Falcons firing blanks
The St. Catharines Falcons were blanked for the second straight game and head coach Tyler Bielby didn’t like it one bit.
The third-year coach didn’t mince words when asked about his team’s 2-0 loss to the Hamilton Kilty B’s in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game Friday night at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
The Falcons have scored only two goals in three games this season — they netted a pair in a 2-1 overtime win in Fort Erie last Saturday before being blanked twice this week.
“I think when you want to score goals, the game can’t be cute,” Bielby said. “We have to play north-south, take pucks to the net, and pay a price. You have to take one in the wrists and you have to take one in the ribs.
“Winning is not easy. It comes with a lot of pain and adversity, and I didn’t think for two-and-a-half periods tonight we were willing to go through the pain. Junior hockey is 60 minutes and you’re supposed to have ice packs on yourself by the time the game’s over. There’s not one ice pack in that dressing room right now.”
Falcons captain Joe Colasurdo concurred the Falcons were trying to make highlight reel plays rather than cycle the puck and go to the dirty areas of the ice.
“For sure you have to make that quick, easy play and you have to use everybody on the ice,” he said. “You just have to find the high guy and make the simple play and get pucks to the net. We can’t be trying to stickhandle through everybody. It’s not going to work. You just have to battle.”
The teams played through two scoreless periods until Stephen Campbell finally broke the deadlock when he beat St. Catharines netminder Andrew MacLean just over three minutes into the third.
“I thought for the last eight minutes in the game when we got down, all of a sudden we were willing to get painful,” Bielby said. “As a result, we had some success, but you can’t wait 51-52 minutes to do that.”
Bielby feels the talent is there to be successful, but not without the necessary effort.
“I think what guys have to realize is spending time with a skills coach means nothing if you’re not going to compete, if you’re not going to be a gamer,” he said.
The Falcons are in Pelham Sunday afternoon and now in Caledonia Monday in a game rescheduled from later in the year.
“These guys, they need to show up Sunday for the goaltenders,” Bielby said. “At the same time, there is no panic button so the best part is we have to have short-term memory and showing back up Sunday and filling 60 minutes together like we did the last eight minutes tonight.”
Colasurdo feels the team has shown well in practice.
“It’s actually really frustrating because we come to practice and whatever we work on, we do everything we’re supposed to do, and you know it doesn’t really translate to the game as well as we’re hoping, but you just have to keep banging away and going to the net.
“We just have to find ways to score.We have to bear down.”
It was the final home opener for Falcons at The Jack, which opened in 1938, and is slated to close at the end of 2021.
Falcons facts: St. Catharines mayor Walter Sendzik dropped the puck for the ceremonial opening face off . . . Former Falcon Dylan Abbamont is a member of the Kilty B’s . . . Former Niagara IceDogs head coach and current Barrie Colts bench boss Marty Williamson was in attendance watching his son Sam, a winger with the Falcons.
Canucks 6 Blackhawks 5 OT
Matthew Riva’s fourth goal of the game, 3:11 into overtime, gave the Niagara Falls Canucks a 6-5 win over the visiting Thorold Blackhawks at the Gale Center Friday.
William Mahoney and Ben Felicetti also scored for the winners.
Jack Sykes, Grayson Gare, Rian Meisner, Nathan Kelly and Harris Goan replied for the Hawks.
STATS PACK
Kilty B’s 2 Falcons 0
Young’s Insurance Player of the Game: Falcons goaltender Andrew MacLean with 38 saves.
Hamilton Kilty B’s: Stephen Campbell (1); Sam Shakes (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Gage Stewart (21), by Hamilton on MacLean (39); Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 6, Hamilton 6.
Attendance: 310.
Up next: The Falcons are in Pelham Sunday at 2:45 p.m. and in Caledonia Monday. They are home to the Welland Junior Canadians Friday, Oct. 8.
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