Falcons rebound for important win
Scoring goals has never been an issue for Chris Reid.
The 16-year-old Niagara Falls native grew up as a defenceman, but as soon as he was moved to forward in minor hockey, the speedy centre found his niche filling the net for the Southern Tier Admirals.
Reid has continued to put the puck in the net at the junior level with the St. Catharines Falcons, where he has collected six goals and 14 points in 16 games.
Reid netted a breakaway goal Friday as the Falcons held off the Caledonia Corvairs 4-2 in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
“I feel really awesome,” Reid said when asked about the jump to junior B. “Coming in here and not knowing what to expect and playing with a bunch of older guys — I’ve played with my own age my whole life — now coming in here these guys respect me and I respect them.
“They treat my like family so this is my new family.”
Reid’s speed and ability to find open spaces have helped him in his transition.
“Goalies now are bigger and stronger,” he said. “They’re bigger than the net so you really can’t find those chances but I find my ways. I feel it’s carried over from my minor days.
“I’m just glad I’m getting these goals for the team so we can get some points and some wins.”
Falcons coach Tyler Bielby took quick note of Reid’s nose for the net.
“There’s nothing he loves to do more than score goals,” Bielby said. “I haven’t seen too many young guys find ways to get that many breakaways.”
Bielby said the next step is for Reid to round out his game.
“We’re going to work with him and continue to challenge him,” Bielby said. “It’s not easy to have that natural ability to put pucks away and if he wants to move on and get better, we’re going to continue to challenge him off the puck and playing at full speed all the time.
“They get away with it (in minor hockey) but they learn that time and space goes away a little quicker here. It’s about him absorbing it and wanting to take it constructively.”
Reid said he is willing to work on his overall game.
“I think it’s very important,” said Reid, a student at Saint Paul Catholic High School. “Defence always wins hockey games. The offence is a bonus that comes with it. Defence is the first thing you have to think of.”
Reid’s goal 15 minutes into the second gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead. The Corvairs quickly answered back and trailed 2-1 after two. The teams exchanged goals in the third as the Falcons held on — they only registered one shot in the final 20 minutes — for an important win coming off a tough shootout loss to Niagara Falls earlier in the week.
“I thought in the first period in particular we were in really good spots and they weren’t able to get any sort of pressure going,” Bielby said. “It was one of those games that was strange. We had some good scoring chances where we could have built out the lead a little more but we learned how to protect the lead tonight after not being able to do that.”
The Falcons blew a 4-0 in the loss to Niagara Falls but Bielby said the players were able to move on quickly.
“I think players have a little better short-term memory than us coaches,” Bielby said. “They have an easier job of letting it go where we as coaches can’t stop thinking about it.
“The next morning we got back to practice. We had a good team meeting before practice and talked about letting it go and making sure we worked hard in practice.”
The Falcons improved to 13-3-0-2 while the Corvairs fell to 8-6-2-1.
Falcon facts: Blake Hudson and Mitch Armstrong did not play for the Falcons . . . Forward Michael Santini has been dealt to the Fort Erie Meteors . . . The Falcons this week signed Laval native and defenceman Olivier Desrochers. The 20-year-old is a Brock commit who recently played for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior League . . . The Falcons announced they will play at Jack Gatecliff Arena for the remainder of the season before moving to the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex for the 2022/23 season. The original plan had the Falcons moving in early 2022 . . . The Fort Erie Meteors topped the Niagara Falls Canucks 5-2 in the other Golden Horseshoe game Friday.
STATS PACK
Falcons forward Chris Reid with his sixth goal of the season.
Falcons 4 Corvairs 2
For the St. Catharines Falcons: Reid (6); Jagger North (7); Jonah Boria (5); Nate Robertson (5).
For the Caledonia Corvairs: Jacob Macdonald (3); Mitchell Ferras (2).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Ethan Langevin (21), by Caledonia on Andrew MacLean (29); Power plays: St. Catharines 1-for-2, Caledonia 0-for-3; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 4, Caledonia 6.
Attendance: 303.
Up next: The Falcons are in Welland Sunday and home to the Thorold Blackhawks next Friday.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 3,700 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
