McDougall and Hurricanes steal game 1 from Siskins

Captain McFarlane congratulates McDougall

Hurricanes goalie Chris McDougall stopped 39 of 40 shots as Jake Weidner, Wade Pfeffer and Cam Jude scored to lift Guelph to a 3-1 road victory over Waterloo in game 1 of their GOJHL Best of Seven Quarter Final.

After a scoreless first Weidner put the Canes up 1-0 20 seconds in to the 2nd. (assists went to Zach Dion and Luca Penzo). Just under 3 minutes later Pfeffer put Guelph up 2-0. (the lone assist went to Blair Goss).

Waterloo got one back at the 6:27 mark of the 2nd, when Kevin Czuczman scored (assist went to Tony Blyde and Andrew Csumrik.

With the Siskins pressing, Guelph put the game away with Jude’s goal at 18:27 mark of the 3rd. (assists went to Tyson Theaker and Mike McFarlane).

Guelph now leads the series 1-0.

Game two will be played Saturday night at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph. Game time 7:30pm.

Hurricanes drop a close one to Cyclones in OT

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

CANES LOSE IN OVERTIME

The atmosphere inside the Ice Palace was hot for a couple of hours as the Hurricanes and Cyclones put on one of the most entertaining, exciting games of the season. The Cyclones prevailed in overtime 4-3 but were pushed to the limit by the hard working Canes.

Chris McDougall covers the puck

Listowel struck first with former Cane Dan Mohle chipping a loose puck into the net for a 1-0 first period lead. The Cyclones struck again before the Canes went to work. Tyson Theaker(17) scored from Mike McFarlane and Nic MacEachern making the score 2-1 entering the 3rd period.

The Canes came out flying in the 3rd and put pressure on Guelph native Jim Prigione. Prigone made a number of excellent saves before Luca Penzo(5) beat him with a power play goal to tie the game. Martin Kudla and Mike Iaccoca assisted on the goal. Canes kept up the pressure until McFarlane(10) with assists from Theaker and Wade Pfeffer put the Canes up 3-2.

Now it was McDougall’s turn to shine in the Canes net and he did. He made a number of excellent saves to keep the Canes in the lead. But with the Canes in control and less than 2 minutes left lighting struck. Former Hurricane Ken Rolph stole the puck in the offensive zone, walked in on McDougall and scored sending the game into overtime.

An ill-advised retailiation penalty with less than a minute left in regulation gave the Cyclones the man advantage heading into overtime. Fergus resident Eric Dekkers scored right off the face-off with a blast that caught McDougall off guard to send the Listowel fans home happy.

The one point puts the Canes in a dead heat with the Kitchener Dutchmen setting up their upcomng game on Tuesday in Kitchener.

The Canes have 4 games left in the regular season with the lone home game being next Thursday Feb 25th at the the Sleeman Centre vs. the Cambridge WinterHawks. Game time is 7:45 p.m.

Brantford Clips Hurricanes 6-1

from: http://www.guelphmercury.com

Canes clipped by Brantford

February 13, 2010, Mercury staff, sports@guelphmercury.com

GUELPH – The Guelph Hurricanes held the Brantford Golden Eagles at bay for a period before the Midwestern Conference leaders pulled away for a 6-1 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League victory Saturday night at the Sleeman Centre.

McDougall looks for help as Brantford celabrates goal

The game was scoreless after the first period before Brantford scored six consecutive goals, four of them coming in the second period.

Jake Weidner ruined the shutout bid by Daryl Borden when he scored a shorthanded goal for the Hurricanes at 14:54 of the third period. Connor Ste. Marie and goaltender Chris McDougall assisted on the play.

Thomas Middup and league scoring leader Josh McQuade scored twice each for Brantford while Joe Vanni and Jeff Lynch added single goals. McQuade also had two assists to give him 61 goals and 80 assists in 48 games.

The win improves Brantford’s record to 39-5-4 while Guelph falls to 13-27-4.

View the rest of the story here: http://news.guelphmercury.com/Sports/article/597440

Third period goals sink Canes

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

CULLITONS STAGE COMEBACK

The Guelph Hurricanes still high after upsetting the Waterloo Siskins last weekend were fast out of the gate tonight.  Powerplay goals by their leading scorer Tyson Theaker(14) (Mike McFarlane and Mike Iacocca) and Cayle Creen(3)(McFarlane) for a 2-0 lead. Everything was working well and the boys looked set for a second straight win.

With 19 seconds left in the 1st period, a lucky bounce, a Culliton forward in the right place and bang they score and its 2-1. The Cullitons leave the ice on a high and the Canes go to the room wondering what just happened. 

Wade Pfeffer blocks a Kyle Roes shot

It was Stratford’s turn to start fast in the second. Goalie Chris McDougall made some good saves before Tyson Avery beat him to tie up the game. The rest of the period featured some spirited play by both teams but no real scoring chances.

The 3rd period started slow but the Cullitons Brad McClure did his Sydney Crosby impression and scored 2 beauty goals in the space of 12 seconds. Guelph called a timeout to talk it over and settle everyone down. Less then a minute later the Cullitons scored again to put the game out of reach. Stratford had scored 3 goals in the space of one minute and four seconds to dash the hopes of a Hurricane 2 game win streak.

Next game for the Canes is next Saturday, January 30 when they face the red hot Elmira Sugar Kings at Victoria Road. Game time is 7:30.

Former Dominator backstops Sugar Kings to 2-1 win over Hurricanes

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

GORECKI STOPS FORMER TEAM

One of Gorecki's 43 saves

Former Guelph Dominator goalie Brendan Gorecki came back to haunt his previous teammates by stopping 43 shots to put up a 2-1 win for his new team the Elmira Sugar Kings.

Not to be outdone Hurricanes goalie Chris McDougall had an awesome game as well keeping the Canes close with a number of great saves.

The fans were treated to another exciting fast paced game. The Canes were all over the Kings in the 3rd period and came close on a number of attempts hitting a post, a crossbar and save after save by Gorecki. In all he faced 23 shots in the 3rd. The Canes thought they had scored twice only to have the net come off on the 1st attempt and with 0.4 seconds left. The refs met, discussed and finally decided the goal didn’t count sending the hometown faithful away disappointed but encouraged by the play of the young Hurricane squad.

Captain Mike MacFarland scored his 6th of the season from Tyson Theaker and Cayle Creen.

The Canes travel to Waterloo Sunday for a 1:30 start then host the Stratford Cullitons at the Victoria Road Arena on January 23rd. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Winterhawks score early to defeat Hurricanes on Habitat for Humanity night

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

WINTERHAWKS START FAST

 The Cambridge Winterhawks found a way to take the larger than normal Hurricane crowd out of the game early. They scored at the 9 second mark. That goal stopped the eager Canes dead in their tracks and it took a while for them to get into the groove. Once they did it was a very exciting game.

The final score was 4-1 but it was really a 2-1 game. It was fast entertaining and had everything a charity hockey game should.

Ray Scapinello, Paul Henderson, Paul's wife and GOJHL President Shawn McKelvie during the Ceremonial faceoff

The ladies from Habitat for Humanity put on quite a show. They had hockey Hall of Famers Paul Henderson, yes that Henderson, Local hero Ray Scampinello and their wives drop the puck as part of the opening ceremonies. Mid Western head honcho Shawn McKelvie also took part.

The ladies had autographed sweaters, sticks, pucks, t-shirts, Tim Hortons stuff, Pizza prizes and a pair of Platinum Tickets to a Raptor game. Throw in Magic FM morning duo Kevin and Jennifer doing the announcing and you have an awesome night of entertainment.

The hockey game provided lots of excitement as the Hurricanes fought back after the bad start and created a number of great scoring opportunites only to be denied by the goaltending of Jeff Flager.

After the shaky start goaltender Chris McDougall settled down and made some outstanding saves to keep the Canes close. Guelph’s young defense played well including 16 year olds Daniel Cotroneo and Brandon Anselmini who are getting more ice time as their play improves.

A goal by Jake Weidner made the score 2-1 and it stayed that way until the 10:00 minute mark of the third when a defensive giveaway led to the Hawks 3rd goal. They later added an empty net goal to make the final score 4-1.

The Canes next game is this Saturday (Jan 16th) at the Sleeman Centre when they face off with the Elmira Sugar Kings. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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.

Dutchmen steal one from Hurricanes

In late February when the GOJHL (Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League) regular season comes to a close and the Guelph Hurricanes see who they are facing in the playoffs, they may be thinking of this game tonight at Victoria Road Arena, this 4-3 shootout loss to the Kitchener Dutchmen as… the one that got away.

McDougall down after Dutchmen tie the game

Kitchener’s Ted Anstett opened up the scoring in the first, before Taylor Lukasik (shorthanded) and Blair Goss (powerplay) scored for Guelph and after one period, the Hurricanes led 2-1.

After a scoreless 2^nd period, Tyson Theaker extended the Hurricanes lead to 3-1 at the 15:33 mark of the 3^rd period.

With the Hurricanes leading 3-1 with 2:34 left in the 3^rd period in a tight checking affair with the Kitchener Dutchmen it looked like the gap in points between these two teams was about to widen. With the win Guelph would have moved 6 points ahead (27 pts to 21) of the 8^th place Dutchmen and would have decreased the likelihood of facing the MidWestern Division leading Brantford Golden Eagles in the first round of the playoffs.

But that wasn’t to be.

The Dutchmen called a time out and then pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. Then Tanner DeWitt scored with 2:26 left on the clock and then Ryan Clarkson and tied it up with 56 seconds left in the 3^rd.

Overtime solved nothing, so the teams went to a shootout.

Mark Scheifele’s wrist shot in the top corner over the Hurricane goaltender Chris McDougall’s glove proved to be the winner for the Dutchmen.

With the one point they gained in the shootout loss, Guelph now sit tied in 6th (tied with Elmira, however the Sugar Kings have two games in hand) with 26 pts. , Kitchener with 23 pts. remains in 8^th.

The Hurricanes take to the road for their next two games, Friday Jan. 8^th in Waterloo and Saturday Jan. 9^th in Brantford.

The next Hurricanes home game is the following Thursday Jan. 14^th, when they take on the Cambridge Winter Hawks in a 7:45 pm start at the Sleeman Centre.

New Netminder gets the call for the Hurricanes

from http://www.guelphmercury.com by Rob Massey

GUELPH — After a couple of weeks of practising with the Guelph Hurricanes, Drew Pegrum will get his first start in net with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League team.

“It’ll be great to get a game in this weekend,” Pegrum said.

Hurricanes goalie Drew Pegrum

Pegrum was part of the Hurricanes’ blockbuster deal with the Listowel Cyclones that saw them send top scorers Dan Mohle and Ken Rolph to the Cyclones for youngsters Blair Goss and Jake Weidner. Pegrum came to Guelph a week later after Listowel acquired goaltender Brock Hansell from the Thorold Black Hawks.

“We ended up sending two 20-year-olds up there and we got two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old back,” Hurricanes head coach Jim MacEachern said. “The goal here is to get younger. That’s what we’re trying to do. We have until Jan. 10th and if something else comes up, we might take advantage of that, too.”

Pegrum has a 4-5-0-1 record this season, with two of his wins coming against the Hurricanes. He has a 4.29 goals-against average and a .876 save percentage. He played five games in September and two early in October before hurting his left knee. He’s played three games since Oct. 10 – a win over Guelph, a loss to Brantford and a shootout loss to Kitchener – as Guelph native James Prigione, a veteran with the Cyclones, increased his playing time.

“I was playing a bunch at the start of the season and I got injured,” Pegrum said. “Prigione stepped up when I was injured and he started playing really good, so he got a lot of time after that.”

Pegrum said his knee is fine now.

“It’s better now,” he said. “It’s been strong for about four weeks.”

With the Hurricanes, Pegrum is expected to be the main backup to Chris McDougall, who has appeared in 19 of Guelph’s 31 games. McDougall will get the start Saturday night against the Welland Canadians at the Sleeman Centre while Pegrum will get the call Sunday afternoon against the Dutchmen in Kitchener.

“Chris is our No. 1, I’m not going to deny that,” MacEachern said. “Again, we’ve got to look out for the future. I would expect and I would hope that Doogs (McDougall) is playing for the Peterborough Petes next year. Drew is going to go as much as Doogs here. When we get into the playoffs or down the stretch, I’ll probably go with the guy who is hot.”

Until then, it’ll be a rotation of sorts, likely with McDougall getting two starts for every one that Pegrum gets.

Read the rest of the article here: http://news.guelphmercury.com/Sports/article/577393

Sleeman Centre busy place this Saturday

The Sleeman Centre will be a busy place tomorrow. (Saturday December 19th, 2009)

First the Guelph Storm host the Plymouth Whalers at 2:00pm in OHL action.  This will be a chance to see newly acquired defenceman Ryan Gottschalk.

Then Chris McDougall and the Guelph Hurricanes host the Welland Canadiens at 7:30 pm in GOJHL action. Remember that Guelph Minor Hockey Players wearing their hockey jerseys will get in Free to the Hurricanes / Canadiens matchup.

 

So take a break from your Christmas shopping and head down to the Sleeman Centre for some exciting hockey