Wingham Ironmen finish regular season in second place
BY DENNY SCOTT
The Provincial Junior Hockey League’s 2019-2020 season ended over the weekend, leaving the Wingham Ironmen in second place in the North Pollock Division and the Goderich Flyers in second-last.
Leading the league was Mount Forest (33 wins, seven losses, one tie and one over-time loss) with 68 points. Following Mount Forest, in order of finishing, were: the Ironmen (28-9-2-3) with 61 points; Kincardine (24-15-0-3) with 51 points; Hanover (23-16-1-2) with 49 points; Mitchell (21-14-2-5 with 49 points; Goderich (8-32-1-1) with 18 points and Walkerton (6-33-1-2) with 15 points.
Playoff games are set to start next weekend.
WINGHAM IRONMEN
The Ironmen ended the season on a high note with a 4-0 win over the Walkerton Hawks in Wingham on Sunday; however, those were the only points they earned over a two-game weekend, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Hanover Barons on Friday.
Against Walkerton, Wingham’s Dawson Fahrer earned the only goal in the first period of the game. Fahrer’s power-play marker was assisted by Rhys Vollmer and Kyle Stanbury.
The second period saw Wingham score the remainder of its four goals. First, Justin Donnelly found the back of the net, assisted by Evan Kuhl. Chase Meurs then scored, assisted by Corey Restoule.
Donnelly earned the final goal of the game, a power-play marker, assisted by Stanbury and Fahrer.
Walkerton earned six penalty minutes over three infractions while Wingham’s Tanner Reid earned the only penalties for the Ironmen: a two-minute penalty accompanied by a 10-minute misconduct for head contact.
Devon Carson earned the win in net for the Ironmen, stopping 25 shots. Tyler Thomas was in net for Walkerton, saving 30 of 34 shots.
On Friday, the Barons downed the Ironmen 5-2 in Hanover.
The Barons’ Bryan Richardson earned the first marker of the game, assisted by Ryan Goetz and Zack Cameron. Richardson’s goal marked the start of a five-goal run for the Barons. Next, Kyle Detweiler scored, assisted by Tyson Lina and Alex Paylor.
In the second period, Chris Ferri scored, assisted by Brendon Landry. Ryan Marriage found the back of the net, assisted by Mark Aljoe and Jonathan Bauman. Ferri then marked his second of the game, assisted by Tyler Hooker and Brendon Landry.
Wingham came alive in the third with Fahrer finding the back of the net, assisted by Hayden Robinson and Jett Tokiwa.
Vollmer scored a power-play marker for Wingham, assisted by Donnelly and Stanbury, before the end of the game.
Wingham served a total of 32 penalty minutes on eight infractions while Hanover was assessed 18 minutes on nine infractions.
Landry got the win for the Barons, stopping 37 of 39 shots, while Garrett Golley was in net for the Ironmen, stopping 25 of 30 shots.
GODERICH FLYERS
The Goderich Flyers faced some difficult matches in the last week of play in the PJHL, dropping games to Kincardine, Walkerton, Hanover and Mount Forest.
On Saturday, the Kincardine Bulldogs edged out the Flyers 4-3.
The Bulldogs started strong in Goderich, with Bryce McFadden pocketing back-to-back goals. His first goal was a power-play marker assisted by Geoffry VandenBoorn and Logan Freiburger. The second was an even-strength goal assisted by VandenBoorn and Logan Swanton.
Freiburger scored for Kincardine, assisted by Mike Fiegehen, before the first period ended.
Goderich’s Avery Timmermans opened scoring in the second period with a marker assisted by Dimitri Carvalho and Trent Michie.
Kincardine’s Josh Traynor responded with a power-play marker assisted by Jeremy Davidson and Jacob Traynor.
The Flyers dominated the third period, scoring two goals, but that wasn’t enough to earn the win.
Jeff Fritzley scored, assisted by Matt Bean and Cody Treble before Michie earned a short-handed marker assisted by Colton Quipp and Bean.
Kincardine served 14 penalty minutes over seven calls while Goderich was assessed 13 infractions totalling 46 minutes.
Sean Andrus earned the win in net for the Bulldogs while Logan Vermunt was in net for Goderich, saving 32 of 36 shots.
The Walkerton Hawks edged out the Flyers 4-3 in Walkerton on Friday night.
Walkerton’s Connor Prins earned the only marker in the first period of the game, assisted by Owen Tichbourne and Reid Vandolder.
The second period saw Owen Torrie score for the Hawks. The power-play marker was assisted by Austin Brown and Austin VanWyck. Trevor Fischer then scored for Walkerton, assisted by Ethan Visser and Brown.
Goderich’s Bean broke the Hawks’ three-goal streak with a marker assisted by Michie and Fritzley.
Bean earned another marker in the third period, assisted by Griffin MacDonald and Michie.
Walkerton’s Josh Silverman earned an unassisted marker with 30 seconds left in the game, hitting the empty net while his team was short-handed.
Goderich’s Mitch Fisher earned a power-play goal 10 seconds later, but the Hawks came out with the win.
Vermunt was in goal for Goderich, saving 19 of 22 shots, while Josh Silverman earned the win for the Hawks, saving 36 of 39 shots.
On Jan. 29, the Barons downed the Flyers 8-6 in a high-scoring affair.
Hanover’s Zack Cameron started scoring in the game with back-to-back goals. His first, a power-play marker, was assisted by Derek Cornfield. The second was assisted by Jonathan Bauman.
Goderich’s Fisher scored next, assisted by Chad Treble and Kaden Hoggarth.
Hanover’s Luke Hoelscher scored next, assisted by Tyson Lina and Bauman. The Barons continued a four-goal run through the second with a marker earned by Quinton Maddock assisted by Cameron. Lina then scored on the power-play, assisted by Goetz and Hoelscher. Ferri then scored, assisted by Cameron and Goetz.
Fisher earned his second for the Flyers, starting a four-goal run for his squad. The marker was assisted by Hoggarth and Reid Ramseyer. Cody Treble then earned a power-play marker, assisted by Parker Gibbings and Jack Stecho. Michie then earned the last goal of the second, assisted by Bean and Fritzley.
Chad Treble opened scoring in the third with a power-play marker for the Flyers assisted by Cody Treble and Hoggarth.
Hanover’s Marriage then scored, assisted by Hoelscher, followed by Cameron completing his hat-trick, assisted by Goetz and Dean Sealey.
Fisher then completed his own hat-trick for the Flyers, assisted by Chad and Cody Treble.
Brendon Landry earned the win for the Barons, stopping 39 of 45 shots while Spencer Lazarevich faced a lot of rubber in the net for Goderich, stopping 43 of 51 shots.
Hanover served six penalty minutes on three infractions while Goderich was assessed four infractions, totalling eight minutes.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the Mount Forest Patriots posted a convincing 7-0 win over the Flyers.
Ryley Cribbin opened scoring with a power-play marker assisted by Troy Weber and Mason Kameka. Weber then earned a power-play marker assisted by Cribbin and Parker Miller.
In the second, Nathan Bolger earned an unassisted goal, followed by Riley Torrie who scored with assists from Blair Jenkins and Blair Butchart.
Jenkins then scored early in the third, assisted by Jack Birkett and Bolger. Butchart found the net next, assisted by Derek Williams and Cribbin. Michael Anselmini scored the last goal of the game, assisted by Parker Miller and Hayden Coulter.
Kameka earned the win for the Patriots stopping 30 shots while Lazarevich once again faced a significant amount of shots, stopping 43 of 50.