Home run on deck for ’Dogs
Also, new Mac scoring record, soccer Hall of Fame and farewell George
You have to make hay when the sun shines and, after visiting last-place Niagara on Tuesday night and Kitchener on Friday, the Hamilton Bulldogs will plow their own field, playing six of their next seven games at home. The midpack of the Ontario Hockey League East is jammed, with fourth-place Peterborough slipping over the past 10 games and sitting just five points up on No. 7 Hamilton, with the Petes visiting FirstOntario Centre for a 4 p.m. game Saturday. The Bulldogs sit three points up on No. 8 Sudbury and four ahead of the hard-charging Oshawa Generals who, like the nicely rolling Dogs, have won seven of their past 10. Nick Lardis has 21 points in his dozen games since coming over to Hamilton from the Petes, including a goal and an assist in each of the Dogs’ games last week: a win over Niagara and a 6-3 loss in Windsor. With a goal and an assist against Niagara, Dorian Jonovan has moved into fifth place in OHL defencemen’s scoring with 11 goals and 30 assists.
McMaster teammates Max Turek and Andrew Davies have been named to Canada’s 28-member team for the World Athletics CrossCountry Championships in Bathurst, Australia, on Feb. 18
Golden Gates
Sarah Gates scored 25 points in a 48-46 win over Windsor on Saturday, to become McMaster women’s basketball’s all-time scoring leader.
Gates has 1,726 career points and surpasses Danielle Boiago, the former Marauder record holder. St. Thomas More grad Boiago is McMaster’s lead assistant coach. Gates, an OUA first-team and U Sports second-team all-star last year, leads the nation with a 26.1 points-per-game average. She’s third on the OUA all-time career scoring list, just 168 back of second.
Will Jones off to Pan Am Games
Jerseyville’s Will Jones, of the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, has qualified to be nominated to Team Canada for the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. Jones — who partnered with Evan DePaul of Burlington to win the 2017 world junior championship and later compete at the Tokyo Olympics — teamed with Justin Barnes of Pickering to be the top Canadians in the 49er class at the U.S. Open Series over the weekend in Clearwater, Fla. That gave them their berth in the Pan Ams. DePaul, also of the RHYC, had retired from competition in October.
Montani was among the very best
Sincere condolences to the family of George Montani, who died on Sunday. In a town whose sports history is full of great and legendary officials, Montani was one of the all-time best and most highly respected. He refereed and officiated for three decades in local and national football, and handled three Vanier Cup games. He is a member of the Hamilton Football Officials Association’s Wall of Honour and his No. 52 jersey was retired by the HFOA. There will be a celebration of his life in the near future.
Crossing world for cross country
McMaster teammates Max Turek and Andrew Davies have been named to Canada’s 28-member team for the World Athletics CrossCountry Championships in Bathurst, Australia, on Feb. 18. Turek won the individual championship as the Marauders captured their first men’s U Sports cross-country title in 59 years last November. He and Davies, who was third at nationals, were named 2022 all-Canadians and both are part of Hamilton’s Harbour Track, coached by Mac head coach Paul Schnurr. University of Guelph’s Jack Lehton, a graduate of Burlington Assumption, has also made the Canadian team for the worlds, and will run in the under-20 men’s division.
Footy Fame
The Hamilton Soccer Hall of Fame will induct its class of 2023 at a ceremony and dinner Friday, May 12, with five players — Josie Tucceri, Malcolm Sinclair, Bobby Pretto, Francis Foy and Rhian Dodds — being enshrined.
Also entering the hall are builders Harry Poree, Alex Fotheringham and Bobby Rusich, referee Peter Johnson, high school program leader Guido De Bres, Legion 58 (the Team of Distinction), Hamilton Star (the Club of Distinction) and current Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis, who will receive the HSHOF President Award.
Tickets for the induction at the Michelangelo Banquet Centre are available at thehshof@gmail.com.
Arena stuff There is a strong Stoney Creek Sabres presence in the top-five ranked teams of U Sports women’s hockey. Kayla McDougall is a freshman goalie on the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds; Nikki McDonald is the second-leading scorer for No. 2 U of T; Brody Levitt and Rachel McIntyre are regulars for No. 3 Concordia; and No. 5 University of New Brunswick has Reagan Minor, Lauren Carter, Marisa Valla and Emma Giordano. Carter’s 10 goals tie her for the team lead … Waterdown’s Carter Verhaeghe had two goals and two assists in streaking Florida’s 7-1 win over rival Tampa Bay on Monday night, giving him nine goals and 14 points in his past nine games … The Rock’s Tom Schreiber vaulted into second place in the NLL goals race and tied for second in overall scoring when he had three goals and a dozen assists in Saturday night’s 22-14 dismantling of the visiting New York Riptide ... Hamilton Kilty B’s return to Dave Andreychuk Arena on Thursday (7 p.m.) for the first time in two weeks, playing the Fort Erie Meteors, whom they beat 4-2 in Fort Erie on Sunday after winning 6-2 in Niagara Falls on Friday. Dawson McKinney had three goals over the two wins and Connor Haynes had two goals and three assists. The Kilty B’s trail St. Catharines by three points for first place in the Golden Horseshoe Conference and the two teams rank No. 1 and No. 2 in winning percentage in the 25team GOJHL … Burlington Cougars’ Jack Richard leads the OJHL with 42 goals and is fourth in overall scoring with 70 points in 43 games. The Cougars’ 217 goals are the most in the league ... A reminder that Hamilton fighters Paul Ispas and Dylan Rushton are on the pro boxing car at the Convention Centre on Saturday at 7 p.m., which is helpingto aise funds for Hamilton100’s bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Tickets can be bought at viewstub.com/threelionspromotionsfeb11#tickets.