Corvairs dethrone reigning champions
Caledonia improves playoff record to 16-1 advancing to Sutherland Cup final
Sixteen down, four to go.
The Caledonia Corvairs are going to Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Sutherland Cup finals for the first time in three years and for the fourth time in five years.
They punched their ticket to their last trip to the provincial junior B championship Tuesday night on the road, when they defeated the Elmira Sugar Kings 8-1.
Not only did the whistle-to-whistle win dethrone the defending Sutherland Cup champions, it completed a sweep in a best-ofseven semifinal and avenged a loss in six games to Elmira last year.
Matt Weston, with two goals; Jesse Barwell, Cal Davis, Joshua DeFarias, Bobby Harrison and Sean O’Brien scored for Caledonia which won its ninth straight game and improved to 16-1 in the playoffs this year.
The Corvairs were up when Ty Biles broke Welland native and former Welland Jr. Canadians goaltender Brandon McCorriston’s shutout bid with a 6:16 remaining in regulation.
Caledonia outshot Elmira 35-27, and neither of the teams was able to find the back of the
net with a man advantage.
The Corvairs finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play; the Sugar Kings, 0-for-1.
The Sutherland Cup tournament semifinal between No. 1 seed Caledonia and fourth-seed Elmira didn’t finish the way it started.
One overtime period was needed in the series opener and two in Game 2 before the Corvairs scored a 4-1 victory in regulation Monday night at Haldimand Centre in Caledonia.
The sweep was the third of the post-season for the Corvairs. They also needed only four games to dispatch the Fort Erie Meteors to the sidelines in the opening round of the Golden Horseshoe Conference playoffs and the St. Catharines Falcons in the conference final.
Caledonia advanced to the Sutherland Cup final four as the Golden Horseshoe Conference, while Elmira qualified as the wild-card entry for the second year in a row.
The Sugar Kings went 8-6 in the Midwestern Conference playoffs, one game better than the Falcons, 8-7; and two ahead of the Western Conference finalist St. Thomas Stars, 8-8.
Caledonia entered the fourteam Sutherland Cup tournament as the top seed after leading the Golden Horse, and 26-team league, with a 45-4-0-1 record. Elmira went 29-21-0-0 in league play finishing third behind the Listowel Cyclones, 43-5-0-3; and Stratford Warriors, 37-11-1-1; in the Midwest.
The Corvairs will play the winner of the Listowel Cyclones-London Nationals semifinal in a best-of-seven playoff for the Sutherland Cup.
The Cyclones led that series
three games to one heading into Game 5 Wednesday night in Listowel.