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/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.

Hurricanes set to take on Siskins in GOJHL Quarter-final action

Guelph takes on the 2nd place Waterloo Siskins

Tomorrow night (Wednesday March 3rd: 7:30 pm) the Guelph Hurricanes (16-29-6-38 pts.) travel to Waterloo to take on the (43-7-1-87 pts, ) Siskins at Waterloo Memorial Recreation Centre in Game 1 of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League first round playoffs.

Game 2 will be played @ the Sleeman Centre in Guelph on Saturday March 6th. Game time:7:30 pm.

Game 3 will be in Waterloo on Sunday March 7th . Game time 1:30 pm.

Game 4 will be @ Victoria Road Arena in guelph on Tuesday March 9th. Game time: 7:30 pm.

Game 5 (if necessary) will be played in Waterloo on Wednesday March 10th. Game time:7:30 pm.

Game 6 (if necessary) will be played @Guelph’s Sleeman Centre on Saturday March 13th. Game time 7:30 pm

Game 7 (if necessary) will be played in Waterloo on Sunday March 14th. Game time:1:30 pm.

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.

Drew Pegrum called up to Storm

from: http://www.guelphmercury.com

Back woes ground Storm goaltender

February 03, 2010, Tony Saxon,  tsaxon@guelphmercury.com

GUELPH — Guelph Storm goaltender Cody St. Jacques could be done for the season.

St. Jacques flew home to Iroquois Falls last weekend to have an MRI on his ailing back in nearby Timmins and the results weren’t good.

“I’ve got two herniated discs and one bulging disc,” St. Jacques said in street clothes from rinkside Wednesday as his teammates practiced at the Sleeman Centre.

“They told me I have early degenerative discs, which is extremely rare for a 19 year old. My dad’s side of the family always had back problems, so I’m not surprised there was a problem with the discs, but I was surprised how bad it was.”

St. Jacques is waiting for an appointment with a surgeon in Hamilton who will evaluate how bad things are and whether or not he can do any more damage to his back.

“Until then I won’t be on the ice or doing anything too physical,” he said.

St. Jacques has played in 26 games for the Storm this season but hasn’t seen any game action since Jan. 2.

Pegrum will play with the Storm this weekend

The Storm had four goaltenders on the ice yesterday. Brandon Foote was joined by James Prigione, Guelph Hurricanes goaltender Drew Pegrum and Guelph Storm midget AA goaltender Joe Drexler, who backed up Foote in Owen Sound last Saturday.

With Prigione having starting netminding duties with the junior B Listowel Cyclones this weekend, it will be Pegrum that gets the nod as the backup for this weekend’s three-game Eastern Ontario swing to Kingston, Belleville and Ottawa.

Pegrum becomes the sixth goaltender to dress for the Storm this season. He has split this season with Listowel and Guelph at the junior B level, compiling a 7-7-0-1 record and 4.11 goals-against average.

He recently made headlines by scoring in a game against the Waterloo Siskins.

View the rest of the story here: http://news.guelphmercury.com/Sports/article/594381

*********

The Hurricanes wish Drew success with the Storm.

The Hurricanes next game is this Saturday night (7:30 pm) at Victoria Road Arena when they take on the Waterloo Siskins.  This will be the final regular season meeting between these two teams. There is a strong possiblity that they will meet in the first round of the playoffs.

Goalie scores for Hurricanes in 4-1 Victory over Waterloo

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

PEGRUM LEADS CANES to 4-1 WIN

When GM Matt Mullin insisted that goalie Drew Pegrum be included in the huge deal that sent quality players Dan Mohle and Ken Rolfe to Listowel. He knew he was getting a quality goalie for the future. He didn’t know he was also getting a potential goal scorer.

 

Pegrum is 10th goalie in Junior hockey history to score a goal

Sunday afternoon in Waterloo with the Siskins goalie on the bench for an extra attacker Pegrum gathered in the puck and shot it the length of the ice into the open net securing a 4-1 victory over the leagues 2nd place team.

The game started out on a sour note when a routine shoot in by a Siskin defender deflected off a Hurricane’s skate and found the corner of the net behind Pegrum. If it rattled him you’d never know because he responded by stopping the next 42 shots the Siskins fired at him.

Waterloo known for their tough disciplined play had 16 shots on Pegrum in the first 8 minutes of the game. He was up to the task. Using a lightning fast glove and cat like moves he made save after save some of the incredible variety keeping the Canes in the game. 

Guelph had their oportunities as well and finally beat goalie Will Sibley on a Cayle Creen pointshot that Jake Weidner(5th) deflected into the net.

Weidner(6th)scored again in the second period with assists from Martin Kudla and Conner Ste Marie.

Guelph was awarded a penalty shot in the 3rd. Taylor Lukasik(4th) beat Sibley with a nice move to give Guelph a 3-1 lead.

The Canes used a new found energy and shut down the high flying Siskins with a stingy defense and great forechecking. Then came Pegrum’s heroics to put the final score at 4-1.

This was a total team effort and the Canes were full marks for this victory. This was also a strong moral victory as the Siskins could be the Canes first round opponent. With every player involved in the play for the entire game the Canes have put 3 solid games together as they get ready for the upcoming play-offs. What a great time to be playing your best hockey.

The Canes get a schedule break for the next 3 weeks as they play 3 games all at home.

All Saturdays at the Victoria Road Arena. Next Saturday the hot Stratford Cullitons visit Victoria Road. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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.

Theaker leads Hurricanes past Canadians on Minor Hockey Night

Just days after scoring in the Midwestern All-Star game Tyson Theaker scored 2 goals in regulation time and added another in the shootout to lead the Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Welland Canadians last night (Guelph Minor Hockey night) at the Sleeman Centre.

Theaker scores for the Hurricanes

Just hours after #9 Matt Sisca scored the game winning goal for the Guelph Storm over the Plymouth Whalers, #9 Martin Kudla scored the shootout winner for the Hurricanes.

The win is the 10th of the season for the Hurricanes and 2nd in their last 3 games and it moves Guelph into 7th place in the Midwestern Conference 2 pts. ahead of the Kitchener Dutchmen.

The Hurricanes next game is in Kitchener against the Dutchmen at 2:00 pm. This is the last one before the Christmas break. 

Guelph’s next home game will be Saturday January 2nd when they host the Dutchmen at Victoria Road Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 pm.

Thomas, Brett and Connor enjoy the game on Guelph Minor Hockey night

Alexander, Andrew and Branden cheer on the Hurricanes

Newly acquired Weidner impresses in 5-4 loss to Brantford

In his first game as a Hurricane, rookie Jake Weidner almost matched his point total that he accumulated in 24 games with the Listowel Cyclones.

Weidner scored 3 pts. vs. Brantford

Weidner who was acquired earlier this week along with fellow rookie, Blair Goss (for veterans Dan Mohle and Ken Rolph) was solid all night winning critical faceoffs and buzzing on a line with Martin Kudla and Mike Iacocca against the high flying Branford Golden Eagles.

Meanwhile Brantford through 46 shots at Hurricanes goaltender Chris McDougall and Josh McQuade added 4 points (3 goals and 1 assist) to his league leading point total in an exciting 5-4 win over Guelph.

This game featured powerplay goals, a short handed goal, a penalty shot, Guelph killing off a 5-3 and a fight.

Even though Guelph didn’t win the battle, they looked solid and may have picked up some information that can help them win the war, if these two team meet in the first round of the playoffs.

Tomorrow night the Hurricanes travel to Listowel to take on the Cyclones in a home-in-home series that concludes when these two teams play Saturday night (7:30 pm) at The Sleeman Centre.

Remember to tell your friend that it is Kids get in Free night Saturday. With each adult admission they can bring up to 4 children ages 0-13.