OPG donates to local youth

  The Morrisburg and District Figure Skate Club sent a record 16 skaters to the EOSIC competition in February, and for many of them it was there first time at a competition of this calibre. […]

 

They may not be in the hunt for a playoff position, but the Morrisburg Junior B Lions are having a bit of a say in what is unfolding as the St. Lawrence Division teams jockey for position in the final two weeks of regular season play.

Last Thursday night the Lions were in Casselman where they once again experienced the power of the Vikings in a 16-1 loss.

Peter Ketcheson scored the lone Lions goal at 13:28 of the first period with help from Grant Cooper and Zach Renfrew.

Ryan Cooper was in net for 43 minutes of the Vikings scoring frenzy. Cooper gave up nine goals in 54 shots before Lions affilliate goaltender Zack Frawley stepped in for 17 minutes of action and 16 shots.

Friday night at the Char-Lan Recreation Centre, is was a different story as the Lions nabbed the division’s second place Char–Lan Rebels for a 5-2 victory.

The Lions came out hard and fast, going up 3-0 in just over 10 minutes of the first period.

Michael Paquette (from Eric Evans and Sam Hodgson) got it rolling and then Evans made it 2-0 with help from Grant Cooper and Michael Paquette.

At the 10:35 mark of the first period, Zach Renfrew teamed with Drew Veenstra and the Lions found themselves in a 3-0 position.

The Rebels did get one back, on their power play from Lawson MacDougall at 17:40 of the period.

In the second period, the Lions added goal number four on their power play. This time is was Clark Veenstra counting with Taylor Eamon and Martin Lavallee adding the assists.

Heading into the third period, the Lions went to work to hold onto their three goal advantage.

Nicholas Santoro beat Lions goaltender Ryan Cooper at 13:32 to get one back, but that was it.

Matthew Burns made it 5-2 for the Lions on their power play, with 2:13 left in the game. Cooper and Lavallee were on board for the assists.

The Rebels out shot the Lions 35-26 and were successful in one of five power-play opportunities. The Lions counted two goals in their eight power-play opportunities.

The Lions win is their first since November 16. It ended a 20 game losing streak.

While it was a big win for the Lions, it was a tough loss for the second place Glens who also lost to the Winchester Hawks, Friday night, 4-3.

Due to the two losses, the Rebels now find themselves perched precariously in second place. Although it was never a possibility of catching the first place Vikings, it was a matter of holding on to second place (mainly for home ice advantage in the first playoff round).

Right on their heels are the Akwesasne Wolves who posted a pair of weekend wins over Alexandria 5-4 and Winchester 4-2.

Four points back of the third place Wolves are the Winchester Hawks, whose current fourth place position will pit them again the Vikings in the division’s first play off round.

Coming up this weekend, the Lions will play a home and home series against Akwesasne. Their final home game of the season is this Friday night, February 8. Game time is 8:30 p.m. They will travel to the Wolves barn for their final game of the season on Saturday night.

At the very least, the Wolves will be looking for a tie in one of the two games, to prevent them from sliding into the division’s fourth place.

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It’s not a good position to be in, but for the second straight year the Morrisburg Junior B Lions find themselves inches away from a St. Lawrence Division playoff spot as they head down the home stretch.

With 10 games left on their schedule including a make-up game against Casselman (due to this past Friday night’s cancellation), the Lions will have to put together some exceptionally good hockey to continue to play past the weekend of February 11-12 when the regular season ends.

After Sunday afternoon’s home-ice loss to the division’s first place Winchester Hawks, 7-2, the Lions are looking at a tough road ahead.

Although they will only meet the Hawks once more, they have three encounters coming up against the equally as tough, second place Casselman Vikings.

They have two games left against the Char-Lan Rebels, the team they are currently trying to catch and overcome for the fourth and final St. Lawrence Division playoff spot.

Last year, at about this time, the charged up Lions reached into their hockey bags to come up with some big wins as they set their sights on a playoff spot. Winning their final seven consecutive encounters it was a Cinderella story as they slipped ahead of the Akwesasne Wolves right at the finish line.

Can they do it again this year? Time will tell. 

Sunday, without regular goaltender Mikel Dion who is sitting out a suspension, the Lions stayed with the Hawks through the first period.

Goaltender Ryan Cooper gave up just one first period counter and that to the Hawks Brent Simms.

The Hawks pulled ahead 3-0 in the second period before the Lions got on board with a Sylvester Bzdyl counter from Michel Lefebvre and Joel Marleau.

The Hawks added another two to close out the second in the lead 5-1.

The Lions final goal was scored  early in the third period on their power play, when Lefebvre and Michael Keenan provided the set up for Alex Steingruber.

The Hawks drew 10 minor penalties and a misconduct while the Lions sat out five minors. Shots on net were equal at 33, and Matt Quirion handled the Hawks goaltending.

The Hawks demonstrated the depth of their bench with a pair of goals from Dustin Tinkler, and singles from Brent Simms, Nevin Guy, Brodie Boulanger, Brandon Belding and Brock Burge. 

Last night, Tuesday, January 17, the Lions had a must-win match against the Char-Lan Rebels.  Coming up this Friday night they are at home to the Akwesasne Wolves. Game time is 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 22 they are on the road to take on the Rideau Divison’s second place Gananoque. 

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