Caledonia blanks Meteors to force Game 7
Shutout loss disappoints standing-room-only crowd in Fort Erie
Saturday was Hockey Night in Fort Erie and a standing-room-only crowd crammed into Fort Erie Leisureplex hoping to be eyewitnesses to history.
They wanted to see the host Meteors sideline the Caledonia Corvairs in Game 6 of a best-of-seven Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe Conference playoff series.
The championship they were eager to celebrate would be the franchise’s first since taking the title in the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League’s final season in 1978-79.
The Meteors can still end that 45year championship, but they can only accomplish that feat with a win Monday night on the road. Caledonia’s Markus Dempewolf broke a scoreless tie eight minutes into the third period to give the Corvairs a 1-0 victory and send the thirdround series to Game 7.
Meteors GM-head coach Nik Passero called the show of support from his team’s fans “amazing.”
“This town needs it, our players needed it. I’m so proud of them,” he said after a game that attracted 2,200 fans. “They could have died in front of that many people, but they just kept going and going. We get one game to be champions, and we’re going to do it.”
He liked how the second-seeded Meteors started the first elimination game of the series versus the top-seeded Corvairs.
“I thought in the first period we were great, second period we were great,” Passero said. “Third period? We didn’t bring it.
“When they scored, we were kind of on our heels and then obviously you’re pushing. I didn’t love our third period, but I think our second period was the best period we played in all of the playoffs.”
Caledonia, which was swept by the Hamilton Kilty B’s in last year’s conference final, was the more desperate of the two teams that took the Olympic-size surface in the larger of the twin-pad’s rinks.
“That team had their back against the wall, and they came out and scored one more than we did,” Passero said. “I don’t think they played better than us, but it is what it is. It’s a learning experience and you get 48 hours to get the job done.”
While the setback in Game 6 was not an “everyday loss,” Passero is
The championship they were eager to celebrate would be the franchise’s first since taking the title in the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League’s final season in 1978-79
confident the Meteors will return to the win column in Monday night’s deciding game at the Haldimand Caledonia Community Centre. “I’m fully confident in this group to go get the job done,” he said.
Fort Erie dominated the opening period, but Caledonia made some adjustments, “which they don’t do very often.”
“I think that just bodes (well) to what we were doing,” Passero said. “I commend our guys for doing what they did. We’ll get it done Monday.”
Keegan Jackson got the start in goal for Caledonia and made the most of it, stopping 28 shots to earn the shutout.
Charlie Burns stopped 26 of 27 shots for Fort Erie and was tagged with the loss.
The Meteors finished the game 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Corvairs went 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
Meteor writes Saturday’s loss dropped Fort Erie’s playoff record at home to 4-4. The Meteors are 7-1 on the road, including wins in Games 1 and 5 in the final versus the Corvairs … Some fans had to use the parking lot at Greater Fort Erie Secondary School across Garrison Road.