Familiar foes facing off in PJHL Stobbs Division final
Canadiens, 73's open best-of-seven series Sunday at Atlas Tube Centre
The Lakeshore Canadiens have enjoyed plenty of success since Anthony Iaquinta was named head coach before the 2017-18 season.
In many ways, Lakeshore fans can thank Essex 73's head coach Tony Piroski for helping shape Iaquinta as a coach and now the two are set to meet for the first time in the Bill Stobbs Division final of the Provincial Junior Hockey League. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Atlas Tube Centre before shifting to Essex on Tuesday for Game 2.
“I'm just happy he's behind the bench,” the 36-year-old Iaquinta said of Piroski. “His team plays hard and I know from first-hand experience. I played for him for four years and coached with him for three. A lot of what I learned and what I do now and how I handle situations is based off what I've learned from him.”
Iaquinta won a Schmalz Cup provincial title playing for Piroski in Essex in 2009 and guided the Canadiens to the same title as head coach in 2022, but he's not the only branch from the Piroski coaching tree.
Canadiens assistant coach Milan Dobric and former Windsor Spitfire Ron Soucie, who is a special adviser with Lakeshore, also were influenced by Piroski.
“That's what happens when you get old,” the 69-year-old Piroski said. “(Iaquinta) played for me, he was my captain and a coach for years. He's a good guy. (Dobric) was my captain in Essex and Soucie was my captain in Leamington and an assistant coach.
“There's a connection and they're real good people and I know (general manager) Mark (Seguin) as well. That's a good crew and a good group running the organization.”
Piroski retired from coaching the Leamington Flyers after the 2017-18 season, but stayed in contact with many of his former players and assistant coaches.
“He's always been a good mentor and treats everyone fairly and we still rely on him for advice,” Iaquinta said.
He joked with Piroski that he might still look for his guidance at some point in this series.
“I told him, sure, but said, `I'll probably wander onto your bench at some point and you can just ask me,'” Piroski said.
Piroski was happy watching the game from the sidelines when the 73's opted to make a change at head coach and brought him back in late December.
“Tony's been really good,” said 73's captain Gabe Piccolo, who saw his team go 4-2 against Lakeshore and 2-0 under Piroski. “He's been very good to us all and is teaching us lots of things. Not just in hockey, but in life. He's been very good.”
The Canadiens won a season-long battle for top spot, but finished just a single point ahead of the 73's in the final standings.
“They've been a solid team the entire year,” Canadiens captain Marco Sladoje said. “They have a really skilled group from top to bottom and the new additions behind the bench seem to really be working for them.”
Each team has swept two playoff series to get to the final and there's potential for plenty of offensive explosiveness. Essex led the PJHL in scoring this season with 245 goals in 42 games and Lakeshore was just four goals behind them.
“We have to play a complete 60 minutes,” Sladoje said. “Playing a skilled team like Essex requires us to be on our A game every shift. A lack of effort or intensity in one shift can hurt us in any situation.”
Aside from the coaching familiarity, many of these players have played against each other at various levels or even been teammates at one point.
“There's a lot of familiarity between the guys on the teams,” Sladoje said. “Being so close in proximity, attending the same university or working together, it creates a higher level of intensity, I believe, as guys want to win that much more.”
That means, for perhaps the next 15 days that the series could play out, the friendships will go on hold as Lakeshore seeks its fifth straight title and Essex looks for its first championship since 2016-17.
“Pretty much the whole team,” Piccolo said of the connections on each side. “We're all around the same age and have played together or against each other always. But, as a team, we know when we are playing that there are no friendships and we will do whatever it takes to win.”
That extends to the coaching staffs where Piroski will also see his brother's grandson, Boe Piroski, in net for the Canadiens.
“If I couldn't win, those would be the guys I would be rooting for, but make no mistake I want to beat them,” Piroski said of the Canadiens. “The connection is there and a lot of friendships that'll be put aside for two weeks to have bragging rights.
“Watching their team is like a mirror of our team. There's no tricks with me, but you're going to get your money's worth in this series.”