Falcons blank Blackhawks as GOJHL resumes
It didn’t take long for the St. Catharines Falcons and Thorold Blackhawks to get back into the swing of things.
Playing on the first day permitted by new Ontario government lockdown restrictions, the Hawks and Falcons were in mid-season form as the long-time rivals squared off at Thorold Arena in a surprisingly chippy affair.
When the dust settled, the Falcons emerged with a 5-0 victory in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference action.
“It definitely was difficult,” Falcons captain Joe Colasurdo said. “I think a lot of guys were tired after the first period. It was a lot faster than I expected it to be.”
Colasurdo said the physicality was not a surprise.
“I think the way the way the last game we had with them ended, we kind of expected that,” Colasurdo said. “We just wanted to play hard. If they were going to hit us we were fully prepared to hit back, to fight back.”
The Falcons spent 35 minutes in the box, including a pair of 10-minute misconducts, while the Hawks were nabbed for 25 minutes in penalties.
Thorold captain Cooper Lobsinger and Falcons defenceman Olivier Desroches dropped the gloves near the end of the second period that was no doubt fuelled by St. Catharines defenceman Jordan Schanbacher who snowed Thorold goaltender Noah Fortuna seconds earlier.
Tempers also flared between the coaching staffs on the bench.
“Thorold never goes away,” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “They play it tough and make you earn everything you get. We talked about that before the game. They like to play a physical game. You have to keep your head up and I thought they brought that again tonight.”
Both teams met for a morning skate to help shake off the rust — the Falcons last played Jan. 3 while the Blackhawks haven’t skated together since Dec. 20.
“It’s been six weeks and we wanted to get some games out of the way and get playing,” Thorold coach Scott Barnes said. “The only way to get back into game shape is to play games.”
Barnes said the game unfolded pretty much how he expected.
“Taking the score away from it, you could see how tired guys were in the third period,” he said. “We could have practised 10 times but it still wouldn’t have been like a game.”
Bielby was just happy to be get back to some sense of normalcy.
“It was great. We all fed off the energy. There were smiles around the rink and you could tell the boys were glad to be here,” he said.
He, too, knew the first game back wasn’t going to be a masterpiece.
“I challenged them to do the things they could control,” he said. “They can control their work ethic. You fight the puck after a layoff and you have to be sure you are working through those things. I thought, for the most part, we put in that effort but there were still some moments where we have to get a lot better. I would like to see a lot more effort consistently.”
Andrew MacLean made 14 saves for his seventh shutout and lowered his goals-against average to 1.48.
Hawk talk: Roberto Polillo and Ivan Osminin did not dress for the Hawks . . . The Falcons improved to 22-5-0-1 and trail Hamilton by one point for first place . . . The Blackhawks dropped to 7-21.
STATS PACK
Falcons 5 Blackhawks 0
St. Catharines forward Trent Glenney with a short-handed goal on his 21st birthday.
St. Catharines Falcons: Kyle Glenney (13); Blake Yetman (9); Sam Williamson (8); Logan O’Flanagan (6); Trent Glenney (4).
Thorold Blackhawks: No scoring.
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Thorold on Andrew MacLean (14), by St. Catharines on Noah Fortuna (35); Power plays: St. Catharines 1-for-5, Thorold 0-for-5; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 35, Thorold 25.
Up next: The Blackhawks are at Hamilton Friday. The Falcons host Welland Friday.
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