Bonspiel Action

Although the Morrisburg Junior Lions have long been out of the St. Lawrence Division playoff picture, their much improved play of late is causing a bit of havoc in the standings as four teams continue to jockey for the second through fourth place positions.

This past week, the Lions defeated the third place Winchester Hawks, not once, but twice, and then forced the Alexandria Glens into overtime for their 3-2 win.

After the Casselman Vikings at 67 points, (first place locked up weeks ago position), it becomes pretty much anybody’s game…with the next four contenders all within four points of each other for the next three spots.

The Rebels are holding the edge with 43 points in 34 games, while the Hawks (in 35 games) have 40 points and Akwesasne (34 games played) and Alexandria (37 games played) are tied with 39 points.

To say there will be some interesting games in the next two weekends (regular season ends February 9) is an understatement, and the Lions, with two upcoming games against Akwesasne (closing weekend) and one against Char-Lan (Saturday, February 1 at Char-Lan), could possibly play a major part in the outcome of it all.

The Lions got rolling on their best stretch of hockey this season on home ice last Tuesday night, when they downed the visiting Hawks 8-4.

They held the pace, Friday night, January 24, again to double the Hawks, this time by a 6-3 count right in Winchester.

Sunday on home ice, they held the Glens to a 2-2 tie in regulation time and lost in overtime.

The Lions kicked off their week with the 8-4 victory over the Hawks on home ice last Tuesday night, January 21.

After a scoreless first period, Shawn Simms put the Hawks on the scoreboard 3:42 into the second, and at 8:52 the Lions Justin Lefevbre evened it with help from Eric Evans and Liam Morrow.

Two more Lions goals, from Isaac Brownlee at 14:47 and Morrow at 19:56, put the Lions in command of the game, 3-1 at the end of the second period. 

Just under two minutes into the third period, the Hawks Bryden Van Kessel cut the gap to 3-2, but that was it as the Lions came charging back for four in a row to make it 7-2.

Cole Blanchard started it off on the Lions power play, then Justin Rutley scored while the Lions were short-handed at 5:46.

William White made it 6-2 at 8:32 and Drew Veenstra counted the Lions seventh goal at 11:34, unassisted.

The Hawks came back for two from Brodie Braun and Shawn Simms, but that was it.

Justin Rutley (from White and Michael Paquette) scored his second of the game in the last minute of play for the 8-4 Lions win.

John Gilmer was in the Lions net for the win and Nathan Bowness saw action for the Hawks.

The Lions sat out seven minor penalties and a 10 minute misconduct, while the Hawks were assessed nine minors and a misconduct.

The two were back at it Friday night in Winchester, and finally after 15 minutes of action in the first period, Justin Rutley (from Justin Lefevbre) got it started for the Lions with a goal at 15:34.

Chris Pearson, with help from Rutley, made it 2-0 Lions at 15:34.

The 2-0 Lions lead held until 13:06 of the second period when Drew Veenstra (from Steven Savage) upped it to 3-0.

The second period came to an end with a flourish of goals, three scored in just over one minute. 

Austin Roth and Bryden Van Kesssel both put the puck past Lions goaltender Brandon Chilton, while Drew Veenstra counted once  against Hawks goaltender Jeremy Wright, to give the Lions a 4-2 advantage heading into the third period.

Steve Savage put the Lions up 5-2 at 6:23, and at 8:24 Kyle Richardson cup the gap to 5-3.

That would be all for the Hawks and the Lions would count one more from the stick of Chris Pearson (assisted by Justin Rutley) for the 6-3 win.

The Lions were assessed seven minor penalties, while the Hawks drew 12 minors, a double minor, a five minute cross checking major, two 10 minute misconducts and two game misconducts. 

Saturday night, on home ice, the Lions lost a heart-breakers to the visiting Alexandria Glens, 3-2 in overtime.

Chris Pearson, on the Lions power play, put them one up at 15:35 of the first period with help from Steven Savage.

That lasted until 5:55 into the second period when Brandon Barillao beat Lions goaltender John Gilmer to even it a 1-1.

Again the Lions came charging back, this time with a Liam Morrow goal assisted by Kieran Devine at 7:09.

The Lions advantage lasted until 12:24 when Adam Cooke beat Gilmer to even it 2-2 and that’s the way it ended. 

Eric Verville counted the overtime winner for the Glens.

The Lions sat out six minor penalties, a five minute fighting major and a game misconduct. The Glens were assessed five minors and corresponding fighting and misconduct penalties. The Lions were outshot 49-33.

Coming up this week the Lions travel to Casselman for a 7:30 p.m game Thursday night, January 30. Saturday, February 1, they are on the road to take on the Char-Lan Rebels.

Their final home game is Sunday, February 9, when the Akwesasne Wolves are in town for a 2:30 p.m. match.

For the February 9 game, the Lions are inviting all kids from South Dundas and South Stormont to come to the game. All youngsters wearing their team hockey jersey will be admitted free to the game. The Lions encourage you to bring a non perishable food item to be donated to the local Food Bank.

The Morrisburg Lions understand the dedication and commitment of the minor hockey players involved with playing Canada’s pastime and would like to reward those that play this wonderful game with a free afternoon of Junior hockey. 

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Our local women (representing the Winchester Curling Club) were in some high level competitions recently. At the Senior Regional playdowns at the Quinte Curling Club, Wendy Casselman, Janet Thompson, Janet Levere and Janet LaPierre won their first match against Navy, but dropped their second and third games to Granite and the Ottawa Curling Club. The LaPierre rink was therefore eliminated. Congratulations on a fine run in the playdowns! 

The Rideau and Ottawa C.C. teams have advanced to the Provincials at Simcoe Feb. 22-26.

The Crystal Heart Bonspiel was played in Ottawa last week. Our people entered the tougher “open” competition. Wendy Casselman had Janet Thompson, Janet Levere and Janet LaPierre of Winchester with her again. They vanquished Carleton Heights, the RA and Rideau, but ran into a tough Lachine team for their first loss. As a result, they were relegated to the consolation final, where they defeated Rideau, then met Renfrew on Sunday a.m. in the semi-final and won there. Next it was on to the final against Lachine. Once again the Quebec club was victorious and took the consolation final.

Greta McGann, Susan McIntosh, Paula Locke and Claire Locke from our local club also competed at the Crystal Heart Classic. They defeated Buckingham and then RCMP before falling to that same Lachine foursome. Next they lost a tight match to Rideau, which eliminated them from further play. Well done everyone!

In other news, three of our senior men’s teams were in Winchester last week for a friendly bonspiel. 

Jack Barkley, Ted Herriman, Maurice Kolff and Jim Millard won their match, while Sam Locke, Arnold Barkley, Doug Jarvis and Bud Perry dropped theirs. Our third team of George Rutley, Neil Williams, Robert Martin and Rod McGill were victorious, ensuring boasting rights for the local boys. As usual, a good lunch and socializing followed, with some of our fellows even hurrying home to curl at Morrisburg in the afternoon. Apologies to any spares who replaced team members of record and were not mentioned.

On the same day, Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Al Harriman were in Russell for a bonspiel there. They won a tight first match against an R.A. Centre foursome, and after lunch handily defeated a Carleton Heights team to finish second by half a point in the 16-team bonspiel and take home prize money. 

Our second team, George Rutley, Karl Duncan, Jack Dikland and Earl Jeacle, had a tougher time of it, dropping their morning match to a Winchester quartet, and their afternoon game to a strong Cumberland team. Still, everyone enjoyed the luxurious four-sheet facility and beautiful new lounge, as well as the delicious roast pork dinner.

Playoffs are the norm for our senior men for the next while, as they prepare for the postponed Parnell finale on Friday, and the upcoming Sullivan bonspiel in Winchester.

Locally, there are still a few spots open for our Heart and Stroke bonspiel on Saturday, Feb. 18. Also, March 3 is the date for the Easter Seals, and then there’s the closing bonspiel on March 31. Don’t forget to sign up for these bonspiels, and to put your names down as volunteers to help keep things running.

Glen Cougler is at it again. This time it’s an in-house bonspiel for our senior curlers. It’s on from 8:30-12:30 on Friday. We have two stick teams already and are looking for 16 more curlers, with or without sticks. There will be two four-end games, with lunch to follow. The cost is $5, and the regularly-scheduled games (1 p.m.) will follow. Prizes and surprises are promised. Thanks again, Glen!

Good curling to all!

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After an extended break in their schedule, the South Dundas Peewee B1 House Lions were back on the ice Friday night hosting to defeat the North Leeds Stars, 5-2. 

The Lions are currently sitting in third place on the East Division with a 1-1-2 record.

The Lions had opened a 3-0 lead going into the third period and needed a strong period to finish off the Stars, but would the schedule break hurt their legs late in the game. 

The Stars began using the body a lot more later in the game and a great  check in the neutral on Lions defenceman Devon Dumoulin actually led to the Lions next goal. 

After the hit, the puck went into the Star end zone. As the Stars defenders watched the check, Kendrew Byers and Max Garlough skated in alone and Byers wristed a shot home to extend the Lions lead to 4-0.

The Lions continued to press and Jaxon Weegar had two chances, the first on a shot from the slot that went wide and the second when Brady Smith kept the puck alive at the blue line, sent a pass down to Weegar who passed across the crease to a wide open Kurtis Markell whose shot was stopped by Stars goaltender Kaleb McCulloch.

The Lions jumped on the power play on a Stars tripping penalty and opened with some excellent passing which led to a few shots.

However, the Stars were the ones to capitalize when a Stars forward got the puck just right of the slot, and then backhanded a shot just inside the top corner to get the Stars on the board. 

The Stars did not let up and  40 seconds later a defenceman went end to end and buried a shot low in the net to make the score 4-2. 

Off the face off, the puck came into the Lions end and the Stars got another scoring chance before Jonah Bennis picked up the puck in his own end, went coast to coast and deked out the Stars goaltender to bury a backhand shot into the open net for a 5-2 Lions lead that they would close the game on.

The Lions starred the game a little on their heels and on one occasion Lions defenceman Sheridan Caines picked up the puck, passed it to Connor Dumoulin at the Stars blue line. Dumoulin drove the net and beat the goalie to open the scoring only a minute into the game

After a  few other scoring chances for Lions Lucas Bennis and Sam Gould (who was playing in his first game of the season as he just came off the injured list) it was Max Garlough who would be johnny-on-the-spot when Devon Dumoulin went end to end on a rush. Dumoulin had the puck knocked away right and it ended up in Garlough’s possession. One stride and a shot low to the glove side gave the Lions a 2-0 lead.

In the second, the Lions extended the lead to 3-0 when Devon Dumoulin went end to end and shot over the goalie’s trapper. 

Noah Keeler and Aden Casselman teamed up to help defend Lions goaltender Wesley Alexander as he was forced to make several big saves in the second period. 

The South Dundas Peewee B1 House Lions are next in action on home ice Saturday, November 17th at 2:30 p.m. when they host the

NGS Braves.

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