Lakefield Chiefs pick up Port Perry Mojacks captain to bolster defence

The Lakefield Chiefs bolstered their lineup on Wednesday, prior to Thursday’s PJHL trade deadline.

On the heels of a 5-2 loss to the North Kawartha Knights on Tuesday night, the Chiefs picked up Port Perry Mojacks captain Dan Harris for a player development fee, according to a team news release.

Harris joins a Chiefs blue-line that has multiple offensive threats. Harris has 16 points in 27 games with the Mojacks and will be in the lineup on Friday against the Uxbridge Bruins.

“We are still looking to upgrade our offence, but so is every other team in the province,” stated Chiefs GM Tyler Revoy.

“We have one more day before the deadline, so we will continue the search. However we are very happy to add Dan to our lineup, a guy of his calibre doesn’t come around often.”

The North Kawartha Boyer AG Knights halted the Lakefield Hendren Funeral Home Chiefs’ ninegame undefeated streak at the Lakefield-Smith Community Centre.

The defending Schmalz Cup provincial champion Chiefs (24-61-2) are now clinging to a twopoint first-place lead over the Knights in the PJHL Orr Division, but North Kawartha (24-5-0-1) holds three games in hand.

Lakefield opened the scoring early in the second period on a power-play goal by Dawson Turcotte, assisted by Jeff Hawthorne and Jesse Merrill. But North Kawartha powered back with four straight goals, three on the power play, for a 4-1 lead at the end of the second period.

The Chiefs cut the lead to 4-2 early in the third period on a goal by Ryan Shaughnessy, assisted by Tarren Jank and Carson Hartwick.

Joe Crothers had two goals and an assist for the Knights, while Trent Schutt also had two goals. Caleb Trotter scored the other North Kawartha goal.

Lakefield outshot North Kawartha 36-27. North Kawartha’s Luke Miller made 34 saves on 36 shots for the win, while Lakefield goalie Michael Christie had 22 saves on 26 shots for the loss.

The Chiefs hit the road to face the Uxbridge Bruins on Friday night and the Tod Division’s Amherstview Jets on Sunday night, before returning to host Uxbridge at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday at the Lakefield-Smith Community Centre.

The Knights host Uxbridge at 7:25 p.m. Saturday and the Port Perry Mojacks at 7:25 p.m. Sunday at the North Kawartha Community Centre in Apsley.