Falcons sick about loss
Tyler Bielby was in no mood to give the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons a pass Friday night.
The Falcons dropped a 7-2 decision to the visiting Chatham Maroons in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League play in St. Catharines on a night where not much went right for the home side.
The Falcons were coming off a tough 2-1 win the night before in Sarnia and are in the midst of a team bug that has several players feeling less than 100 per cent.
But the Falcons president of hockey operations and head coach wasn’t for a minute going to use those factors as an excuse.
“I think a losing mentality will allow us to use that as an excuse,” Bielby said. “Gotta care more than we did tonight. I don’t care if your sick, if you’re tired, I don’t care if you’re up till 1 or 2 in the morning, we gotta care more than that in front of our home fans.”
Bielby was alarmed at the lack of intensity.
“You could still move your feet when you’re not feeling well, you could still compete, you could still win a stick battle,” he said. “I don’t think we won a battle tonight, not one single battle. You’re changing on backchecks at the end of two-minute shifts, leaving our goaltenders out to dry.”
Bielby said a solid work ethic is to be expected at the junior level.
“We have a theme that it’s a prerequisite to work hard to play for this team,” he said. “A 50-goal scorer, a 10-goal scorer, a three-goal scorer. It’s a prerequisite to compete and that’s what bothers me tonight. I can handle when we fight the puck, handle when we’re not putting the puck in the net because we’re gripping the stick too tight, but I just can’t handle not competing.”
Bielby will now turn his attention to Tuesday when the Falcons host the Port Colborne Sailors.
“We lose together — coaches, trainers, equipment managers, players. We lose together tonight, we put this behind us, and we make sure we’re ready to go on Tuesday against Port Colborne at home because our fans deserve a lot more,” he said. “Last time we had a loss we put together five wins so losing is learning in that scenario. We just gotta make sure that’s the same scenario here and we’re ready for Port on Tuesday.”
The Maroons led 2-0 after one and 5-1 after two.
Thursday in Sarnia, Nathan Duplessis (3) and Jordan Marconi (3) scored while Hayden Jeffery made 24 saves.
Falcon facts: Kaleb Lyttleton, Thomas Dimoulas, Matt Fries and Ally Mostafaie were scratched for the Falcons . . . Cole Marontate, Atley Gringorten, Tyler Fleming and Cooper Otterman did not dress for the Maroons . . . In other action Friday, St. Thomas defeated Fort Erie 7-3, St. Marys blanked Pelham 7-0 and Port Colborne doubled Komoka 4-2.
Maroons 7 Falcons 2
Chatham’s Ryan Vannetten with three points.
St. Catharines Falcons: Treyson Dewar (6); Nathan Duplessis (4).
Chatham Maroons: Cameron Graham (5); Liam Campbell (4); Brody Gillis (2); Noah Mathieson (1); Carter Chadwick (1); Cruz Ferguson (1); Ryan Vannetten (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Gannon Hunter (27), by Chatham on Hayden Jeffery/Jacob Ceranic (33); Power plays: St. Catharines 1/5, Chatham 1/5; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 23, Chatham 22.
Attendance: 447.
Up next: The Falcons are back home Tuesday to face the Port Colborne Sailors then head to Brantford Thursday.
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