New Falcon stars in debut
Dylan Pergentile didn’t take long to make his presence felt with St. Catharines Falcons.
Acquired earlier in the day from the Port Colborne Sailors in a multi-player swap, the 20-year-old forward collected a goal and an assist in his debut as the Falcons defeated the Pelham Panthers 7-1 in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action Friday night in St. Catharines.
“It feels great,” Pergentile said. “Everyone here, they’re all talented players so that makes it easier for me to get some points. They have a good system and a good coaching staff so it feels good to get a game in before the break.
“I’m excited to be a Falcon.”
Pergentile was added along with Grayson Gare and Nathan Kelly for a player development fee from the Sailors. Gare picked up an assist Friday while Kelly was sitting out a one-game suspension.
“It’s awesome to go with Gare and Kelly and hopefully make this team better,” Pergentile said. “I’ve known Kelly since I was 12, we played minor hockey together, and I don’t think I’ve logged more minutes than anyone but Gare in my time with the Sailors and Thorold.
“Those guys are not only great hockey players, but great people.”
Pergentile, who had 15 goals and nine assists with Port this season, admitted to some mixed emotions.
“It’s always tough. You play 125 games with that organization and I have nothing but respect for the players there and the coaching staff and the volunteers. They’re all good guys so it’s never an easy thing,” he said. “I’ve been taking to (Port coach/general manager Scott) Barnes about it for a while and we came to this conclusion.”
Falcons general manager/coach Tyler Bielby was more than impressed with Pergentile’s effort.
“He looked awfully smart for a centreman,” Bielby said. “Two hundred feet, low and slow, was always on the defensive side of the puck, always on the right side of the puck and accelerated at the right time. He does it all, that’s why we brought him in. He was helping us in the face-off circle and helping underneath the goal line and in our own zone.
“He’s the real deal.”
Winger Tanner Hunt, added from Hamilton in the second multi-player deal of the week, collected an assist in his St. Catharines debut.
Bielby is confident all the new talent will gel in the new year.
“It might take a bit but the nice thing is we’ve brought in three guys from Port that are used to playing with each other,” Bielby said. “They’re probably going to see a lot of shifts and minutes together so they’ll have some chemistry that’s already there but they have to learn how we want to play the game.”
The Falcons, 22-7-1-1, head into the Christmas break on a five-game winning streak tied with the Fort Erie Meteors for second place with 46 points although the Mets own a game in hand. The Caledonia Corviars, who host the Panthers Saturday, have 49 points to lead the standings.
“Welland played some real good games against us and tested us and took a couple from us. We had to decide how we wanted to respond to those two losses and I’m extremely proud of the boys to put these five up in a row going into the break.
“Everything we went through this week, that’s exactly what we wanted to see tonight.”
Falcon facts: Luke Gualtieri, Mitch Dymtrow, Trent Vaillancourt, Zach Mambella, Henry Attard and Nathan Kelly (suspended) did not dress for the Falcons . . . Connor Clark, Jordan Adams and Mitchell Swaine were scratched for the Panthers . . . Former Falcons defenceman Jordan Schanbacher, now playing with the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, dropped by for a visit . . . Pelham’s Brandon Petrova and Nick Tymochenko were both ejected for for checks from behind in the second period.
Falcons 7 Panthers 1
St. Catharines forward Dylan Pergentile.
St. Catharines Falcons: Dylan Pergentile (16); Treyson Dewar (15); Brenden Anderson (11); Tyler Hunt (10); Calvin Petrovsky (9); Matthew Hlacar (9); Marcus Harris (4).
Pelham Panthers: Ryan Shier (4).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Carter Vincente/Trevor Woods (44), by Pelham on Hayden Jeffery (26); Power plays: St. Catharines 2/3, Pelham 1/3; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 6, Pelham 8.
Attendance: 453.
Up next: The Falcons are off until hosting the Caledonia Corvairs Friday, Jan. 5.
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