Hawks scuttle Vikings 5-2, clinch division pennant
WINCHESTER – A 5-2 victory over the Vikings on their own ice in Casselman set a positive tone for the Winchester Jr. “B” Hawks as they embarked on a three-game in three days schedule.
The Hawks then hosted a pair of games and whitewashed both the Morrisburg Lions 8-0 (Fri., Jan. 27) and the Brockville Tikis 9-0 (Sat., Jan. 28).
Winchester’s six-point week inflated their points total to 67 and improved their first-place record to 33-4-1-0. The Hawks have four games left in the regular season and a possibility of earning eight points. Because of their 4-2 loss to the last-place Akwesasne Wolves (9-28-1-2) on Cornwall Island on Sunday (Jan. 29) the second-place Casselman Vikings (27-8-0-2) are 11 points behind the Hawks with the possibility of collecting 10 points – end result the Hawks are the 2011-2012 St. Lawrence Division regular season champions.
Referring to the back-to-back blankings, head coach Tom Kirkwood said, “We played solid and won both games handily. I was pleased that we did not give up goals. It is easy to get into a sloppy game where individuals try to pad their stats, but we played a controlled game and had possession of the puck most of the time.”
When asked about adding the 2011-2012 regular season pennant to last year’s St. Lawrence Division title and the Rideau – St. Lawrence Conference championship, Kirkwood said, “Yes it is nice but the ‘main’ goal lies ahead of us.”
This week
The third-place Alexandria Glens (24-15-0-1) will be in Winchester on Friday (Feb. 3) for an 8:15 pm game. Next Wednesday (Feb. 8), the fourth-place Char-Lan Rebels (13-21-0-2) are in town for an 8:30 pm start.
Hawks 5 - Vikings 2
Thursday’s (Jan. 24) victory in Casselman was the 31st for the Hawks and gave them a 5-1-0 advantage in the series. They compiled a goal differential of 31-18 in the process.
The opening 20 minutes of game six were scoreless, as the Hawks outshot their hosts 12-8.
Casselman grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on goals by Thierry Henry at 17:24 and Jeremy Burley at 16:40, but the Hawks sliced their deficit to 2-1 on a Brodie Boulanger PPG at the 13:30 mark. Jesse Barbier and Nevin Guy engineered the play.
Period three belonged to the Hawks, who iced the 5-2 decision marking four unanswered goals.
Evan Walker knotted the count at 16:59 burying a feed from Dylan Chessel and Josh Stubbings. Brock Burge cracked home a pass from Ramsey Wheeler and Graham Loyst at 15:47 recording what would be the winning goal.
Barbier then cashed in a relay provided by Boulanger at 11:12 and in short order Winchester had opened up a 4-2 lead. Rookie Steven Johnston made it a 5-2 final finishing a play started by Burge and Mike Evelyn 1:49 before the final buzzer.
Casselman drew 14 penalties in the final 20 minutes, while the Hawks picked up seven. Overall, the Vikings went to the sin bin 26 times while the Hawks were sentenced 13 times.
The Hawks enjoyed 14 power plays but managed just one PPG.
“I think some of their boys [Vikings] got somewhat frustrated as they watched a 2-0 lead slip away,” said the coach.
Kirkwood gave credit to several of his veterans saying, “The line of Boulanger, Jordan Moran and Barbier played a real gutsy, hard-nosed game.”
“Burge also showed the complete elite player that he can be,” added the coach.
Alex Monk registered his 24th victory as his mates outshot the Vikes 43-31.
Hawks 8 - Lions 0
Matt Quirion got into his 11th game of the season and registered his second shutout whitewashing Morrisburg 8-0.
The victory improved the Timmins native’s numbers to 8-0-1-0, lowered his GAA to 2.24 and upped his save percentage to .905.
Hawks GM Craig “JB” Smith said Quirion has proven to be a capable backup to Alex Monk.
“Matt is a good kid. He never complains, shows up at practices and waits his turn,” said Smith.
Winchester’s offence was spread among 11 skaters with “Big” Ross Urbankiewicz leading the way with three assists. Nevin Guy (GWG), Ramsey Wheeler, Dustin Tinkler, Graham Loyst and Dylan Chessell each produced a goal and an assist. Josh Stubbings, Brandon Belding and Aaron Dickenson (PPG) sniped singles. Burge and Johnston each picked up a pair of helpers.
Period one was scoreless. Winchester skated into a 4-0 lead in the second and finished with a four-goal third period. The Hawks outshot the Lions 45-22.
Hawks 9 - Tikis 0
The Hawks used a diversified offence to rip the Brockville Tikis (1-38-0-1) 9-0 on Saturday, as a total of 14 players put their numbers on the score sheet.
Winchester scoring leader Burge crack home three shots (one PPG) and drew an assists improving his totals to 30 goals, 42 assists and 72 points.
Evelyn (2-1-3, GWG and PPG) and Chessell (1-2-3) each had three-point games. Barbier netted his 10th, Loyst his 15th and Belding his 13th goals. Dickenson and Johnston each earned three assists. Guy (2), Moran, Tinkler, Wheeler, Evan Walker and Peter Killen also provided passes.
Winchester outshot Brockville 45-32 and held period leads of 3-0 and 7-0.
Monk (25-4-0-0) registered his second zero, dropped his GGA to 2.79 and moved his save percentage to .911.