Thunder on the River to roll this weekend at Long Sault Parkway

 

The Morrisburg Junior B Lions are on a downhill skid as they head into the final games of the season on a five game losing streak

With six games remaining on the regular season schedule and another two makeup games, the Lions failed to get back on the right track on the weekend with back-to-back losses.

It started on home ice Friday night, with a tough 4-3 loss to the Akwesasne Wolves and then went downhill from there in Gananoque, Sunday with a crushing 10-4 loss to the Rideau Division’s second place Islanders.

What is up for grabs in the two tier St. Lawrence Division is the fourth and final playoff spot, currently held by the Char-Lan Rebels. 

In the top tier you have Winchester in first place with 61 points, Casselman in second with 56 and Alexandria in third with 45.

In the second tier you have the Rebels with 26 points, the Lions with 23 and the Wolves with 19. 

The Lions have now lost their last five consecutive games and have had two games cancelled due to weather (against Casselman and Char-Lan). The up and coming Wolves on the other hand have split their last eight games with four wins and four losses, and two of those wins were against the Lions.

The Wolves knew what they had to do Friday night to stay in the running for a playoff spot and they did it.

Keith Sloan opened their scoring early in the first period.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and the Lions went up 2-1 in the second.

A power-play goal from the stick of Dillon Barr just over three minutes into the third period, sparked the Wolves and at 7:33 Keith Sloan gave them a 3-2 lead. Then at 15:32 Amo Connor stretched it to 4-2.

The Lions came back strong, but managed only one more from Michel Lefebvre, from Sylvester Bzdyl and Alex Ploof, in the 4-3 Wolves win.

Clarke Veenstra scored the Lions first period goal with help from Chris Rutley and Ryan Ward. Early in the second period Zach Sequin, from Lance Hodgson, gave the Lions the 2-1 advantage.

Sunday night in Gananoque, the Lions were not in the game. The Islanders went up 3-0 in the first five minutes of the first period and never looked back as they skated to the 10-4 win.

They led 5-1 after the first period and 9-2 after two.

Providing the four Lions goals were Alex Ploof, Joel Marleau, Sylvester Bzdyl and Chris Rutley.

Ryan Cooper was between the Lions pipes for both weekend pipes while Michel Dion sits out a three game suspension.

The third game was Sunday night in Gananoque and Dion will be back in action this weekend.

Coming up this weekend, the Lions travel to Winchester, Friday night, January 27 for an 8:15 p.m. match. Sunday, January 29 they are at home to Alexandria for a 2:30 p.m. game.

The Lions have rescheduled one of their two cancelled games. The Char-Lan cancellation has been d for Tuesday, January 31st in Williamstown.

Still to be rescheduled is the Lions home game against Casselman.

[…]

The new Stay on Course pilot program coming to grade sixes and Morrisburg and Iroquois Public Schools this fall, is meant to be mutually beneficial to the students and to their adult mentors.

Officials administering the program and school officials gathered met last week at the McIntosh Inn to discuss the program, that everyone is excited to see get started in these two local schools.

“Stay on Course” will involve community members mentoring students in the game of golf, while students mentor community members in the use of technology.

The unique pilot project was created through a partnership between the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) and Seaway Valley Crime Stoppers (SVCS). 

The program has received $30,000 in start-up funding from a federal government grant through the Eastern Ontario Development Program as part of Community Futures Development Corporations.

“This program promotes positive, proactive relationships,” said OPP Constable Peter Robertson, who came up with the concept and fostered the partnerships between all organizations involved.

“The other benefit is this is at no cost to parents,” he added. “This is a win-win situation for everyone. It’s partnership-run.”

“This game of golf will be used to highlight positive character attributes, as well as help students build confidence, self-esteem, leadership skills, decision-making skills, and relationships within their own community,” said Karen McDonald Hurley, who developed the eight week program which will run from September to October 2013.

The program includes six golf outings at local golfing facilities in Iroquois and Morrisburg, as well as online and school components.

While playing golf, students and mentors will have the opportunity to use iPads to not only learn about the game, but also to create videos and participate in additional online activities to increase overall learning.

Frank McDonald of Seaway Valley Crimestoppers said, “The Stay on Course program specifically proposes to engage the community through proactive activities. In addition to the pilot program which will allow these children to experience the game of golf, we have included program evaluation methods to track its success. As a result of this program, it is hoped both adults and students become positive contributors to their community and develop new relationships.”

“This exciting program meshes perfectly with our goal of a 90 per cent graduation rate,” said UCDSB Chair Greg Pietersma. “It is never too early to give our students additional skills and connections to help them stay connected and engaged in school. All of our students are one major incident away from being at risk.”

The team is currently looking to recruit volunteer mentors to participate in this program. Mentors would be required to spend approximately two to three hours per week with students. In addition, the team is accepting donations of starter sets of clubs for students to use.

Anyone interested in mentoring or donating a set of clubs, can contact Robertson at 613-534-2223, 613-360-0166 or peter.robertson@ontario.ca, or McDonald at fmcdonald4@bell.net.

[…]

 

The Morrisburg Junior B Lions finished the 2014-15 season with a win and a loss in weekend action against the Akwesasne Wolves.

They got it started on Cornwall Island, Saturday night, February 14, with a 5-4 overtime victory and then brought it back to Morrisburg on Sunday, where this time it was the Wolves coming out on top by a 5-3 score.

The two games ended the season for the Wolves (30 points) and Lions (25 points) who finished in the last two positions in the St. Lawrence Division of the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League and failed to earn a playoff spot.

The Casselman Vikings finished first with an enviable 70 point season, while the Alexandria Glens and the Winchester Hawks finished tied with 49 points. The Char-Lan Rebels claimed fourth spot with 39 points.

The St. Lawrence Division semi-final series will see the Rebels take on first place Casselman, while the Glens and the Hawks square off. The Glens got the nod for second place and will enjoy the extra home game in the semi-final series by virtue of their record.

Saturday night the Lions took a 1-0 first period lead over the Wolves on a Jacob Kendrick goal assisted by Tanner Hummel.

The second period was a seesaw affair with the Wolves coming out on top 3-2 for a 3-3 tie going into the third period.

Scoring for the Wolves in the second period were Brock Daze with a pair and Tylor Alguire. 

Lions leading scorer, Michael Paquette provided both Lions goals, the first on the Lions power play, assisted by Jacob Kendrick and the second by Cole Fowler.

Kendrick made it 4-3 Lions, 2:25 into the third period with help from Alex Sifton on the Lions power play and goaltender Keiran Weir protected their lead until 11:44 when he gave up one to Jacob Swamp.

That is the way it stayed through regulation time to force the overtime.

It all ended just 44 seconds into the overtime with an unassisted Jacob Kendrick goal for the 5-4 Lions victory.

Sunday on Morrisburg ice, goals were traded in the first period with Dallas Blacksmith scoring for the Lions at 5:26 and Nicholas Talarico answering for the Wolves.

Again the second period featured a seesaw battle, this time with the Wolves getting three past Lions goaltender Brett Hahn and the Lions answering back with just two, both from Michael Paquette.

That allowed the Wolves to carry a 4-3 advantage into the third period.

The Wolves got one more from Derik Dionne at 4:33 of the third period for the 5-3 victory.

Cory Garrow was in net for the Wolves, Saturday night, and Logan Gauthier got the win on Sunday.

Semi-final playoff action will see the Hawks open against Alexandria in Alexandria tonight, Wednesday, February 18 and game two is set for Winchester this Friday, February 20 starting at 8:15 p.m.

Char-Lan will travel to Casselman,  Thursday, February 19 and will host the Vikings for game two, Saturday night, February 21. Game time is 8 p.m.

[…]