Hurricanes dropped 6-4 by WinterHawks

from: http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

CANES FALL TO WINTERHAWKS

The Cambridge Winterhawks continued their dominance over the Guelph Hurricanes with a 6-4 win last night at the Sleeman Centre. However, the final outcome doesn’t reflect how the Hurricanes played. Those in attendance would tell you that the Canes played well enough to win that game.

Jude, Bell, Goss and Pfeffer return to the bench after scoring

The Canes dominated the first period with 3 goals by Brandon Anselmini, Cam Jude and Mike Iacocca. Jude scored the prettiest goal of the night when Blair Goss took the puck into the Cambridge zone and laid a perfect pass on Cam’s stick.

The second period was well played with some great chances on both ends. The game was tied late in the second when an innocent looking clear in pass took a crazy bounce over Drew Pegrum’s stick and found the open net to put the WinterHawks up 4-3.

Early in the 3rd Nic MacEachern restored the lead with a nice goal set up by Connor Ste Marie and Mike McFarlane. The game see sawed back and forth before the Hawks scored with less than 5 minutues in the game to take the lead. The Canes took a rare penalty with less than a mnute left to put the Hawks on the powerplay which led to their final goal. The game was very clean with Cambridge picking up 3 minors all to the same player. Guelph took 4 minors.

The final 2 regular season games will played on the road tonight in Listowel and Saturday in Cambridge.

Play offs will start next week either in Brantford or Waterloo. Our home dates will be announced later this week end.

The GOJHL – MidWestern banquet goes this Monday in Stratford.

Hurricanes win key game in Kitchener

from: http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

TEAM EFFORT BEATS DUTCHMEN

The Guelph Hurricanes proved that old adage last night in Kitchener…”Play as a team. Win as a team.” Already missing 2 of their top defensemen Cayle Creen(out for the season-knee injury) and Zach Dion (suspension) the Canes lost Daniel Cotroneo when he left the game in the 1st period. The Canes eventhough they were outshooting the Dutchmen fell behind 2-0 before a Wade Pfeffer(2) point shot found the net to cut the lead in half.

In the break Coach MacEachern and his associates reminded the team of the game plan and how important this game was. They responded by scoring the next 4 goals. The line of Mike Iacocca, Martin Kudla and Jake Weidner continued to shine offensively. Iaccoca(18), Weidner(8) and Kudla(17 – empty net) all scored. Canes leading scoreer Tyson Theaker added his 18th while Blair Goss, Cam Jude, Iacocca, Kudla, Connor Ste. Marie and Nic MacEachern(2) contributed assists.

After backing up Brandon Foote on the Storm’s northern trip Drew Pegrum returned to shut down the Dutchmen after the 1st period to record the win. Pegrum made his best save of the night late in the 3rd with the score 3-2 and the Dutchmen pressing. Theaker scored right after that to put the game away. In all he stopped 26 shots many of the difficult variety.

Final Score Guelph 5, Kitchener 2

The Hurricanes last home game of the regular season is Thursday, February 25 at the Sleeman Centre when the Cambridge WinterHawks are the visitors. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Play-offs will either Wednesday(Waterloo) or Thursday(Brantford) depending on the final standings.

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.

Layoff work pays off for the Hurricanes

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

GUELPH – Work the Guelph Hurricanes did on both their power play and penalty killing during their two-week layoff paid off Saturday night.

The Hurricanes scored a pair of power-play goals in edging the Welland Canadians 4-3 in a shootout in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League play at the Sleeman Centre. Guelph went 2-for-8 on the power play while Welland was 1-for-6.

“We took advantage of that practice time and it showed,” Guelph head coach Jim MacEachern said. “We took advantage of it. We worked our special teams. . . (and) we created more opportunities because of it.”

Kudla nets the Shootout winner

“We got to work on a new power play and a new penalty kill so I think it helped out in that aspect,” Martin Kudla said. The fifth shooter for the Hurricanes, he fittingly scored the overtime winner after being robbed of the opportunity of getting it late in the third period by the quick stick of Welland keeper Kari Rikkonen. “But it’s hard to take that time off with no games and then come back and play a game.”

On the shootout winner, Kudla faked a wrist shot before going to his backhander for the goal.

“I do that move a lot in practice so I just thought I’d go with it,” he said. “It works usually, so I thought I’d go with it right from the start.”

The win allowed the Hurricanes to climb out of their tie with the Kitchener Dutchmen for seventh in the eight-team Midwestern Conference.

Tyson Theaker, one of the few Hurricanes who can grow a beard, scored twice in regulation time and once in the shootout while Zach Dion had the other regulation-time goal for the Hurricanes. Theaker’s linemates Mike McFarlane and Nic MacEachern assisted on both of his goals while Luca Penzo also had an assist.

“I haven’t got a goal in a while so it felt good to get a couple,” Theaker said. “The puck was bouncing, the line was working hard.”

check out the rest of the article here: http://news.guelphmercury.com/Sports/article/577546

Siskins use Relentless Forecheck to down Hurricanes 4-2

Waterloo’s relentless forecheck kept the Hurricanes on their heals most of the night and this created many scoring chances for the Siskins in their 4-2 win over the Guelph Thursday night at The Sleeman Centre.

Guelph's Martin Kudla battles Waterloo's Kevin Henriques for the puck

Except for 10 minutes in the 2^nd period, the Siskins were aggressive in taking the play to the Hurricanes.  

If it wasn’t for the stellar goaltending by Chris McDougall who turned away 40 of 44 shots, the score of this game could have easily mirrored the score in their last outing when Waterloo beat Guelph 8-0.

In the opening period, Waterloo fired 24 shots at McDougall and jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Scott Nagy, Ryan Dilks and Andrew Csumrik.

Tyson Theaker pulled the Hurricanes within 2 with a goal 17 seconds into the second period.

Waterloo’s Tony Blyde restored the Siskin’s 3 goal lead 2 and a half minutes later.

The score stayed 4-1 until Peter Soligo scored on shot from the point after Siskins goalie Will Sibley stopped Nic MacEachern and Mike McFarlane on a 2 on 0.

The Hurricanes pulled their goalie late in the game but couldn’t get another one past Sibley.

Final Score: Waterloo (now 18-5-0) 4, Guelph (now 8-16-2) 2

The Hurricanes take to the road for their next 2 games, Saturday in Cambridge and Sunday in Elmira.

Guelph’s next home game will be next Thursday December 3^rd against the league leading Brantford Golden Eagles. Game time is 7:45 pm.

Dutchmen spoil Hurricanes party at Guaranteed Win Night

Chris MacDougall braces for the shot

According to the script, the Guelph Hurricanes were to earn their 8th victory of the season with a win over Kitchener. But unfortunately, someone forgot to inform the Dutchmen who defeated the Canes 5-3.

Kitchener jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first 4 minutes of the game.

They stretched that lead to 3-0 by the end of the first period.

The Hurricanes got one back in the second making it 3-1.

Each team exchanged a pair of goals in the 3rd, making it a 5-3 final.

SCORING SUMMARY

Period 1

Kitchener – Josh Mitton (Shane Bainbridge, Mark Scheifele) 3:18 Kitchener – Tanner DeWitt (powerplay) (Mark Scheifele, Shawn Bechtloff) 3:39 Kitchener – Lucas Tucciapone (Josh Mitton, Paul Sergi) 18:56

Period 2

Guelph – Ken Rolph (shorthanded) (Evan Jared, Cayle Creen) 13:36

Period 3

Kitchener – Josh Warner (Brandon Passley, Ryan Clarkson) 0:32 Guelph – Mike McFarlane (Wade Pfeffer, Nic MacEachern) 0:54 Kitchener – Ryan Clarkson (Brandon Passley, Josh Mitton) 5:23 Guelph – Mark Bell (powerplay) (Andrew Van Ooteghem, Connor Ste Marie) 18:24

Not only did the game feature several fights including a tilt where the Hurricanes Nic MacEachern (5-10 178lbs.) took on the Dutchmen’s Alex McCaffrey (6-3 246 lbs.) and held his own.

Trainers from both teams attend to Brant Nicolson

But the game also featured a scary scene where Dutchmen’s defenceman Brant Nicolson bolted out of the penalty box after a loose puck in the Hurricanes end lost an edge and fell ackwardly head first into the boards.

The trainers from both teams were quickly on the scene (which reminded me of the Rangers Ben Fanelli injury a couple of weeks ago).

Based on the fact that he hit his head the trainers and EMS staff were cautious and treated Brant as if he had a spinal injury.

The game was delayed 20 minutes as he was taken to hospital for further tests.

Although the game didn’t turn out as the script maker would have liked it to be, The Hurricanes made good on their promise by giving free tickets to an upcoming game to fans that purchased their tickets at the game.

The next Hurricanes game is Friday Nov. 20th when Guelph travels to Waterloo to take on the Siskins.

Then the following night, Saturday Nov. 21st the Hurricanes host the Stratford Cullitons. Game time is 7:30 pm at the Sleeman Centre.

Missing ring motivation for Guelph bench boss

from the Stratford Beacon Herald http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2175270

Missing ring motivation for Guelph bench boss

Posted By Mike Savage

If he had a do-over, Jim MacEachern would have played the 1987-88 season for the Waterloo Siskins.

His decision to not play that year still haunts him, yet serves as motivation for his new mission — help the Guelph Hurricanes bring home a championship.

“The city of Guelph deserves a winner, our owners deserve a winner, and that’s what we’re striving for,” MacEachern, the Hurricanes’ head coach since early October, said last night. “It may not happen this year. We know the odds are against it. What we need to do first is establish a winning attitude. The only way that will happen is if we string some ‘W’s’ together and build some confidence.

“It all starts with enjoying being at the rink and doing all you can to win. That has to be the goal every night or you’re in the wrong place.”

check out the rest of the article here: http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2175270

The Hurricanes play the Kitchener Dutchmen tonight at The Sleeman Centre on “Guaranteed Win Night” game time is 7:30 pm.

Tickets are only $8.00 for Adults, $6.00 for Students and Seniors and $2.00 for Children (up to grade 8)

Shorthanded Hurricanes have no answer for Cody Hall & the Winterhawks Powerplay

 from http://www.GuelphHurricanes.com

In the space of 7 minutes during the second period WinterHawk fans were treated to the Cody Hall powerplay show. The game was tied 1-1 when Hall went to work and 4-1 when he was finished. Excellent saves by Chris McDougall and a couple of goal posts prevented the veteran Hall from scoring 5 or 6 goals.

Hall’s performance and the absence of Dan Mohle from Guelph’s powerplay overshadowed a good road performance from the Canes. The Canes still smarting from injuries to defensemen Wade Pfeffer and Luca Penzo went with both their 16 year old defensemen Brandon Anselmini and Daniel Cotroneo. Both players played tough and had relatively good games in a tough building. Anselmini contributed his 1st junior goal on a hard shot from the point.

The Canes had 3 call ups for the game including 16 year old midget Evan Jared. To make matters worse was the loss of D-Man Peter Soligo due to a head check penalty.

Also scoring for Guelph was Tyson Theaker. Adding assists were Mike McFarland, Zack Dion and Nic MacEachern. Canes travel to Stratford this Friday.

The next Hurricanes home game is Saturday November 14th, 7:30pm at the Sleeman Centre. When Guelph takes on the Kitchener Dutchmen.

Canes fall to Golden Eagles

from http://www.GuelphHurricanes.com

The Brantford Golden Eagles were the better team tonight. They displayed the many talents and weapons they possess to dominate the GOHL. However, the Canes showed why they will be a force to reckon with as the season progresses. The final score was 4-1 for Brantford but coach MacEachern has many positives to build on.

Trevor McGee was solid in goal and during an 11 minute power play advantage he made a number of tough saves to keep the Golden Eagles at bay. This was also the best game of the year for the Canes penalty killing unit.  16 old Brandon Anselmini also turned in his best game of the season against a very physical team. The offense played well but the goaltending of Darryl Borden was outstanding as he made many great saves including an incredible toe save in the 3rd on a powerplay that would have moved the Canes to within a goal.

Scoring the lone goal for Guelph was Mark Bell with assists from Tyson Theaker and newcomer Nic MacEachern. Next game for Guelph is this Saturday when the Canes host the Waterloo Siskins at the Sleeman Center. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Some bad news for Cane fans. In the second period leading scorer Dan Mohle was assessed a major penalty for a head check. Along with the penalty comes a 2 game suspension.