Falcons heading to GCH finals
St. Catharines wins Niagara Falls series 4 games to 2
The St. Catharines Falcons battled their way through adversity against the Niagara Falls Canucks and now have the opportunity to take down the Caledonia Covairs in the Golden Horseshoe Conference finals.
“I thought we did what we could to persevere, the Canucks pushed hard,” Falcons head coach Chris Johnstone said.
“That was a tough series. Niagara Falls played very well. We were fortunate. This series could have gone either way but we did enough things to win the series.”
The Canucks opened the scoring Sunday afternoon and would take the lead for just over one minute and a half, as the Falcons’ leading goal scorer Tanner Ferreira deposited the team’s seventh power-play goal of the series and tied the game at one.
“Special teams is everything in the playoffs,” Johnstone said.
The St. Catharines Falcons have a motto set in place that they have clinged onto throughout the playoffs, a phrase that describes hard work and discipline.
“If you look at a duck on top of the lake he’s nice and calm, but underneath the water he’s working like hell,” Johnstone said about his team’s motto.
Johnstone believes if his players can play with that type of mindset, good things will come to them. Sunday afternoon’s win was a prime example.
“If you can do that and not get caught up in those chirping wars, scrums and dumb penalties things will work,” he said.
The Canucks struggled to find a way to solve Falcons star netminder Owen Savory, netting 15 goals in six games compared to their 26 goals in the first round against the Welland Jr. Canadians.
“He’s a great goaltender and we knew it was going to be a situation where we had to score some goals. We had a tough time in three of the games where we couldn’t buy a goal,” Canucks owner and head coach Frank Pietrangelo said.
“It’s unfortunate but you have to take your hat off to him. The Falcons are a great hockey team we knew that coming in and we matched up well.”
Pietrangelo was proud of his team’s effort throughout the series. The Canucks have plenty of returning players and though it’s a gut-wrenching loss for over-agers Phillip Chadder, Austin Wright,
Luke Laurin, Jake Gilmour and Adam Dentico, the Canucks owner looks forward to next season.
“We competed. We started the first three games with just five defencemen — one having a broken finger and Ryan Mooney being suspended. We were right against the 8-ball from the get-go,” Pietrangelo said.
Despite many roster implications heading into the series, Pietrangelo isn’t giving his team the opportunity to use the situation as an excuse.
“We lost guys like Wright for the series, Luke Laurin had to come back from a broken leg, we had plenty of obstacles to overcome throughout the series. They are not excuses by any means; we just came up short.”
Falcons veteran defenceman Greg DiTomaso is playing on another level this post-season. He’s spent time in the OHL and his currently leading this potent Falcons offence in points from the blueline.
“He’s seen the wars and has played a lot of this type of hockey,” Johnstone said.
“Those are the guys you count on this time of year and it’s good for him because he battled so hard. He deserves the kudos for sure.”
Another veteran who has been a go-to player for the Falcons all season long is Welland native Zach Main, who co-led St. Catharines in points during the regular season, totalling 95.
“We all played well, we came out hard right off the bat,” Main said of the latest series, which the Falcons took four games to two.
“We took our foot off the pedal a bit but then we bounced back and that’s what good team’ do.”
The Falcons are a tight-knit group according to Main. All the players are around each other off the ice and look forward to prolonging their journey to the Sutherland Cup.
“From the guys who are playing a lot to the guys that don’t, we all love each other,” Main said.
Main is an extremely gifted playmaker finishing the season off with 68 assists. His 27 goals in the regular season also suggests he can put the puck in the back of the net when he finds the open space.
He and linemate Lucas Smilsky, who matched Main’s 95 points this season, are extremely tough to keep in check for opposing defences.
“Smilsk and I have been playing together all year, he finds me wherever I am and vice versa,” Main said.
“Same with Webb. He goes hard 100 per cent of the time and never takes a shift off. They get the puck to me and I get the puck to them.”
With this heated rivalry coming to an end, there were many storylines prior to the series. One being the battle of the Johnstone brothers, Greg the assistant coach of the Canucks and Chris the Falcons head coach.
“My niece signing the anthem was awesome,” Johnstone said.
“I wish our mother was here to watch the series, she would have loved the Johnstone factor. I don’t know who she would have cheered for, but I do wish she was here. It was sensational.”
Falcons Feathers: Forward Patrick McDonald, who sustained a serious eye injury in Game 4, was in attendance on Sunday afternoon to congratulate teammates on advancing to the GHC finals. Coach Johnstone states the injury is very serious and McDonald is being monitored closely. No other comments were released.