Special teams, goaltending, discipline drive Corvairs
Caledonia is seeking its first Golden Horseshoe title since 2018
Junior-B hockey’s regular season is so much history to Caledonia Corvairs head coach Mike Bullard now that his team is set to play the Fort Erie Meteors for the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe Conference championship.
No. 1 seed Caledonia defeated second-seeded Fort Erie four games to three and outscored the Meteors 26-19 in head-to-head play. The Corvairs (39-9-1-1) also finished first overall in the 23-team league, five points ahead of Fort Erie (3612-2).
At first glance, that should make Caledonia slight favourites to win the best-of-seven playoff, but the past isn’t necessarily indicative of how the teams will fare with a Sutherland Cup tournament berth on the line. Far from it.
“It’s completely different,” Bullard said of the playoffs. “They’re just two different teams now.”
The key to Caledonia winning the Golden Horseshoe for the first time since 2018 comes down to the Corvairs executing their game plan while dictating the pace of play.
“We have to take advantage of their weaknesses, there’s no question about that, but it all comes down to that your best players have to be your best players,” he said. “We have a very good team here.
“This is the team we feel can win it, but, let’s be honest, the league has gotten better.”
The Meteors, who last advanced to the conference final in 1991 and haven’t won a championship since taking the last title in the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League in 1979, are among the teams who have improved since coming out of the pandemic, from 53 points in 2022 to 74 this season.
“They’re a tough team. They’re very young, they work hard,” Bullard said. “They don’t ever stop.”
Bullard credits Meteors general manager-head coach Nik Passero for the turnaround.
“Nik’s done a helluva job with that hockey team.”
Success on the special teams will be key to the Corvairs or Meteors prolonging a playoff run past the third round.
“Both team’s power plays have been very successful,” Bullard said. “The key is special teams, your goaltending and discipline.
“That’s what I base the whole playoffs on.”
Fort Erie swept the No. 7 seed Port Colborne Sailors in the opening round and defeated the third-seeded St. Catharines Falcons four games to two in the semifinals.
Caledonia sidelined the fourthseeded Hamilton Kilty B’s, 4-1, after earning a first-round bye in a rematch of last year’s conference final. In 2022-23, Hamilton swept Caledonia in four games.
Other than Wednesday night’s Game 1 in Caledonia, dates for the series have yet to be announced.