Canadians bounce back with strong performance in 6-4 win over Nepean
Posted Mar 4, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Sports - Although they won't be in the playoffs in their first campaign, Carleton Place Canadians played a role in the race for post season positions Friday, upending Nepean Raiders 6-4 and putting an exclamation mark on their ninth place standing in the Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL).
Although they wrapped up a playoff place long ago, Raiders are in a tight battle with Yzerman Division rivals Ottawa Junior Senators and Cumberland Grads as they try to avoid a meeting with one of two league giants in the opening round of the playoffs.
Brockville Braves and three-time defending Bogart Cup champion Pembroke Lumber Kings are in a neck and neck battle for first place overall in the 12-team league. Both teams won Friday with Pembroke holding a one-point edge on Braves.
Saturday night Brockville played their game in hand and the lead changed again when Braves bounced Smiths Falls Bears 7-2, moving to 102 points, one ahead of Lumber Kings.
The winner of that titanic struggle will face eighth place Kemptville 73's in the CJHL quarter finals starting next week.
Whoever finishes second will meet the seventh place side and right now that could be Ottawa, Nepean or Cumberland.
After losing to Carleton Place, Raiders 65 points left them two ahead of Grads who remained seventh overall. Cumberland picked up a single point in a 2-1 shootout loss at Kemptville Friday. The same night Ottawa moved to 67 points with a 4-1 win over Smiths Falls.
Nepean has the advantage on their nearest rivals because following Friday's action they had four games remaining on their schedule while Ottawa had two and Cumberland just one.
Canadians have played very well against Nepean winning three of five meetings, including the last three in a row.
Friday they out shot Raiders 33-31 and held interval leads of 3-2 and 6-3 on 'Hospital Night' at Carleton Place and District Community Centre. Unfortunately the special promotion didn't stand a chance against the Canada-Slovakia Olympic semi final game which was being played in Vancouver. With millions of people glued to their television sets, a disappointing 198 took in the Junior A clash here, one of the smallest turnouts of the season. Audiences have fallen off badly since the club dropped out of the playoff race.
Those who stayed home missed an excellent performance by Canadians. The locals scored three powerplay goals on six opportunities, including a pair by defenceman Rusty Hafner. The 18-year-old from Toledo, Ohio also added an assist, improving his totals to 11 goals and 16 assists in 58 games. In the process he tied Carleton Place native Donovan Gardiner for most points by a defenceman on the hockey club.
Team scoring leader Tyler Kotlarz had a powerplay goal and one assist to move to 28 goals and 55 total points. Left winger Richard Stethem is second on the Carleton Place scoring chart and he struck for goal No. 19 and set up another to hit the 50-point plateau. Zach Rodier and Kyle Phillips, with a shorthanded effort late in the second period, were the other goal-getters. Ryan Lowe, Canadians' third leading scorer, had four assists to lift his total to 46 points including a team-leading 36 helpers.
All four Nepean tallies came on the powerplay with Corey and Scott Domenico netting first period markers while Zak Ray and team scoring leader Andrew Calof, with the only third period tally, had the others for Raiders. Calof moved to 91 points including 43 goals while Scott Domenico is second on the Nepean chart with 35 goals and 37 assists.
Scott Shackell made a rare start in the Carleton Place goal but lasted just eight minutes, 26 seconds. He was replaced by Francis Dupuis after yielding two goals on six shots. Dupuis gave up the remaining two Nepean markers, kicking out 23 shots.
Michel Kowalew was tagged with the loss despite turning aside 27 Carleton Place scoring tries.
As the seven powerplay goals indicate, it was a penalty-filled affair with Referee Josh Foster calling 22 infractions, a dozen of which went to the home team. The only majors went to Nepean defenceman Grant Telfer. He was assessed 10 minute misconducts for head contact, in the second period and inciting an opponent with just 30 seconds left in the game.
The win moved Canadians to an even 50 points on the campaign, a reasonable total for a first year club in any league!
Blanked by Kings
Pembroke is the only team Carleton Place failed to record even one victory against during their inaugural season in the CJHL.
Lumber Kings put an exclamation on a very one-sided regular season series with an 8-0 shut out victory over the visiting Canadians last Wednesday night (Feb. 24).
Hardly an embarrassment considering Pembroke is the three-time defending league champions and has been the class of the Junior A loop since it was formed in the 1960s.
Carleton Place, who was officially eliminated from the playoff race on Friday Feb. 19, is playing out the string. They have a season-ending home and home set with last place Hawkesbury Hawks this coming weekend.
Playing in front of a small crowd - by Kings' standards - at Pembroke Memorial Centre (there were 774 people in the stands), the visitors were never in this one. Brandon Gagne scored his 15th goal of the campaign after just 13 seconds and that proved to be the game winner.
Affiliated player Gregg Gruehl, a native of Mayfield Heights, Ohio made 27 saves to earn his third shutout of the season. In the process he improved his record to 14-2 in 18 appearances.
The contest marked only the fourth time Carleton Place has been blanked during their inaugural campaign in the league. By contrast they have recorded seven 0's of their own!
Regular Pembroke goalie Scott Zacharias didn't even dress for this one. John Nauta, who hails from Tampa, Florida was the back-up. He has a 4-4 record in limited action for Lumber Kings.
Pembroke fired 36 shots at Dupuis who has taken the starting role away from Shackell at the end of the campaign. Dupuis, who turned 19 last week, was obtained in a deal with Gloucester Rangers at the junior hockey trade deadline. He is expected to return to the club next season. Shackell's status (he turns 20 in July) seems less certain.
Arnprior native Kyle Just, Pembroke's third leading scorer, was named the game's first star after scoring twice and setting up a pair in the contest. Just, a 19-year-old centre, moved to 82 points, including 51 assists. That was good enough for ninth in the league scoring parade.
Pembroke led 3-0 after one period and the clubs battled through a scoreless middle frame with Kings ringing up five more in the third to underline their 49th win against just 10 defeats.
Runaway league scoring leader Damian Cross netted his 50th goal and set up a pair to take his totals to an impressive 133 points in 59 games. His line mate Tyler Tosunian, the second leading scorer in the league, fired his 36th goal and had one helper giving him 107 points. Veteran forward Keith Clarke notched goal No. 37 while winger Ted Pletsch added his 14th. Left winger Max Bobrow connected for his sixth of the campaign and set up another (he has 20 points) in just his 28th appearance for the defending champions.
Even though it was one-sided this was all about hockey. Referee Scott Loney could have managed this one from the stands. He handed out just one minor penalty in the game. The first period interference call went to Pembroke defenceman Daniel Sauve.
Just, Cross and Gruehl, in that order, were the game's three stars.
Tomorrow (Friday) night Canadians visit Hawkesbury in their last road game of the campaign. Game-time at Robert Hartley Arena in the Hawkesbury Sportsplex is 7:45. Saturday the team wraps up the season with Hawks the visitors for a 7:30 p.m. face-off.
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