Sports

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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January 29…This week in The Leader

The South Dundas Novice B Lions started a very busy week with an amazing effort last Monday night but, unfortunately, they didn’t get rewarded for their efforts against the first place North Dundas Demons who claimed a 4-2 victory. 

 

The big cats were on the prowl in Upper Canada Minor Hockey League East Division Novice C play on the weekend, with first the Novice C1 Lions downing the Kemptville C2 Panthers in Morrisburg on Saturday, and then the Kemptville C3 Panthers claiming a 3-1 victory in their barn on Sunday.

 

Pick up your copy of the January 29 issue of The Leader at various new stands throughout South Dundas

[…]

With her goal of keeping as many seniors as possible active so they can remain independent and living in their own homes, Marilyn Parisien, told a group of 12 seniors, Wednesday, “we are trying to improve your balance and your strength, to help reduce your chance of a fall.”

Parisien is a Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging (CCAA) certified instructor who brought her 16 week Seaway Seniorfit Program to the Allan Hall at Lakeshore Drive United Church in Morrisburg in the fall.

Thanks to the successful fall launch, Seniorfit, for individuals 55 plus, returned for a winter session which kick ed off the week of January 13.

Hour-long classes are offered twice per week in Morrisburg, on Mondays (beginning at 10 a.m.) and Wednesdays (beginning at 10:45 a.m.) Classes are also offered at the Presbyterian Church Hall in Ingleside, on Tuesdays, beginning at 10:15 a.m.

“It’s been  very successful,” says Parisien. “My goal is to offer Seniorfitness from Morrisburg to Lancaster.”

With 14 seniors now registered in Morrisburg, she says she would be happy to see a class of 20 by next year at this time, although the Allan Hall could easily accommodate 26. 

Parisien told Wednesday’s class, “we take our bodies for granted as we age. You like to drive and you want to live in your own home until you are 90, but all it takes is one fall to change our lives forever. We do all of this to help reduce falls. There is a reason behind every single element we do in a class.”

Parisien explains that the CCAA is Canada’s leader in current research and program development for improved physical ability and healthy aging for older adults. It is a not-for-profit national research and education centre within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Western Ontario.

“I have four certified instructors, including myself, and we are getting hands on information on how to conduct our classes.”

“Older adults want to be able to stay functional within their environment…getting up from chairs, climbing stairs, washing their hair…all the activities we all do in our day-to-day living.”

“Our goal is to help them to be able to care for themselves. To do that, we have to keep ourselves strong.:”

Seniorfiti classes target cardio, respiratory, strength building, muscle endurance, core balance and flexiciblity at a pace suitable to the senior participants. 

“We spend a good amount of time on balance work. Our focus is fall prevention. We work on strengthening the lower body and core which helps to prevent and reduce risk of fall.”

Parisien also points out, the Seniorfit Program provides a social outlet for the participants as “many live by themselves. This gives them a social outlet which is really important. Everyone gets to know each other and have some fun.”

Welcome participants in the Morrisburg Seniorfit classes are two men. “It would certainly be nice to get more men,” says Parisien. “They do a lot of outdoor work in the summer, but in the winter they aren’t doing as much.”

Parisien says the classeses are geared for 55 years and up. “I have a 92 year old, but most are in their 60s and 70s.

Chairs are set up at the perimeter of the workout area for each class. Some people do the class in the chair. For instance I had one lady who had a knee replacement. We can even teach to someone in a walker. I call it a mixed mobility class. We can reach out to seniors with low mobilibty and to seniors with high mobility.”

Parisien welcomes anyone to come out and try a class at any time. “There is no pressure, that’s why I invite them to try a class. Once they come in, and try a class, they seethe  benefit.”

Parisien’s career has always been in the fitness industry. In addition to her Seniorfit program, she business offers boot camp, aquafitness, strength training and Zumba with instructors hired who specialize in the various areas.

Anyone interested can drop by the Allan Hall at Lakeshore Drive United Church in Morrisburg, on Monday or Wednesday mornings about 15 minutes prior to the start of the class. Running shoes are the only equipment needed. A warm sweatshirt that can be removed is also recommended.

[…]

Sports Stories in this week's issue of The Leader:

Novice C1 Lions hanging tight to first place

Morrisburg girls, Little Rocks time to shine

Midget Lions holding first place

Powerhouse Vikings collect 3-1 win from Jr. B Lions

Curling: People playing on ice

Spikes Program wrap-up 

Pickup your January 22 issue of The Leader at various locations throughout South Dundas.

[…]

The Morrisburg Junior B Lions were able to add a stroke in their win column in St. Lawrence Division hockey action on home ice on Sunday afternoon, when they collected a 5-4 shoot-out win over the Char-Lan Rebels.

The Lions were in charge of the first two periods of the game. They led 3-1 at the end of the first period and 4-1 after two.

But as has happened in a number of games this season, they couldn’t hold on.

The Rebels charged back in the third period to nab Lions goaltender, John Gilmer, for three unanswered goals to even it, 4-4 and force the overtime.

Just 50 seconds into the first period, Michael Paquette got it rolling for the Lions with William White providing the assist.

One minute later, the Rebels answered with a Jeremy McFarlane goal to even at 1-1.

That remained until the Lions went on the offensive. 

At 9:02 of the first period, Isaac Brownlee counted, unassisted to make it 2-1, and then at 13:37 Curtis Evans put the puck past Rebels goaltender Ryan Cooper to give the Lions a 3-1 advantage at the end of 20 minutes of play.

The lone goal of the second period came from the stick of Steven Savage, assisted by Liam Morrow, at 2:27 for a 4-1 Lions lead.

From then until 4:22 of the third period, the Lions worked to hold on to their lead. That’s when Nick Sanseverino counted for the Rebels to cut the gap to 4-2.

At 8:30 of the third period, Tyler Filion, on the Rebels power play, found the spot to put the Rebels to within one goal of the tie.

That came at 15:18, when Sanseverino counted his second goal to tie it at 5-5.

The scoreless overtime play was followed by the shootout, which was won by the Lions giving them their third win of the 2013/14 season.

The Lions sat out three minor penalties and a 10 minute misconduct, while the Rebels were assessed  seven minors and two 10 minute misconducts.

Friday night, the Lions travelled to Westport where they were handed a 4-1 loss by the Rideaus.

The Rideaus led 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 heading into the third. Alex Szabo beat Lions goaltender Brandon Chilton, at 10:27 of the third period for a 4-0 lead.

Michael Paquette spoiled Nicholas Newport’s shutout at 12:07 of the third.

Eight minor penalties were assessed in the game, four to each team. 

With the end of the regular season now looming it would be a real horse race if it weren’t for the Casselman Vikings.

The Vikings have pocketed the division championship. They now sit well ahead of the rest of the pack with 58 points on 28 wins.

The remaining teams are well back with the Char-lan Rebels at 39 points, Akwesasne and Alexandria tied with 35 and the Winchester Hawks right on their heels with 34 (and two games in hand).

Coming up this Sunday, January 19, the Lions are at home to the Casselman Vikings. Game time is 2:30 p.m.

[…]

South Dundas No. 1 Novice C Lions were looking for a win against the visiting Brockville Junior Braves (C4) team here Saturday, but were held to a 1-1 tie.

The Lions who are in first place in the Upper Canada Minor Hockey League’s Novice C House East Division, would have liked the win against the Braves to protect their first place lead as the regular season now heads into the final stretch.

The Lions are holding a narrow edge over the Kemptville 3s with a 26 point season total on 11 wins, two losses and four ties.  Kemptville is right behind with 24 points, the Brockville 4s are in third with 21 and the South Dundas 2s are holding fourth place with 17.

Saturday, against the C4 Braves, the Lions were first on the scoreboard with a Devon Honders goal assisted by Jack Croteau and Logan Tait.

The 1-0 Lions lead held until late in the second period when the Braves Nick Pirano struck to even it.

That would be it, as goaltenders Braydon Lalonde-Thompson for the Lions and Garrett Grandia for the Braves were unbeatable in the remainder of the game allowing it to end with the 1-1 tie.

The Lions played last night, Tuesday, January 14, in Prescott. Tonight, Wednesday, January 15 they are at home to the Kemptville 1s. Game time is 7 p.m.

They are in Brockville, this Saturday, January 18.

[…]

Two groups of Morrisburg Curling Club Thursday morning curlers enjoyed battling two very good foursomes in North Grenville in the former arena in Kemptville last week. Wally McDonald, Dave King, Bud Perry and Sue McIntosh tied their match, while Andy Patenaude, Len Bellamy, Glen Cougler and Keith Robinson won their game. The ice was fine, but the folks enjoyed the lunch that followed even more. We’ll see our new friends from North Grenville shortly for their return visit.

Last Wednesday, four of our senior ladies’ foursomes were in Ottawa at the Granite club. Alice Thompson, Betty Locke, Sharon Van Allen and Sandra Beckstead lost a tough one in the morning to City View, and after lunch went out again, this time against a Navy team. They felt they might have won, but some of the other curlers were guilty of slow play, and all of the six-end games were halted early, and the scores after five ends prevailed. It’s not the only club to penalize slow play, but it was unfortunate.

In the late draw, our other team, Greta McGann, Cheryl Thompson, Yvonne Mabo and Linda Murphy dropped their first match against Carleton Heights in the morning. After their lunch they returned to the ice and played a Kemptville team. They lost this one too, but several of our eight ladies won prizes, so they returned home knowing they had played well, and were slightly mollified over the day’s events.

The OCA Regional Playdowns for bantams are here on the 18th and 19th. It seems none of our local curlers made it past the zone playdowns. The bantam girls play on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and on Sunday boys and girls play from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The top teams advance to the Provincials. Volunteers from the club for both days are needed for these events.

It was the local high school teachers’ funspiel in a rental on Saturday, not the high school students. Sorry for the error last week. Our little rockers are at a bonspiel in Metcalfe this weekend, and we should have their information next time.

The Lions club has a rental here on February 9th, and we will also require volunteers for that day.

We host our annual bonspiel for senior men from several clubs in February, and the Sullivan Cup, the two-team event featuring Metcalfe, Russell, Winchester, and our fellows. In addition, we host the annual Heart and Stroke bonspiel then.

Finally, we saw some great curling over the weekend, with all provincial finals for the ladies’ Tournament of Hearts bonspiel on the agenda. It was sad to see some former champions falling by the wayside, but we have more great curling to look forward to. Also, members of several champion teams of men played in a made-for-television event, an All Star bonspiel in which the four skips selected players from the other three teams. It was entertaining, and paid well for the participants.

[…]

The Dundas Midget 2 Lions were undefeated in round robin play to finish first in their pool at the 2014 Kingston Midget Girls Invitational Tournament on the weekend of January 3-5, but then ran into a road block against the Kingston Ice Wolves.

The roadblock came in the form of a 4-3, Wolves victory which shut down the Lions in the tournament.

The Wolves mounted a 2-0 first period lead, and then went up 3-0 in the second period before the Lions got on board.

That was with 2:21 left in the second period on a Brynne Gilmour goal assisted by Sierra Swindells.

Early in the third period, it was Gilmour again, this time unassisted.

One minute later, Emma Barkley tied the game, 3-3, with help from Janis Hall.

Play was intense for the remaining eight minutes of the game with Camille Pearson counting, what would be the winner,  for the Wolves with 4:31 left on the clock.

The Lions played some great hockey at the tournament to finish first in their pool, undefeated. They claimed round robin wins over the OGHA No. Ones, 3-1, and the Ice Wolves Blue, 2-1, and a 2-2 tie against the Cornwall Black Typhoons.

Gilmour (from Mallorie Dejong and Melissa Stevens), Emma Barkley (from Peyton Bradford) and Bradford (from Mackenzie Barkley and Emma Barkley) scored the three Lions goals against the OGHA Ones.

Melissa Stevens (from Cassie Hummel) and Brynn Gilmour scored against the Ice Wolves Blue.

Taylor Casselman (from Emma Barkley and Sierra Swindells) and Stevens (from Janis Hall) provided the goals against the Typhoons.

[…]

The South Dundas Midget B Rep Lions attended the Capital New Year’s tournament in Ottawa this past weekend at the Bell Sensplex.  Unfortuantely, for the Lions, it turned out to be a rough weekend as they were unable to score enough to move on after the preliminary games.  

The Lions opened in the tournament against the Hamilton Phantoms who came out and took the game to the Lions physically.  

The Phantoms scored once in the first, twice in the second and two more times in the third to blank the Lions, 5-0.  Zack Frawley was in net and Tanner Hummel was named the Lions player of the game.

Game two for the Lions was against the Pembroke Lumber Kings.  

Although the Lions carried more of the play, they were unable to get on the score sheet until the final five minutes of the third period.  

At that point the Lumber Kings were leading 3-0.  

The Lions’ lone goal was scored by Aaron Smith, assisted by Spencer Heldens and Trey Suddard.  

Josh Martineau was in net and Jordan Smail was named the player of the game for the Lions.  

Although the loss eliminated the Lions from advancing to the quarter finals, they still had one game left to play against Deux Rives Barracudas (Pierrefonds, a suburb of Montreal).

In an evenly played game, the Lions fell behind 2-0 before mounting a third period comeback, showing great determination and character.  

Trey Suddard scored the first Lions goal assisted by Aaron Smith.  Then with under two minutes left in the game, Jordan Smail (from Toby Mullin) scored the tying goal.  

Zack Frawley started the game in net and was relieved half way through by Josh Martineau.  Toby Mullin was named the Lions player of the game.

The Lions return to action this Thursday, January 9 at 8 p.m. in Morrisburg vs South Grenville.  

They will follow that with two away games, Sunday and Monday, the Lions and will be back on home ice on January 16.

[…]

We’re back at it. First some housekeeping notes. Our Tuesday night men’s league missed their final game in December because of the ice problems, with the result that as it stands, two teams remain tied for the Calvert Trophy. Congratulations to Larry Cooper, Barry Zeran, Len Bellamy and Bert Smail, and Robert Houze, Peter McCooeye, Ron Beaupre and Peter Byvelds. Our Friday night league did not declare a winner in their first draw.

Two teams of senior men entered the Parnell competition in Cornwall last Friday. Andy Patenaude, Neil Williams, Bud Perry and Keith Robinson, played well, but split their games. Pete Zeran, Jack Barkley, Karl Duncan and Earl Jeacle won both of their matches, but a Prescott team had a better point score and won this edition of the Parnell. Better luck next time, fellows.

Susan McIntosh hosted another two-person bonspiel on December 29, and reports that the “C” champions were Rick MacKenzie and Keith Robinson, the “B” winners were Earl Jeacle and Pete Zeran, while the “A” winners were Greta McGann and Linda Murphy. 

As usual, the lunch was great, and the happy warriors plan to be back at it soon. Thanks again to Susan and her committee for this. Money raised in these efforts is being dedicated to the purchase of a 60 inch TV set so that we can start hosting more parties –Olympics, Scotties, the Brier, hockey and the Super Bowl being some suggestions. It would bring in extra money for the club and perhaps generate some outside interest for people to come in and see what we have to offer.

Speaking of parties, how about the success of our annual New Year’s Eve party and bonspiel? In the curling portion of the evening, the winners of the New Year’s Trophy were Greta McGann, Dave McIntosh and Paula Locke. As to the party which followed, it was a happy event, the cash register was busy, and everyone made it home safely. Sounds like a great way to finish off the year.

President Mahlon Locke reports that the kitchen stovetop has been installed, a last bit of trim in the kitchen is being completed, and he expects that all renovations will be finished by next weekend at the latest.

We have several new curlers in various leagues, although a few snowbirds are headed south. Hope the weather is good down there!

There are playdowns for high school curlers on the 11th, and the regional playdowns for our zone are here on the 18th and 19th. Also, we host a bonspiel for senior men in January. 

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