Hurricanes/Siskins game one tonight in Waterloo

from: http://www.waterloocronicle.ca

Siskins finish second in regular season, face Guelph Hurricanes in first round

By Greg MacDonald, Chronicle Staff, Sports, Mar 03, 2010

 

After setting regular season franchise records for wins and goals against, the second-place Waterloo Siskins will start its playoff campaign with a first round matchup against the Guelph Hurricanes.The Siskins fell 7-5 to the Brantford Golden Eagles on Saturday and the victory clinched first for Brantford, the reigning champs.

That set up the Siskins’ matchup with the Guelph Hurricanes, the No. 7 seed.

Before the Brantford matchup, Siskins head coach Dean DeSilva said it was a measuring stick. So how did the team stack up?

“We’re happy where we are,” DeSilva said.

Brantford still has the depth and tenacity that made them champs last year, but the Siskins can challenge, DeSilva said.

“Both teams match up very well with each other,” he said.

Even though the Siskins didn’t clinch first place in the Midwestern Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, they did set a number of team marks.

December’s 17-game-win streak was record setting on its own, but it also lead to the Siskins notching the most wins in a season ever in the team’s 75-year history.

The team also set a mark for the fewest goals-against the club has ever seen.

While those records are nice, they’ve been pushed to the side for now, DeSilva said.

“We reflected on them for about 30 seconds,” he said. “We congratulated the players but also reminded them that all the records mean nothing if we don’t continue the success into the playoffs.”

With their first oppoent set, DeSilva and the coaching staff have two days to get the team prepared for the Hurricanes.

Waterloo won six of the seven games against the Hurricanes this season.

The head-to-record record points to a clear advantage for Waterloo, but DeSilva said it’s important not to look past the Hurricanes.

Coach MacEachern has his boys ready for playoffs

“I know head coach Jim MacEachern and I know how hard he has his guys working,” DeSilva said. “He’s got them playing very well.

“The message for our team is that we have to focus on ourselves.”

There will be a quick turnaround for the Siskins. The team played its final game of the season Sunday — a 2-0 win against the Kitchener Dutchmen — and the playoffs will begin Wednesday.

“We have a few bumps and bruises we’re working through, but I think with it being the playoffs, we can bring the energy and a spark,” the coach said.

The Siskins have aspirations beyond the first round and are looking to play to their strengths.

Goaltending has been a major strength for the Siskins, but the Hurricanes haven’t had as much trouble as other squads getting the puck past netminder duo Colin Breen and Will Sibley.

That means the players in front of the goalie will have to step up to ensure a first-round victory.

All that matters now is the win, DeSilva said.

“The regular season is great individual honours but now it’s all about the team,” he said.

The Siskins take on the Guelph Hurricanes in Game 1 tonight at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex at 7:30 p. m.

Guelph / Waterloo set to do battle

from: http://www.guelphmercury.com

Canes, Siskins square off on Wednesday

March 02, 2010, Mercury staff, sports@guelphmercury.com

GUELPH — The Guelph Hurricanes and Waterloo Siskins begin their Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Midwestern Conference quarter-final playoff series Wednesday at Waterloo.

The Hurricanes (16-29-6) finished seventh in the conference while the Siskins (43-7-1) were second, one point behind the first-placed Brantford Golden Eagles (42-5-4).

The series shifts to the Sleeman Centre for Game 2 March 6. Game time is 7:30 p.m., the same as the opening game.

Waterloo will host Game 3 March 7 beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Game 4 switches back to Victoria Road Arena March 9 starting at 7:30 p.m.

The fifth, sixth and seventh games of the series will be played only if necessary.

If needed the fifth (March 10, 7:30 p.m.) and seventh (March 14, 1:30 p.m.) will be played in Waterloo while the sixth (March 13, 7:30 p.m.) would go at the Sleeman Centre.

Pegrum scored vs. Waterloo earlier in the season

The Hurricanes and Siskins met seven times during the regular season with Waterloo winning six of the games. The Hurricanes won 4-1 at Waterloo Jan. 17 in the game that saw Guelph goaltender Drew Pegrum score an empty-net goal.

In other games in Waterloo, the host Siskins won 5-4 Oct. 2, 8-0 Nov. 20 and 5-2 Jan. 8. In Guelph, the visitors won 5-3 Nov. 7, 4-2 Nov. 26 and 5-1 Feb. 6.

Despite their seventh-place finish, the Hurricanes enter the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the conference. They claimed eight points in their final six games as they had three wins, a loss and two setbacks in overtime.

Tough weekend ahead for Hurricanes

The Guelph Hurricanes (11-19-4 26 pts.) have a tough weekend ahead as they first travel to Waterloo to take on the 2nd Place (27-5-0 54 pts.) Siskins Friday night.

Siskins Wil Sibley has beaten Guelph 3 times

The Siskins have been winning with top notch goaltending and tough checking. They have a balanced  attack. In the previous 4 tilts, Waterloo has come out on top, 5-4, 5-3, 8-0 and 4-2. Three key factors that Guelph needs to do to win are:

1. Shoot !(early and often) The Canes have averaged 27.75 shots per game vs. Waterloo.  Waterloo’s goaltenders have a save % of .923. This translates into 2 goals against. So if they want to increase their goals, they need to increase the number of shots.

2. Stay out of the penalty box! Waterloo has converted 18.09% of their Powerplays (6th in GOJHL).

3. Get Solid goaltending! Attention Chris McDougall… pretend we are playing Stratford.

After battling with the Siskins, Guelph travels to the Bell City to take on the take on the 1st Place Brantford Golden Eagles (28-4-3 59 pts.) on Saturday night.

McQuade leads the GOJHL scoring with 103 pts.

 Two Brantford players that have killed the Canes this season are goaltender Daryl Borden (26-4 2.51 GAA) and Josh McQuade, who leads the league in scoring with 103 pts. (40 goals and 63 assists)

The Golden Eagles sport the GOJHL’s leading Penalty Kill with 89.95% , including 20 shorthanded goals.

Two keys to victory in this game are:

1. Hit them, hit them and then hit them again. This is a run-and-gun finese team that the Hurricanes can upset if they keep laying the body on them.

2. Neutralize Josh McQuade. McQuade has scored 7 goals and 2 assists in 3 games vs. Guelph, including 2 hat tricks. How do they do that….read point #1. Oh and when they hit them, do it cleanly, because Brantford also has the #4 PowerPlay in the GOJHL converting on 23.66% of  them.

One more key factor in both these games.

If Guelph remains in 7th or 8th in the standings at the end of the regular season, it is likely that they will either face Brantford or Waterloo in the first round of the playoffs.

Guelph Hurricanes announce Kids get in Free Night

Saturday is Kid's get in Free night

For all those Dad’s out there who need to keep the Kids occupied Saturday night so Mom can finish the Christmas Shopping, the Guelph Hurricanes have a solution to their problem.

This Saturday (Dec. 5th, 2009) night kids ages 0-13 get in Free as the Guelph Hurricanes take on Dan Mohle and the Listowel Cyclones in the back end of a home and home series.

For every adult ticket purchased up to 4 kids get in free.

This will be an opportunity for parents (the promotion works with Mom’s as well) to spend quality time (in a very economical way) with their kids during this hectic season.

Game time Saturday night is 7:30 pm at the Sleeman Centre.

Guelph Hurricanes take on McQuade and the Eagles: Nov. 7

They say timing is everything in sports.

And if that is true the Guelph Hurricanes may have a golden (as in Brantford Golden Eagles) opportunity before them.

Tomorrow night the Hurricanes travel to the birthplace of Wayne Gretzky and Alexander Graham Bell to take on the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Midwestern conference leading Golden Eagles.

And if you look at the standings (Brantford has 28 points compared to Guelph’s 14),

if you look a the fact that Brantford won the first contest between the two clubs earlier this season (6-3 on Oct.1),

or even if you look at the fact that Brantford sports the league’s leading scorer in Josh McQuade (55pts. in 18 games)

you would conclude that this should be no contest.

But if you concluded that you would have missed the fact that Brantford has lost their last 3 games in a row.

You would have missed the fact that Brantford went into the final minute of the 3rd period leading the Kitchener Dutchmen by a score of 3-1 only to allow two goals (the last one coming with 1 second left) and then went on to loose the game in a shootout.

Or you would have missed the fact that the never say die Hurricanes have enjoyed the steller play of their leading scorer Dan Mohle (32 pts. in 18 games) and #1 goaltender Chris McDougall.  

All these facts could lead to an upset victory for the Guelph Hurricanes.

Stay tuned to find out what happens.

Game time is 7:30 in Brantford.

The next Hurricanes home game is Saturday November 7th when the Hurricanes take on the Waterloo Siskins at The Sleeman Centre. Game time is 7:30 pm.

Thursday Sept. 24, Guelph Hurricanes take on the high flying LaSalle Vipers

Thursday Sept. 24th at 7:30 pm, the Guelph Hurricanes (2-4-0) will take on the LaSalle Vipers (3-1-0).

LaSalle is hosting Stratford on Wednesday, before travelling to Guelph.

Some key Vipers to watch include:

# 57 Forward -D.J. Turner 6 goals – 2 assists – 8 points in 4 games.
# 89 Forward -Drew Palmer 0 goals – 7 assists – 7 points in 4 games.
#72 Defenceman -David Sharpe 3 goals – 3 assists – 6 points in 4 games
# 7 Forward – Marco Maggio – 38 PIM in 4 games.
# 1 Goalie – Connor Lyons – 3 wins – 1 loss – 1 shutout – 2.75 GAA – .899 Sv%

Interesting game note:

LaSalle Vipers have the 2nd best PP in entire 25 team league 8/23 34.78%
Guelph Hurricanes have 2nd best PK in entire 25 team league 3/40 92.50%

Also,

LaSalle Vipers have 22nd best PK in entire league 8/30 73.33%
Guelph Hurricanes have 21st best PP in entire league 5/41 12.20%

So one of the keys to victory will be to stay out of the box, and to try to take advantage our PowerPlay opportunities.

Another couple interesting things about these two teams:

LaSalle’s scored 8-1st period goals, 2-2nd period goals & 13-3rd period goals over 4 games.
Guelph has allowed 5-1st period goals, 20-2nd period goals & 4-3rd period goals over 6 games.

Guelph’s scored 3-1st period goals, 5-2nd period goals & 8-3rd period goals.
LaSalle has allowed 1-1st period goal, 8-2nd period goals & 2-3rd period goals.

LaSalle has outshot their opponents 179(44.75 per game) to 119 (29.75 per game.

Guelph has been outshot by their opponents 209 (34.83 per game) to 179 (29.83 per game)

Also, LaSalle has scored first in all 4 games they played (3:58, 1:00, 5:05 & 6:10) so expect them to come flying out of the gate.

Based on these stats, another key to victory would be that Guelph needs to slow the game down and play tight defense. If they try to play run and gun with this team they may not fair too well.

Admission:

Adults $8

Seniors/Students $6

Children (JK-GD8) $2

Children (under 3) Free