Weekend junior B roundup: Panthers still winless; Mets drop first; Falcons win twice
The Pelham Panthers remain winless five games into the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season and Pelham head coach/assistant general manager Zac Rinaldo isn’t quite sure what to make of it.
The Panthers dropped a 4-1 decision to the visiting Port Colborne Sailors Sunday afternoon in Pelham and now have only a single point to show for their first two weeks of play.
“I think, on paper, we should be doing a lot better,” Zinaldo said calmly from behind the desk in his office. “Our guys and the numbers they put up and where they are and where they were in the summer, where they were in pre-season, we definitely believed we would be doing a lot better.
“They can say they are applying and they’re buying into our philosophy, they’re buying into development, but at the end of the day, they’re not applying it so we’re not getting wins.
“So you know, talk is cheap.”
The Panthers have scored only nine goals in five games while giving up a whopping 27.
Rinaldo said there are too many areas in need of improvement to single out only one or two.
“There’s too much to pinpoint,” he said. “I can’t pick one because one is more important than the other and it kind of just trickles down. I can live with one, two mistakes, but when we have one, two mistakes, it adds to three, it adds to five, and then adds to 10 and that’s like 15 small mistakes on in one individual shift which then trickles into attitude and emotions. They’re young kids, I do understand that, but they need to figure it out quickly here.
“I’m giving them all the answers to the test, they just have to go write the test.”
Rinaldo admitted he isn’t sure his message is getting through.
“I don’t know right now if they do believe into the process, I really don’t,” he said candidly. “I’m not sure if they understand what it takes to develop and to become better players. That’s what the product on the ice right now is saying to me. So, again, that’s the question you have to ask them.”
The Panthers are missing goaltender Patrick Sutherland (injury) and rugged winger Noah Abolflan, who is still at camp with the London Knights, but Rinaldo said there are no excuses.
“Those are big pieces, realistically, two huge pieces, but the last thing I’m gonna do is feel sorry for myself,” Rinaldo said.
The Panthers picked up their first point of the season with an overtime loss to Welland Friday, but Rinaldo said the effort and execution were still lacking.
“We got lucky. That’s not good enough to even start any momentum,” he said. “We have to tie up a lot of loose ends right now.”
Rinaldo feels the Panthers have to figure out a way to dig down deep and pull themselves out of this slump.
“Honestly, at the end of the day, I don’t think we have enough grit,” he said. “I think we’re not playing with enough tenacity. We’re not playing with enough jam and enough heart realistically. There’s a lot of loose pucks or 50/50 battles that we’re not even engaging in and coming up with loose pucks.
“It’s just a work ethic thing and it’s kind of out of my hands right now. It’s all on them.”
Easton Lynds, Andrew Kennedy, Evan Norris and P.J. Alexander scored for the Sailors, who improved to 2-1.
Caleb Macleish had the lone Pelham goal.
The Panthers are now off until Friday when they host the Junior Canadians again. Fans are asked to bring a non perishable food item to the game.
SUNDAY
Junior Canadians 6 Bombers 2
The Welland Junior Canadians won their second game of the weekend, topping the visiting Caledon Bombers.
Captain Jack Ryan paced Welland with three goals and an assist while Joey Marrese, Nyklus Madere and Christiano Stogiannis added singles.
Patrick Polaczek and Quinten Van Neck replied for Caledon.
SATURDAY
Falcons 5 RedHawks 3
The St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons improved to 3-1 with a win at Cambridge.
Treyson Dewar led St. Catharines with a pair of goals while singles went to Brendan Grenville, Nathan Duplessis and Ally Mostafaie. Dallys Hibbert chipped in with a pair of assists.
Hayden Jeffery made 42 saves for the win.
“Was nice to get the two points on the road and round out the four-point weekend,” Falcons head coach and president of hockey operations Tyler Bielby said. “We were able to build an early lead but let our foot off the gas for a bit and allowed them back in the game. Happy the way we responded and found a way to win.
“We will continue to work on putting together a full 60 minutes and put together a good week of practice to help prepare for Ayr and Caledon next weekend.”
Owen Yagar, Weston Cameron and Brendan George replied for the RedHawks.
Centennials 7 Meteors 3
The Ayr Centennials handed the Fort Erie Meteors their first loss following a pair of shutout wins to kick off the season.
The Centennials jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two periods before the Mets netted three in the final 20 minutes.
“Saturday was a punch in the mouth,” Meteors general manager/coach Nik Passero said. “We knew somewhere along the way we’d get one. The score was worse than I thought we deserved, some puck luck didn’t go our way. Ayr is an older, heavier team that I think will do a lot of damage this year. Was a step back this weekend but we will learn from it.”
Tate Donald, R.J. Schmidt and Colton Radford scored for the Mets.
Seven players hit the scoresheet for the Centennials.
Corvairs 4 Kilty B’s 3 OT
Drew Agnew scored four minutes into overtime as the Corvairs edged the visiting Kilty B’s to win their fourth game in a row to start the season.
Lincoln Swerfeger, Ethan Quick and Brody Leet also scored for the winners.
Keegan Jackson made 30 saves for the win.
Tyler MacDougall, Jonny Brooks and Giamarco Caringi replied for Hamilton.
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
Welland at Ayr, 7 p.m.
Caledon at Hamilton, 7 p.m
Fort Erie at Brantford, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Ayr at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Brantford at Port Colborne, 7 p.m.
Welland at Pelham, 7:15 p.m.
SATURDAY
Hamilton at Cambridge, 7 p.m.
Port Colborne at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
St. Catharines at Caledon, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY
Caledonia at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
Cambridge at Welland, 7 p.m.
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