Skidding Canadians fall farther behind in battle for playoff position in CJHL
Posted Jan 14, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Sports - While their "first year" in Junior A hockey didn't end well, the start of the new decade hasn't exactly been kind to Carleton Place Canadians either!
The Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) newcomers have dropped five in a row, going back to Dec. 27. They have lost nine of their last 12 league games to fall four points behind Robinson Division rival Kemptville 73's in the fight for the eighth and final playoff berth in the 12-team league.
The red-hot 73's, the last expansion team in the CJHL in 2007, are seeking their first post season place following two very difficult seasons in which they won just 15 of 60 games in each campaign. Lately they have really turned it around with five wins in their last six games. Kemptville was cooled somewhat Sunday however when they were slammed 8-2 at home by Gloucester Rangers who, in the process, grabbed second place in the highly competitive Yzerman Division race.
The 2009 portion of the schedule started out kindly enough for the expansion Canadians. They held down third place in the division and eighth place overall for the first half of their inaugural campaign.
But two defeats in the last two games of last year and three straight to start 2010 has seen the club surrender their advantage. They now face an uphill battle with just 17 games remaining in the campaign.
"I thought we deserved a better fate in both our games on the weekend," says Canadians' head coach Jason Clarke.
"We were out shot by Pembroke but that is one of our problems - we don't shoot enough. Territorially I thought it was pretty even. But certainly not in shots! And when you shoot at the net good things happen," Clarke stresses.
Three of the nine recent losses have come at the hands of three-time defending CJHL champion Pembroke Lumber Kings. The latest was a 4-1 defeat before a lower than expected crowd of 232 at community centre Saturday night. It was Carleton Place's second loss at home in as many nights.
As they have all season, Pembroke simply overwhelmed Canadians, out shooting Carleton Place by a 2-1 margin (34-17). Lumber Kings used a three-goal third period to overcome the strong goaltending of Canadians' goaltender Zac McMichael who made 30 saves to earn second star honours.
Interestingly McMichael turned out to be a one-time fill-in for the club who traded for a veteran net minder just before the junior hockey trade deadline expired at midnight Sunday (see separate story).
KINGS DOMINATE
Saturday's win was Lumber Kings fifth in as many starts against the expansion side. The teams have one more meeting, in Pembroke in late February before the regular season ends.
The first period was scoreless with McMichael making 10 saves. Brock Plouffe, who has been outstanding for Carleton Place since being acquired in a November trade with Cumberland Grads, opened scoring at 6:39 of the second. Plouffe has 10 goals and 17 points in just 15 games.
Only 13 seconds later Kings' newcomer Max Bobrow notched his second goal in 10 starts to tie it up and the teams remained deadlocked 1-1 after 40 minutes of play. It wasn't until 11:02 of the third that the visitors got the winning goal with defenceman Daniel Sauve firing his second of the campaign. Two minutes, 34 seconds later centre Brandon Gagne provided all the insurance Pembroke would need with his 13th goal. Recent arrival Andrew Clouthier wrapped it up with his fourth goal in seven games with just 36 seconds remaining.
Runaway league scoring leader Damian Cross assisted on all three goals in the final frame to take his totals to 99 points including an amazing 66 assists. Cross was 22 points ahead of Gloucester Rangers' Andrew Creppin following play Saturday.
Arnprior native Kyle Just also set up three goals to move into 12th place in the league scoring derby.
Gregg Gruehl had an easy time making just 16 stops to record his 10th win in 11 decisions in the Pembroke cage.
Referee Tom Sweeney called nine minor penalties, five of those to Canadians. There were no powerplay goals.
Friday night was 'Shean Donovan Night' at community centre, with the long-time local resident and 16-year National Hockey League (NHL) veteran honoured during pre-game ceremonies. Donovan recently returned to Ottawa Senators' line-up following a lengthy layoff due to a serious knee injury. He has one goal and three assists in 21 games this season. But overall the long-time NHLer has 111 goals and 129 assists in 942 career games for seven different teams.
In the main event Canadians ended their five-game regular season series against Cumberland Grads, a team they played quite well against this season.
But Grads, who are fighting for second place in the Yzerman Division, spoiled Canadians' party with a 5-3 victory in a game played before 329 fans. The triumph gave the Navan-based club a 3-2 edge in the season set, although one of their wins came in a shootout meaning Canadians grabbed five of a possible 10 points in their meetings with Grads.
It was a close one Friday too with each side recording 24 shots as the home team lost a heartbreaker. The clubs were deadlocked 2-2 after 20 minutes while the visitors had the only tally of period two. Cumberland then out scored Carleton Place 2-1 in the third with Greg Sartoretto counting what would prove to be the game winner at 2:21 of the final frame.
Defenceman Michael Nooyen led the visitors' with a pair of tallies giving him four goals on the campaign. His second was the insurance marker with 4:54 remaining in regulation. Kale Wild and Sean Bamford had the others for Cumberland.
RODIER STARS
Carleton Place scoring leader Tyler Kotlarz netted his 22nd (he has 39 points) in the third period. Ryan Lowe opened scoring early in the game with his fifth of the campaign while winger Zach Rodier came up with a shorthanded, unassisted goal in the first, his eighth of the season. He also had an assist to give him 20 points so far. Rodier was named the game's third star.
Adam Mohr made 21 saves for his ninth win in 12 decisions in Grads' goal. Scott Shackell stopped 19 pucks in a losing cause, falling below .500 on the campaign for the first time. The busy net minder has 15 wins and 16 losses in 34 appearances to date.
Referee Brad Crawford was mainly a spectator. He called just two minor penalties in the well played contest, one to each side. There were no powerplay goals.
Following last week's action Canadians are looking ahead to their next three games when they play two teams they should match up very well with. In fact the remainder of January will be vital for the expansion team if they hope to secure a playoff place in their first season in the Junior A loop.
Tomorrow night (Friday) Carleton Place plays perhaps their most important game of the campaign to date when they visit Kemptville for a key meeting with 73's. Game-time at North Grenville Municipal Centre is 7:30 p.m.
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