Weekend junior B roundup: Petrova steps up; Mets win three
Brandon Petrova is Pelham Panthers coach/assistant general manager Zac Rinaldo’s kind of player.
The 19-year-old defenceman is as tough as nails, reliable as the sunrise and counted on to play multiple minutes in all situations.
“It’s a very demanding role,” Rinaldo said. “He eats like 27 minutes a night, almost 30 minutes a night. I appreciate that not everyone is up to that challenge. It’s mentally and physically demanding, especially for a coach like me who’s already demanding enough, but he thrives on that he loves it.
“His plus-minus is very low and he’s in some heavy situations so that to me speaks volumes. I’m just really proud of him accepting it and owning it.”
Rinaldo said he came to appreciate Petrova even more last season in the playoffs.
“As a coach, I have to understand the personality on the ice and he’s a kid that just never stopped, didn’t complain, never took an optional day, never came to me and said my head is hurting or my knee is hurting because I’m playing so much,” Rinaldo said. “Even in playoffs last year, I want to say he had a broken hand and he played through the whole series the broken hand.”
Petrova takes pride in his reliability.
“It’s massive because when you select a team, you pick a bunch of players and you have guys that need to do certain things on every single given night,” he said. “When you’re looking into that lineup, you need to know what you’re going to get from a certain player. If you know what you’re going to bring to the table and the coaches know what you’re going to bring to the table, that’s where you can get put into situations where you’re going to thrive.”
Petrova is a King City native who made his junior debut last season with the Panthers after playing his U18 year in Richmond Hill.
“I’m a lot more comfortable than the first year,” he said. “I think that’s just normal, right? It usually takes a year to get used to the league, especially with a new league. It takes you a year to kind of adapt, and then after that you have more confidence the next season.”
Petrova, who has family in Niagara, chose to join the Panthers who offered him an opportunity to play meaningful minutes right off the bat.
“I wanted to go to a place and play junior where I’m going to play the most minutes. You want to obviously play like junior A or whatever, but you want to go where you’re going to develop the most,” he said.
Petrova feels his game has improved since last season.
“I think I’ve developed a lot. The amount of time that I’ve played and the things that I’ve learned from Zac and all the coaching staff,” he said. “The relationships I’ve built with all the boys in the locker room. Junior is an amazing experience, it’s awesome. You learn things every day and you just have to take it and apply it.”
Petrova was recently named an assistant captain and is thrilled with the responsibility.
“I’m happy that I can do my part in leading this team. It’s a young team. I think it’s cool that I can have an opportunity to help these young guys out. Just kind of keep their spirits up and tell them to play with confidence and be themselves,” he said.
Petrova is taking classes part-time at Brock and hopes to play at the next level following junior.
“You’re going to school, which is the ultimate goal for me, just to get an education. There is a point in time where hockey does end, just like anybody else, but you’re getting an education and you’re doing what you love to do at the same time. I think that’s an amazing opportunity and not everyone gets to do that.”
The Panthers picked up three of a possible four points last week and this week split a pair of games to improve to 6-13-4 in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League play.
Rinaldo said some adjustments, on and off the ice, have paid off.
“We set a new standard internally in the room and we set a new standard on the ice,” he said. “We switched up a little bit of the D-zone and I think I dug a little deeper into the age group and reassessed internally for me on the age group that we have and the maturity level that we have. I dug deep into some emotional understandings. Getting to understand these kids on a more personal level than I already have.”
Rinaldo feels it is important to show his players that he is genuinely cares for them.
“The London Knights, Mark and Dale Hunter, were both father figures for me. And then getting drafted to Philly, the whole organization was one big family because they treated me with respect,” he said. “They cared about me. I was 20 years old when I was there. So they cared about me as a person. And they showed love to me as a person, so it made me want to do more for them as a player. But these kids are so young, they might not understand that yet, but I’m slowly chipping away. (I want them to know) I care for you guys, I love you guys.”
The Panthers defeated Caledon 5-0 Saturday as Sean Short had two goals while Ty Boone, Owen Hunks and Ryan Wercholaz added singles. Logan Snyder made 30 saves for the shutout.
Sunday night at home, the Panthers dropped a 3-0 decision to the Fort Erie Meteors.
Tate Donald, Sam Tonelli and Hunter Coley scored.
John Lloyd made 26 saves for the shutout.
The Meteors had a perfect week, going 3-0. The Mets began by topping Brantford 4-3 at home Wednesday as Chris Reid, Danny Adamo, Caleb Bidgood and Colton Radford scored. Lloyd turned back 32 shots.
Reid, Rylan Masterson, Donald, Danny Adamo, Kyle Adamo and Owen Cressman scored in a 6-1 over Welland Saturday at home. Lloyd made 19 saves.
SUNDAY
Falcons 4 Welland Junior Canadians 2
Calvin Petrovsky scored twice as the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons won their seventh straight.
Treyson Dewar and Marcus Harris also scored while Gabriel Longo made 23 saves in goal.
Kurt Johnson and Joey Marrese replied for Welland.
Ivan Kastelan faced 49 shots in goal for the Junior Canadians.
Corvairs 6 RedHawks 3
Six players hit the scoresheet as the Caledonia Corvairs doubled the Cambridge RedHawks.
Evan Bradacs, Clark Dunford, Ethan Quick, Brody Leet, Ethan Osborne and Sami Douglas-Najem scored for the winners,
Josh Kaufman had two goals and Will Bray one for Cambridge.
Centennials 3 Kilty B’s 1
The Ayr Centennials scored once in each period to edge the Hamilton Kilty B’s.
Philip Caridi, Owen Ireton and Mitchell Ferras scored.
Nichlos Kiss replied for Hamilton.
The Centennials lead the Falcons by two points for top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Falcons visit the Centennials Thursday.
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
St. Catharines at Ayr, 7 p.m.
Pelham at Hamilton, 7:07 p.m.
FRIDAY
Fort Erie at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Cambridge at Port Colborne, 7 p.m.
Caledonia at Caledon, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Hamilton at Brantford, 2:30 p.m.
Caledon at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
Welland at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Port Colborne at Welland, 7 p.m.
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