Essex, Lakeshore meet again
73’s look to reverse last year’s result in PJHL’s Bill Stobbs Division final
Another final and another match between the Essex 73’s and Lakeshore Canadiens.
For the third straight year, the 73’s and Canadiens will meet in the Bill Stobbs Division final of the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
“Here we go again,” said Canadiens head coach Anthony Iaquinta, who previously played and coached for the 73’s. “There’s a lot of rivalries out there, but it seems every year these two teams face off.” This is the ninth time in the last 12 years the Canadiens and 73’s have met in the playoffs and six of those have been in the final. A year ago, Lakeshore ended Essex’s five-year title run. Now, the 73’s look to return the favour with Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Tuesday at the Essex Centre Sports Complex at 7 p.m. The series shifts to the Atlas Tube Centre on Friday at 7 p.m.
“After last year, there’s a lot more motivation to get the championship banner back,” Essex forward Luke Gecse said.
Not much separated these two teams in the regular season. The 73’s took three of the five meetings in the regular season and also had an overtime tie as Essex took the top spot by just two points over the Canadiens to earn home-ice advantage.
“I’m excited,” Canadiens captain Brandon Ireland said. “For myself, when you think of junior C hockey in the area, this epitomizes it. I enjoy playing in Essex and the atmosphere with the fans all around and on top of you.” Lakeshore had the division’s top offence with 166 goals while Essex was just one back at 165 goals. Defensively, the Canadiens allowed just 81 goals, which was five fewer than the 73’s. “Lakeshore has four good lines that can put puck in the net,” 73’s head coach Gil Langlois said. “They can throw any line out there and compete against your top line.” Essex relies heavily on its top line of Josh Pope-Ferguson, William Stadder and Michael Vieira, but got plenty of secondary scoring in a four-game sweep of Amherstburg in the semis with the line of Gecse, Michael Ruttinger and Riley Meyerink stepping up. “We started clicking and finding each other,” said the 20-year-old Gecse, who missed the first half of the season on a school co-op. “The chemistry really took off. It feels great to contribute to the team, especially showing up late and not having my legs.” Lakeshore’s plan is to stick what got the team to this point and that’s using its balanced attack to continue to bring pressure the puck. “Keep our level,” Ireland said. “If they’re up a goal or two, or we’re up a goal or two, just keep working and wearing them down with our four lines and six defencemen.” The winner moves on to Schmalz Cup play, but Langlois said there’s a little boost that goes with the title.
“From a coaching standpoint, the more times you do it, the more pressure it adds,” Langlois said.