CJHL Playoff Report

Monday, April 9, 2012

Submissions from the MHL, NOJHL, SIJHL and QJAAAHL for Monday, April 9th, 2012.

QJAAAHL

The QJAAAHL playoff series continued this week with the beginning of the final round opposing the Saint-Jérôme Panthères to the Princeville Titan. The series is tied 1-1 after each team remained unbeaten on their home ice. In the first game at Saint-Jérôme Friday April 6th, David Brousseau with a hat trick, Joé Dubé (2-2-4) and Benjamin Laliberté (1-3-4), led the Panthères to a 7-4 victory. In the second game at Princeville Sunday April 8th, the Titan scored three unanswered goals in the third period before recording a 4-1 victory. Marc-Antoine Lessard and Vincent Marcoux led the Titan offensively with one goal and one assist each.

FINAL SERIES - Saint-Jérôme VS Princeville - Series tied 1-1
Fri. April 6th Princeville 4 @ Saint-Jérôme 7
Sun. April 8th Saint-Jérôme 1 @ Princeville 4
Wed. Apr. 11th Princeville @ Saint-Jérôme
Fri. April 13th Saint-Jérôme @ Princeville
Sun. Apr. 15th Princeville @ Saint-Jérôme
Wed. Apr. 18th Saint-Jérôme @ Princeville
Fri. Apr. 20th Princeville @ Saint-Jérôme

League Leading Scorers:
Maxime Lecours - Princeville - 21 points in 16 games (7-14-21)
Cody Linteau - Granby - 20 points in 11 games (11-9-20)
Pierrick Martel - Princeville - 20 points in 13 games (8-12-20)
Julien Corriveau - Valleyfield - 18 points in 10 games (10-9-19)
Benjamin Laliberté - Saint-Jérôme - 19 points in16 games (7-12-19)
Joé Dubé - Saint-Jérôme - 18 points in 13 games (12-6-18)
David Brousseau - Saint-Jérôme - 18 points in 16 games (8-10-18)

Top Goaltenders:
Mathieu Bezeau - Lachine - 5 GP - 2-3 - 10 GA - 1 SO - 1:88 - .915%
Simon Lemieux - Longueuil - 5 GP - 3 W - 2 L - 1 SO - 10 GA - 2 :01 - .925%
Jean-Michel Fortier - Sherbrooke - 7 GP 4 W - 3 L - 16 GA - 2:41 - .896%
Nicolas Deslongchamps - Saint-Jérôme - 16 GP - 12 W - 4 L - 41 GA - 2:65 - .902%
Charles-Étienne Martin - Princeville - 14 GP - 10 W - 3 L - 42 GA - 3:19 - .900%

MHL

The Kent Cup Final between the Bent Division Champion Yarmouth Mariners and the Meek Division Woodstock Slammers got underway last week. The series began in Woodstock on Wednesday, with the first two games of the series being played in Woodstock Wednesday and Thursday nights. Game one was a close match as the well-rested Slammers hosted the well-oiled Mariners. The Mariners got on the board early on a goal at 50 seconds from Colin Campbell. Woodstock would tie the game in the second period on a powerplay goal from Zach Shannon. The Slammers would score a heartbreaker for Mariners fans with just 24 seconds on a goal from Brad Greene remaining to take the 2-1 win. Charles Grant was solid for Yarmouth, keeping them in the game by stopping 40 shots. On Thursday night, the Mariners again got out to a 1-0 first period lead on a goal from Jared Hicks. In the second Yarmouth would go up 2-0 on a powerplay goal from Zach Henry. Woodstock would draw to within one on a goal from Philip Fife at 13:10 but Mathieu Pompei would give the Mariners another 2 goal lead just over a minute later to finish the second period with a 3-1 lad. In the third, Colin Campbell would score for Yarmouth on the powerplay at 2:13, giving Yarmouth a big 4-1 lead. Brad Greene, Wednesday night's hero, would score on the powerplay at 8:25 to cut the lead to two but that was all Wodostock could put past Charles Grant, who would again turn in 40 saves for first star for the Mariners, sending the two teams to Yarmouth with the series tied at one a piece.

Games three and four go Monday and Tuesday in Yarmouth. Game times are 7:30pm for both games which were sold out quickly in Yarmouth.

2012 MHL Playoff Results/Schedule (Kent Cup Final):

Kent Cup Final Series - (1M) Woodstock Slammers vs (1B) Yarmouth Mariners
Home Date Time Visitor Home
1 Wed, Apr 4th 7:30 PM Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 1 Woodstock Slammers 2 Summary
2 Thu, Apr 5th 7:30 PM Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 4 Woodstock Slammers 2 Summary
3 Mon, Apr 9th 7:30 PM Woodstock Slammers 0 Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 0 Summary
4 Tue, Apr 10th 7:30 PM Woodstock Slammers 0 Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 0 Summary
5 Fri, Apr 13th 7:30 PM Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 0 Woodstock Slammers 0 Summary
6 * Mon, Apr 16th 7:30 PM Woodstock Slammers 0 Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 0 Summary
7 * Fri, Apr 20th 7:30 PM Yarmouth Jr A Mariners 0 Woodstock Slammers 0 Summary
Series tied at 1

Scoring Leaders (11 points or more):

Team Name GP G A PTS
YM Mathieu Pompei 13 8 8 16
WS Tim Campbell 10 3 12 15
YM Colin Campbell 13 10 5 15
WS Connor Tresham 10 4 10 14
WS Andrew Langan 10 8 6 14
SWC Mike Szmatula 10 3 10 13
AR Brandon Street 9 5 6 11
YM Jared Hicks 13 5 7 12
AR Trevor Layton 9 2 9 11

Goaltenders (GAA 250 minutes or more):

Team Name GP Mins Save% GAA
WS Matt Murphy 10 562 0.941 1.60
YM Charles Grant 13 779 0.927 2.23
AR Richard Tingley 9 486 0.911 2.72
TB Spencer Scott 5 299 0.887 3.41
DC Jonathan Waye 6 372 0.898 3.71
SWC Landon Noel 9 416 0.898 4.33

NOJHL

The Soo Thunderbirds are just one win away from capturing the Copeland-McNamara Trophy, emblematic of being Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champions.

The Thunderbirds currently lead the North Bay Trappers three games to one in the best-of-seven final and can wrap it all up Tuesday evening at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie as they host the Trappers in game 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Home ice has been extremely beneficial to the Soo so far in the postseason as the club is a perfect 6-0.

After winning the first two games of the finals at the Essar Centre by scores of 2-1 in overtime in the opener and 7-1 in game 2, the Thunderbirds gained an all-important split at the North Bay Memorial Gardens in games 3 and 4.

They dropped the third contest 4-2, but roared back skating to a 6-2 victory Saturday to put them within a win of the NOJHL title.

NOJHL PLAYOFF NOTES: Thunderbirds goaltender John Kleinhans is an impressive 10-1 to date in the postseason. He paces all NOJHL netminders in both goals-against average and save percentage at 1.79 and .937 respectively.... The Trappers duo of Brad Gehl and Matthew Salituro lead all skaters in playoff scoring with 29 points apiece. ... Thunderbirds captain Micky Sartoretto is third with 27 points. Sartoretto is also riding a six-game scoring streak having accumulated six goals and eight assists during that span. His club is also 7-0 in the playoffs when he scores at least one goal. ... The T-Birds Matt Amadio, who is fourth in playoff offensive production, has reeled off points in 10 straight postseason contests. He has 22 points during his notable run. ... Eight of the 34 playoff games so far have required overtime to decide a winner. ... North Bay has scored first in 10 of their first 16 postseason contests registering a 7-3 in those match-ups. They are just 2-4 when their opponents light the lamp first. ... The last NOJHL playoff title for North Bay came in 2004-05 when the Skyhawks won for a third straight year. ... The last time the Thunderbirds won the NOJHL playoff championship was back in 2008-09. ... The T-Birds have won back-to-back NOJHL regular season crowns.

NOJHL finals for the Copeland-McNamara Trophy:
Soo Thunderbirds vs. North Bay Trappers

Thunderbirds lead best-of-seven series 3-1

Game 1: Thunderbirds 2 Trappers 1 (2OT)

Game 2: Thunderbirds 7 Trappers 1

Game 3: Trappers 4 Thunderbirds 2

Game 4: Thunderbirds 6 Trappers 2

Game 5: Tuesday, April 10 @ Sault Ste. Marie 7:30 p.m.

Game 6*: Thursday, April 12 @ North Bay 7 p.m.

Game 7*: Friday, April 13 @ Sault Ste. Marie 7:30 p.m.

*-if necessary

NOJHL champion advances to Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A Championship April 17-21 @ Thunder Bay, Ont.

Leading Scorers:

Player Team GP G A PTS

Brad Gehl NBT 16 16 13 29

Matthew Salituro NBT 16 8 21 29

Micky Sartoretto STB 11 9 18 27

Matt Amadio STB 12 8 17 25

Jamie Haines SUD 10 13 8 21

Danny Desrochers NBT 15 9 12 21

Jordan Carroll SUD 11 9 12 21

Nick Esposto SUD 8 6 15 21

Brandon Janke NBT 15 8 10 18

Greg Sartoretto SOO 12 6 12 18

 

Leading Goaltenders:

Goaltender Team GP W L AVG SV% SO

John Kleinhans STB 11 10 1 1.79 .937 0

Luis Puig SOO 5 3 2 2.70 .931 1

Mitchell Knight NBT 12 5 4 3.40 .904 0

Carmine Alfano NBT 4 2 1 3.76 .854 0

Jeremy Pominville SUD 5 1 1 4.12 .892 0

SIJHL

The Superior International Junior Hockey League final between the Wisconsin Wilderness and Fort Frances Lakers is going the distance.

Wisconsin staved off elimination for a second straight contest as they rode the shutout goaltending of Tanner Milliron to blank the hometown Fort Frances Lakers 1-0 Monday evening and thus force a seventh and deciding game Wednesday to determine a SIJHL Bill Salonen Cup champion.

That final match-up goes at 7 p.m. at the Northwest Sports Complex in Spooner, Wis., with the winner advancing to the Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Jr. A championship April 17-21 in Thunder Bay.

The lone tally in game 6 came 2:18 into the second period as Wilderness forward Wilson Housley beat Lakers' netminder Tyler Ampe as he notched his sixth marker of the postseason.

Milliron did the rest for Wisconsin turning aside all 23 shots he faced to record the victory and keep his team alive in their quest for the second straight SIJHL title.

Ampe was also solid, despite the setback, stopping 30 of 31 on the night.

SIJHL NOTES -- The last and only other time the SIJHL Bill Salonen Cup final went seven games was back in 2007. That year the Schreiber Diesels won game 7 in Thunder Bay vs. the North Stars. ... Fort Frances lost their first home game of the playoffs with the game 6 setback in the Bill Salonen Cup final. ... SIJHL MVP Byron Katapaytuk of the Lakers leads all SIJHL skaters in playoff scoring with 17 points, but has been held off the score sheet in three straight games. His team has won seven straight playoff games in which he records at least one point. ... Jeremy Johnson of Wisconsin is second in SIJHL playoff scoring with 14 points. The Wilderness forward is riding five-game point streak. ... Wisconsin goalkeeper Tanner Milliron leads all puck stoppers in potseason goals-against average and save percentage at 2.13 and .927 respectively. He also has the only two shutouts of the postseason. ... Milliron and Fort Frances netminder Tyler Ampe share the league lead in playoff victories with nine. Ampe is second in average (2.85) and save percentage. (.913). ... Anthony Calabrese of Wisconsin leads all defencemen in playoff scoring with 12 points. ... The team that has scored first in the finals has won five of the first six games in the best-of-seven affair. ... The SIJHL final series is using the two-referee, two-linesman format. This will also be used at the Dudley-Hewitt Cup. ... Games can be viewed online on a pay-per view basis at sijhl.neulion.com/sijhl/. ... Live online scoring is also available via Pointstreak through the SIJHL website at www.sijhl.com. ... Wisconsin is the defending SIJHL champion. ... The Lakers franchise is making their first appearance in the Bill Salonen Cup. ... Both head coaches in the SIJHL final played NCAA hockey. Wayne Strachan is an alumnus of Lake Superior State University on Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., where he won a pair of NCAA championships in the 1990s. Wisconsin bench boss Rod Aldoff meanwhile played four seasons on defence for the Bulldogs at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Strachan was SIJHL coach of the year in 2010-11 while Aldoff garnered the accolades this season.

Leading Scorers:

Player Team GP G A PTS

Byron Katapaytuk FFL 14 10 7 17

Jeremy Johnson WIS 14 7 7 14

Wilson Housley WIS 14 6 7 13

Shane Topf WIS 14 5 8 13

Mike Dietrich WIS 13 8 4 12

Jordan Larson FFL 14 4 8 12

Ryan Wildman FFL 14 2 10 12

Anthony Calabrese WIS 14 2 10 12

Andrew Anderson WIS 14 8 3 11

Jordan Christianson FFL 14 6 5 11

 

Leading Goaltenders:

Goaltender Team GP W L AVG. SV% SO

Tanner Milliron WIS 14 9 3 2.13 .927 2

Tyler Ampe FFL 14 9 4 2.85 .913 0

Marc Nother TBNS 8 4 4 3.62 .877 0

Kim Wildhaber DRY 4 0 3 3.71 .857 0

Dean Shepherdson DRY 8 4 2 3.75 .875 0

 

SIJHL Finals for the Bill Salonen Cup:

No. 1 Wisconsin Wilderness vs. No. 2 Fort Frances Lakers

Best-of-seven series tied 3-3

Game 1: Fort Frances 4 Wisconsin 2

Game 2: Wisconsin 6 Fort Frances 5 (OT)

Game 3: Fort Frances 7 Wisconsin 5

Game 4: Fort Frances 2 Wisconsin 1

Game 5: Wisconsin 3 Fort Frances 1

Game 6: Wisconsin 1 Fort Frances 0

Game 7: Wednesday, April 11 @ Wisconsin 7 p.m. (Sports Complex)