Clock ticking down on junior-B season
Overagers on Falcons want to end final year with Ontario championship
Golden Horseshoe Conference finalists Hamilton Kilty B’s and St. Catharines Falcons are playing in their final best-of-seven series of 2021-22, as are the finalists in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s two other conferences.
Hamilton’s season could be over in as few as two games and St. Catharines’ in as few as three.
The winner of the Golden Horseshoe Conference is guaranteed four more games in a double round-robin in an abbreviated Sutherland Cup tournament.
After that, and only if they finish in the top two, it’s a best-of-three final — yes, only three games at most — for the Ontario junior-B hockey championship.
The 20-year-olds on both sides can hear the clock ticking down on their final season in junior hockey.
On Friday night, they also heard cowbells — lots of cowbells — as the No. 2 seed Falcons blanked the topseeded Kilty B’s 4-0 to take a 2-1 series lead.
Attendance at the first conference final game played at Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines in 1,124 days — since Sunday, April 7, 2019 — was announced as 889. Again, the contributions from Falcons Nation as the team’s sixth man were invaluable.
“The team is always excited to come out in front of that crowd,” head coach Tyler Bielby said. “They’ve always been great, and it’s a little more special right now with The Jack having only so many days left.
“We hear those cowbells. The fans seem to be getting more and more passionate as we go deeper here in the playoffs.”
He said the community — in particular, the fans — are a “big part of our success.”
“It takes a village and we’re happy to have our fan base.”
The Falcons like being in the driver’s seat heading into Game 4 on Tuesday night in St. Catharines, but they’re not about to rest on their laurels.
“I think it’s always nice to have a series lead, but we have to have a fresh mindset. Treat it as a new game and be ready to go,” Bielby said.
The Falcons rebounded from a loss in Game 2 as did the Kilty B’s in the series opener.
“Playing this late in the season, these two teams left are here for a reason. There aren’t going to be any easy hockey games,” Bielby said.
“You have to be prepared to play every single night and replicate the good things we do going into the next game and carry that momentum forward.”
Logan O’Flanaghan, with a hat trick, and Noah Reinhart provided the offence in Game 3, as the Falcons outshot their visitors, 34-13. St. Catharines went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Hamilton was 0for-3.
Andrew MacLean earned his fourth shutout of the playoffs and 14th since joining the Falcons at the beginning of the 2021-22 regular season.
The 20-year-old from Port Huron, Mich., is among the overagers ineligible to return for another season in junior.
Bielby suggested playoff hockey pushes everything up a notch, particularly with the 20-year-olds.
“The truth is those days of junior hockey are numbered, especially at this time of year. You don’t know when your last shift is going to take place,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to leave it all on the table, and for the young guys to see what that means and the bigger picture of the sport.
“What it means over all the years, not just that given moment, and really feed off that and come together as a team.”
Game 5 is Wednesday night at Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena in Hamilton. Games 6 and 7, if needed, will be played Friday, May 13, in St. Catharines and Sunday, May 15, in Hamilton, respectively.