facets. The power play got one, the PK was great again and the goaltending was good. They are not an easy team to play against. They are physical, they are creative and they keep coming. It was a good effort tonight.”
The Meteors have now won five playoff games in a row and are looking more and more like a tough out for any opponent with Sutherland Cup aspirations.
“We’re playing good hockey and defending hard and that’s a big thing in the playoffs. The games we lost we didn’t defend that hard and in the last five we have been really good.”
Passero wants his team to take care of business tomorrow and end the series with Caledonia.
“This is a team you don’t want to play very often. They’re good, they’re physical and they bring the pace. We definitely don’t want to play them seven games. Let’s end it right now.”
STATS PACK
Meteors 5 Corvairs 2
Fort Erie’s Danny Adamo with two goals.
Fort Erie Meteors: Danny Adamo (1, 2); Chris Reid (3); Jack Ryan (3); Tate Donald (3).
Caledonia Corvairs: Joshua Cacciola (2); Ethan Quick (4).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Fort Erie on Josh Branton and Keegan Jackson 47, by Caledonia on John Lloyd 44. Power plays: Fort Erie 1-10, Caledonia 0-9. Penalty minutes: Fort Erie 29, Caledonia 41
Attendance: 1,250.
Up next: Game 4 Wednesday in Caledonia at 7:30 p.m. Game 5 if necessary will be Saturday in Fort Erie at 7 p.m.
