A big battle for first in the ’Shoe
One point separates Falcons, Kilty B’s heading into Thursday rematch
First place in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Golden Horseshoe Conference is on the line Thursday in Hamilton with the host Kilty B’s renewing their rivalry with the St. Catharines Falcons.
A single point separates the Falcons (13-3-1) and Kilty B’s (12-3-2) heading into the 7 p.m. faceoff at Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena, and head-to-head play between the two has been just as close. Hamilton leads the season series two games to one, four points to three.
In their last meeting, the Kilty B’s tripled the Falcons 3-1 on the road ending a nine-game win streak and handing St. Catharines its first loss in regulation since a 2-0 setback to the Elmira Sugar Kings on Sept. 23 at the showcase tournament in Pelham.
Hamilton, which is seeking its fifth win in a row, is third in the eight-team conference in scoring, with 76 goals.
The Caledonia Corvairs and Fort Erie Meteors pace the Golden Horseshoe Conference offensively with 89 and 78, respectively.
Only the Pelham Panthers, with 32 goals; Niagara Falls Canucks, 44; and Welland Jr. Canadians, 48, have found the back of the net fewer times than the Falcons have this season, 55.
But St. Catharines continues to lead the conference — and the 25team league — with a 1.92 goalsagainst average. No other team in the league has allowed fewer than two goals per game.
Thursday’s contest in Hamilton is the first of back-to-back games for the Falcons.
They host Pelham on Friday while Hamilton is off until visiting Welland on Sunday night.
Also on tap in the Golden Horseshoe on Friday night is Caledonia at Niagara Falls and Welland at the Thorold Blackhawks, which this year has been playing home games at Vale Health and Wellness Centre in Port Colborne.
The Falcons and Kilty B’s jockeying for conference supremacy is nothing new.
Hamilton and St. Catharines finished 1-2 in league play last season, but the Falcons defeated the B’s in a six-game conference final before going on to win their second Sutherland
Cup junior-B championship and first since 2012.
Notes The Meteors host St. Andrew’s College from Aurora, Ont., in an exhibition game Saturday at Fort Erie Leisureplex beginning at 7 p.m.
BY THE NUMBERS
How teams are doing:
St. Catharines Falcons
Record 13-3-1, 27 points, first
Streak 1 loss
Offence/defence goals for, 55; goals against, 33
Special teams power play, 20%; penalty kill, 94.4%
Penalties, in minutes 198
Scoring Blake Yetman, 7 g, 10 a, 17 pts.; Jonah Boria, 3 g, 14 a, 17 pts.; Kyle Glenney, 7 g, 7 a, 16 pts.; Cameron Knight, 5 g, 11 a, 16 pts. Goaltending Josh Johnson 10 gp, 2.16 GAA, .927 Sv%; Stephen Toltl, 7 gp, 3 shu, 1.29 GAA, .951; team, 17 gp, 3 shu, 1.92 GAA, .932 Sv% Last week loss, home to Hamilton, 3-1 Upcoming Friday, home to Pelham; Friday, Nov. 11, home to Thorold
Hamilton Kilty B’s
Record 13-3-2, 26 points, second Streak 4 wins
Offence/defence goals for, 76; goals against, 53
Special teams power play, 13.2%; penalty kill, 82.9%
Penalties, in minutes 232
Scoring Nathan Phillips, 12 g, 18 a, 30 pts.; Justin Monteith, 7 g, 21 a, 28 pts.; Connor Haynes, 10 g, 14 a, 24 pts.
Goaltending David Egorov, 10 gp, 3.04 GAA, .877 Sv%; Leland Gill 9 gp, 2 shu, 3.06 GAA, .888 Sv%; Logan Snyder, 1 gp, 2.64 GAA,
.933 Sv%; team, 17 gp, 2 shu,
3.08 GAA, .883 Sv%
Last week win, at St. Catharines, 3-1; win, home to Welland, 9-3 Upcoming Thursday, home to
St. Catharines; Sunday, at Welland
Fort Erie Meteors
Record 11-4-3, 25 points, third Streak 2 wins
Offence/defence goals for, 78; goals against, 54
Special teams power play, 25.6%; penalty kill, 75%
Penalties, in minutes 405
Scoring Marcus Regina, 13 g, 14 a, 27 pts.; Jayden Baldenelli, 6 g, 18 a, 24 pt.; Brad Ditillio, 12 g, 11 a, 23 pt. Goaltending Josh Smith, 12 gp, 3.04 GAA, .904 Sv%; Nolan Lane, 7 gp, 2.86 GAA, .910 Sv%; team, 18 gp, 2.97 GAA, .906 Sv%
Last week win, home to Caledonia, 7-2; win, at Niagara Falls, 3-1
Upcoming Sunday, at Pelham; Saturday, Nov. 12, home to St. Catharines
Caledonia Corvairs
Record 12-10, 24 points, fourth Streak 1 win
Offence/defence goals for, 89; goals against, 78
Special teams power play, 18.2%; penalty kill, 80.3%
Penalties, in minutes 378
Scoring Dylan Dekoe, 11 g, 28 a, 39 pts.; Brody Leblanc, 15 g, 17 a, 32 pts.; Josh Russell, 6 g, 17 a, 23 pts.
Goaltending Josh Branton, 12 gp, 1 shu, 3.50 GAA, .894 Sv%; Ethan Labbe, 8 gp, 3.43 GAA, .881 Sv%; Marek Pavlas, 4 gp, 2.46 GAA, .913 Sv%; Hunter Welk, 1 gp, 8.36 GAA, .789 Sv%; Beniamino Rossi, 1 gp, 12.00 GAA, .556 Sv%; team, 22 gp, 1 shu, 3.40 GAA, .885 Sv%
Last week win, at Welland, 6-3; loss, at Fort Erie, 7-2
Upcoming Friday, at Niagara Falls; Saturday, home to Welland
Thorold Blackhawks
Record 7-9, 14 points, fifth
Streak 1 win
Offence/defence goals for, 61; goals against, 59
Special teams power play, 21.4%; penalty kill, 84.4%
Penalties, in minutes 204
Scoring Daniel Vasic, 14 g, 7 a, 21 pts.; Dylan Pergentile, 8 g, 12 a, 20 pts.; Nathan Kelly, 7 g, 12 a, 19 pts.
Goaltending Christian Lynch, 11 gp, 1 shu, 3.01 GAA, .913 Sv%; Bradley Boville, 6 gp, 4.65 GAA, .860 Sv%; team, 16 gp, 1 shu, 3.68 GAA,
.892 Sv%
Last week at Thorold, postponed; win, at Thorold, 4-3
Upcoming Friday, home to Thorold; Saturday, home to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls Canucks
Record 6-10, 12 points, sixth Streak 3 losses
Offence/defence goals for, 44; goals against, 54
Special teams power play, 18.1%; penalty kill, 77.8%
Penalties, in minutes 196
Scoring Kyle Caron, 4 g, 12 a,
16 pts.; Gehrig Lindberg, 4 g, 10 a, 14 pts.; Benjamin Kay, 8 g, 5 a,
13 pts.
Goaltending Mihailo Corovic, 10 gp, 3.53 GAA, .907 Sv%; Avery Alves, 7 gp, 2.72 GAA, .934 Sv%; team, 16 gp, 3.38 GAA, .914 Sv%
Last week loss, home to Fort Erie, 3-1 Upcoming Friday, home to Caledonia; Saturday, at Thorold
Welland Jr. Canadians
Record 5-12 10 points, seventh Streak 2 losses
Offence/defence goals for, 48; goals against, 85
Special teams power play, 10.1%; penalty kill, 75%
Penalties, in minutes 241
Scoring Peter Spameni, 7 g, 7 a, 14 pts.; Cody Inness, 5 g, 6 a, 11 pts.; Brady Afelskie, 3 g, 8 a, 11 pts. Goaltending Nico Balice, 8 gp,
4.60 GAA, .862 Sv%; Coulter Taylor, 5 gp, 6.44 GAA, .880 Sv%; Andrew Welch, 3 gp, 4.60 GAA, .848 Sv%; Stanley Mannell, 4 gp, 4.96 GAA, .908 Sv%; team, 15 gp, 4.65 GAA, .866 Sv%
Last week loss, home to Caledonia, 6-3; loss, at Hamilton, 9-3
Upcoming Friday, at Thorold; Saturday, at Caledonia; Sunday, home to Hamilton
Pelham Panthers
Record 2-13-1-1, 6 points, eighth Streak 1 loss
Offence/defence goals for, 32; goals against, 78
Special teams power play, 12.9%; penalty kill, 78.4%
Penalties, in minutes 280
Scoring Jordan Adams, 4 g, 9 a, 13 pts.; Nolan Shaw, 1 g, 6 a, 7 pts.; Joshua Cacciola, 3 g, 3 a, 6 pts.; Luca Marandola, 2 g, 4 a, 6 pts.; Lucas Jasmins, 2 g, 4 a, 6 pts. Goaltending Keegan Jackson, 12 gp, 3.70 GAA, .927 Sv%; Tyler McKenna, 3 gp, 10.56 GAA, .755; Andrew Welch, 2 gp, 4.49 GAA, .900 Sv%; Nico Marandola, 2 gp, 3.16 GAA, .880 Sv%; Cameron Johnston, 1 gp, 6.00 GAA, .870 Sv%; team, 17 gp, 4.53 GAA, .903 Sv%
Last week home to Thorold, postponed, power outage;
Upcoming Friday, at St. Catharines; Sunday, home to Fort Erie