West sends North to St. Catharines
Jagger North already has a spot picked out for his prized souvenir puck.
The 19-year-old winger for the St. Catharines Falcons picked up his first junior goal Friday as the Falcons edged the Welland Junior Canadians 2-1 in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
“That’s going right up on top of my bed on the wall,” North smiled.
North’s goal was a beauty too, as he picked the far side on Welland goalie Keegan Jackson on a two-on-one. The goal also broke a 1-1 tie and ended up being the winner.
“It was really nice. It was a long time coming, not getting on the ice last year and putting the work in each night,” the Burlington resident said.
North came to the attention of Falcons general manager Frank Girhiny through his former coach, Mark West of the Hamilton AAA U18 Bulldogs, where North played two years ago. West is the father of former Falcons captain Kyle West.
The speedy winger joined the Falcons in training camp and impressed the staff with his hustle and attitude.
“I think that’s why I coach, to see moments like that for these young guys,” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “He made it through camp and had some adversity being out of the lineup as a healthy scratch for a while.
“There’s one way to tell your coach I want to be playing and that’s to come out and score a big goal. I’m extremely happy for him. He puts the work in and he got rewarded tonight.”
North has nothing but positive things to say about his experience in St. Catharines so far.
“It’s a group that I’ve never been a part of,” he said. “Every single guy, it’s like going to battle with your brothers. It’s a team that I’ve never been a part of and I think we’re going to go far this year.”
North did his best to stay in shape last season as the COVID pandemic wiped out virtually every organized league in Ontario.
“It gets mental,” he said. “It gets kind of repetitive in practice when it’s not turning into a game.”
North admits it has been a big jump from midget to junior.
“Things are a lot faster on the boards where you get that breakout pass and you don’t have that split second. Anytime the puck comes out, it has to be quick,” he said. “The speed is the biggest thing.”
North had no preconceived notions when he arrived at camp.
“I just thought coming to each practice to just try to bring something to the team that no one else brings,” he said. “I finally got in the lineup and it paid off.”
The Falcons have now won three straight after sputtering out of the gate with a pair of shutout losses in their first three games.
“I think there’s still some work to do,” Bielby said. “I can’t put the puck in the net for them. We’re going to have to really bear down and make sure they’re working in practice on that.
“We have to make sure that we don’t go and do our own thing. Our actual work effort wasn’t a concern tonight, it was execution and not being in the right spots.”
Falcons goalie Josh Johnson had another stellar game between the pipes.
“Josh made a tip save at the end of the game that would have beat nine out of 10 goalies,” Bielby said. “That save was the difference of us going in overtime. Once again, Josh was great but we really have to do a better job of finishing our chances so our goalies aren’t in that position at the end of the game.”
Falcon facts: Wyatt Gibson, Josh Reilly and Aiden Cupelli (exam) did not dress for St. Catharines . . . Justin Vermeulen, Lucas Romeo, Kaiden Gignac were all injured while Kris Doric and Andrew Miele were healthy scratches for Welland . . . Owen Bouvier filled in playing the music and did an outstanding job, featuring several songs by Bruce Springsteen . . . Past president Joe MacNeil is recovering well after a stay in hospital due to a bout of pneumonia.
Panthers 5 Canucks 4 OT
Jack Merkosky’s third goal of the game 6:47 into overtime lifted the visiting Pelham Panthers past the Niagara Falls Canucks at the Gale Centre Friday.
Michael Hutchings and Florian Xhekaj also scored for the Panthers.
Brayden Kelso made 35 saves for the win.
Zach Mambella had two goals for the Falls while Matthew Riva and Ben Felicetti added singles.
STATS PACK
Falcons 2 Junior Canadians 1
St. Catharines winger Jagger North with his first junior goal.
For the St. Catharines Falcons: North (1), Sam Williamson (2).
For the Welland Junior Canadians: Brady Afelskie (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Keegan Jackson (29), by Welland on Josh Johnson (24); Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 8, Welland 4.
Attendance: 337.
Up next: The Falcons are in Hamilton Saturday and home to Fort Erie next Friday.
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