Spitfires Ousted in Game Seven By Gus Lagrandeur -- Feb. 15th, 2010. The prediction had the series between the Aylmer Spitfires and the New Hamburg Firebirds go the full seven games and it did. The prediction however had Aylmer prevailing in the deciding game with a win. Someone forgot to tell New Hamburg. New Hamburg took game seven on home ice with a 3-0 victory on Monday night taking the series four games to three and ending the season for the Spitfires. New Hamburg now moves on to play Simcoe. In game 7, the Spitfires looked dominant again in the opening period. The play was in the Firebirds end the majority of the time and the Spits easily had more scoring opportunities that the host Firebirds did. The Spitfires found success in Game 6 in Aylmer on Saturday night as they scored twice on rebounds in the first period. The rebounds were still there in game seven but the Spits were kept away from the crease as they tried to bang in some of those chances. New Hamburg goaltender Corey Moore, who was selected as the Niagara West division MVP this season, can probably take that title in this series. With the shut out in game seven and the 1-0 overtime loss back in game 4, Moore was by far the best player on the Firebirds side of the ice. The game was scoreless after the opening period and then a turnover behind the Aylmer net that was soon followed by a mad scramble for the puck in front of the net. The puck found a New Hamburg stick and the puck was flipped over the shoulder of Brandon Rohrer for the first goal of the game. The third period had the Firebirds score two more to put the game away. A nifty deke at the blue line found two Firebirds break in alone and the puck was slid over to a wide-open Reid Oliver who scored for the 2-0 lead just two minutes into the third. Colin Eby completed the scoring for the ‘Birds on a two-on-one break with less than five minutes to play. Spitfires Say ThanksWith the end of the season for the Spitfires, the team says thank you for the time, effort, and dedication of three players. Captain Adam Vandepoele, Assistant Captain Derek McTaggart, and goalie Brandon Rohrer have now played their final junior game. Adam Vandepoele has been a long serving member of the Spitfires. The Aylmer native started his Junior C career as a tenacious winger who was not afraid to protect his space or protect his teammates by dropping the gloves. He developed a scoring touch in his later years as a Spitfire and was the top scorer for the Spits this season with 14 goals and 30 assists. He was tied in playoff scoring with 3 goals and 2 helpers. Adam was also selected as a member of the All Decade team for the Spitfires. London native Derek McTaggart has been with the Spits for three seasons and was as steady a defensemen to ever dress up for the team. His strong effort game in and game out will be missed along the blue line in seasons to come. Brandon Rohrer has been the number one goalie for the Spitfires for five seasons. Brandon played his minor hockey in Tillsonburg. The top goalie award for the Spitfires might better be renamed the Brandon Rohrer Award as he has won the award the past four seasons and likely again this year. Up NextThe Spitfire organization still has work to do as they prepare to host the Annual BX93 Video Dance this Saturday February 20. Tickets are $15 at the door or $10 in advance and they are available at Campbell’s bookstore or Studer’s. Also look for ads in the paper in weeks to come for the Annual Fish Fry and banquet. |
Spitfires Force Game 7 By Gus Lagrandeur -- Feb. 14th, 2010. Captain Adam Vandepoele was not about to end his Junior C career with a loss on home ice. With his Aylmer Spitfires down three games to two and game six tied 2-2 late in the third period, Adam scored his second goal of the game with 44 seconds left to force a game seven in the series. Aylmer had their backs forced against the wall with a disappointing 5-2 game five loss Friday night in New Hamburg. A quick start was called for and the Spitfires answered the call as they dominated early in this contest. Scoring twice in the first period and at one point out shooting the Firebirds 9-0, Aylmer looked to have the right formula for a win. The Spits may have found the key to beating Corey Moore in the New Hamburg goal. Curtis Roloson was parked in front of the goal and banged home a rebound by Moore and then Vandepoele scored his first of the night on another rebound for a 2-0 Spits lead after one. The Firebirds scored a short-handed goal and then followed it up with a power play goal to tie the game after two periods of play. With the possibility of playing their last twenty minutes of hockey this year, the Spitfires limited the Firebirds scoring chances in the third period. Strong defensive play from Derek McTaggart, Brandon Harbour, Cassidy North, and Adam Brisson kept the ‘Birds at bay and Brandon Rohrer was solid in goal all night long. As time ticked away in the period with overtime looming again, Spits threw out the top line to try end the game in regulation. The puck was deep into Firebird territory and Adam Vandepoele, just on the ice from a line change therefore was not picked up by a defender, went to the high slot area. A pass from Curtis Roloson and a quick one-timer snap shot from Adam found the lower left corner sending the nice crowd into a frenzy as Aylmer went on to win 3-2. Game 7 is set for Monday February 15 in New Hamburg with the puck set to drop at 7:30. |
Schruder Scores OT Winner By Gus Lagrandeur -- Feb. 11th, 2010. It took over sixty-two minutes of hockey to get either team to score a goal and the Aylmer Spitfires are thankful that it was their team that got it. At 2:44 of the first overtime period, Travis Schruder scored the lone goal and game winner in a 1-0 victory for the Spitfires. With the win Aylmer has tied the series with the New Hamburg Firebirds at two games each. Game three was on Tuesday night with New Hamburg winning 7-3. Game five is on Friday February 12 back in New Hamburg with game six slated for Saturday February 13 in Aylmer at 7:30. Game four had the Spitfires having the territorial advantage keeping the play in New Hamburg’s end zone most of the opening period and into the second frame. The Spits easily out chanced the Firebirds in the first half of the game but could not solve their goalie Corey Moore. Aylmer had an excellent opportunity to get a lead in the dying seconds of the first period. Speedy forward Scott Mugford was sent in all alone on a breakaway and Moore was not fooled by the deke attempt of Mugford. The Firebirds were able to mount an attack in the latter half of the game but they too were stymied by Spits goalie Brandon Rohrer. Both teams had hit the goal post or cross bar and after playing sixty minutes there was no goals scored. In the first overtime of the series, Aylmer’s top line ensured another home game on Saturday night. Adam Vandepoele got the puck up to Curtis Maracle who found himself on a two-on-one break with Travis Schruder. Maracle carried the puck into the Firebirds zone and waited for the defensemen to commit to him. A flip, saucer pass to Schruder on the left wing and Travis wasted no time in burying the game winner. Brandon Rohrer stopped 19 shots for the shut out. Game three the previous night had the home team Firebirds score five times in the first period with two goals coming on the power play. Periods two and three had Aylmer out score the ‘Birds 3-2 but it was too little too late. Scoring for the Spits were Adam Vandepoele, Mark Pfohl, and Scott Mugford. Again, game 5 is Friday night in New Hamburg with game 6 in Aylmer Saturday night. Both games to start at 7:30 pm. |
Spitfires Series Tied at One By Gus Lagrandeur -- Feb. 7th, 2010.
The forecast was for a close series between the Aylmer Spitfires and the New Hamburg Firebirds. And after the first two games of the series, the forecast has been right on. Aylmer won game one in New Hamburg 3-1. New Hamburg took game two in Aylmer 3-1. Two games played and both teams have four goals for and four goals against. The specialty teams have been close as well. Aylmer has scored two goals on eleven opportunities on the power play and the Firebirds have one goal on twelve attempts with the extra man. The one strange stat is that both games the winning teams were out shot by the losing team. In game one, Aylmer was out shot 37-26 including a difference of 14-6 in the third period. In game two, Aylmer out shot New Hamburg 30-21 including a 12-5 spread in the first period. In New Hamburg Friday night, some have said the Spitfires game was their most complete game of the season. Defensively they were sound in their own end and offensively they capitalized on their chances as took home ice advantage away from the ‘Birds. Joey Hunter scored the first goal for the Spits with Brett Haines and Curtis Roloson earning the assists, Cassidy North scored early in the second period to give Aylmer a 2-0 lead. Curtis Roloson and Curtis Maracle picked up the helpers on North’s power play goal. New Hamburg’s Reid Oliver scored for the home team but Aylmer’s Corbin Reid regained Aylmer’s two-goal lead less than a minute later. Adam Vandepoele and Adam Brisson were given the assists on Bean’s goal. The third period veteran netminder Brandon Rohrer was the difference as he faced 14 shots and turned them all aside. Brandon would not allow the Firebirds to get back into the game and picked up the win for the Spits. With game two back on home ice, the Spitfires had a glorious chance to really put the heat on the fourth seed Firebirds. A win would give Aylmer a 2-0 lead in the series forcing New Hamburg to win four out of the last five games to move on in the playoffs. A goal just over a minute in by New Hamburg’s Brock Shoemaker gave the visitors an early lead and Reid Oliver scored his second of the series for a 2-0 Firebirds lead. The Spitfires fired a lot of pucks at Corey Moore in the New Hamburg goal as they had 12 shots in the opening period alone. Aylmer was able to break through with Assistant Captain Travis Schruder notching his first of the series on the power play with 3:10 to play in the period. Cassidy North and Curtis Maracle got the assists of Travis’ goal. New Hamburg got that goal back in the second period on a power play. Shane Bainbridge was allowed to walk out from behind the net and slide the puck between the legs of Brandon Rohrer. With no more goals being scored, New Hamburg regained the home ice advantage in the series. Game three was played on Tuesday February 9th in New Hamburg. Check out the Spitfires website for results of that game. Game four will be played on Wednesday February 10 in Aylmer at 7:45. We now know there will be a game five in New Hamburg on Friday February 12th and should there be a game six it will be back at Aylmer Saturday Feb. 13 at 7:30. |
2 Articles this week... 1) Aylmer’s Own Lead Spitfires By Gus Lagrandeur -- Feb. 1st, 2010. In the second to last regular season game for both the Aylmer Spitfires and the New Hamburg Firebirds, the outcome did not mean that much in the standings. New Hamburg had secured fourth place and Aylmer were safely into fifth place. However the outcome could mean a lot to the victor as it could set a tone for the upcoming playoff series between the two teams. And the Spitfires sent the message with a 5-2 victory on New Hamburg’s ice Friday night. The Spits have shown the Firebirds that they will definitely be in for a tough series starting next week. New Hamburg got on the score sheet first with a goal by Blake Jordan. Then the players who started the hockey careers in Aylmer took over. Aylmer natives scored all five goals and the winning goalie was also from town. Curtis Roloson tied the game and then Curtis Maracle put the Spits up one heading into the second period. Captain Adam Vandepoele scored thirty-six seconds into the second period for a 3-1 lead that held up until Reid Oliver scored for the Firebirds. The ‘Birds out shot Aylmer 12-7 in the second. Josh Honsinger scored his first goal of the year in his sixth game to regain Aylmer’s two-goal lead. Defenseman Brandon Harbour completed the scoring with an unassisted power play goal. Brad Booy earned the victory in goal stopping 27 of 29 shots he faced. Woodstock 7 Aylmer 1Back on home ice Saturday night, the Spitfires had a chance to finish the season with three straight wins and carry some momentum into the playoffs. The fourth place Woodstock Renegades were in town having won eight of their last nine games. Spitfire forward Mark Pfohl opened the scoring notching his eighteenth goal of the year with Adam Vandepoele and Travis Schruder picking up the assists. Woodstock tied the game at one with a short-handed goal before the first period expired. The second and third period was all Renegades as they poured in three goals in each period for the 7-1 win. Aylmer need not worry too much about the only team losing a bit of momentum before the playoffs begin. New Hamburg, the Spits opponents in the first round, also got trounced in their last game by the same score of 7-1 to Norwich. As stated, the playoffs are next for the Spitfires. The quarterfinal series begins in New Hamburg this Friday night at 7:30 with game two back at the East Elgin Community Complex on Saturday night also at 7:30 pm. It is a best of seven series and it looks to be a long, hard-fought, exciting series. Be sure to come cheer on your Spitfires! 2) Spitfires versus Firebirds By Gus Lagrandeur -- Feb. 1st, 2010. The regular season is all over. Thirty-six games are in the books and it is now time for some Niagara Junior C playoff action. Each team can throw away all the stats and win streaks and losing streaks. It all starts anew and for the Aylmer Spitfires – it all starts Friday! Round one in the West division quarterfinal will have the fourth place New Hamburg Firebirds face off against the Aylmer Spitfires. Game one is Friday February 5 in New Hamburg followed by game two on Saturday night back in Aylmer. Game three will be in New Hamburg on Tuesday February 9th and then the following night in Aylmer will be game four. All games will start at 7:30 except for game four in Aylmer where it will be a 7:45 start. If necessary, game five is Friday February 12 on Firebirds home ice with game 6 at the EECC. Game seven is slated for Monday February 15th back in New Hamburg. These two teams were fairly even all year. New Hamburg’s record was 15-19-2 for 32 points and Aylmer was 12-20-4 for 28 points. In the six games between them, both teams won three times. The Spits get the slight edge as one of New Hamburg’s wins was in a shoot out giving the Spits seven points to the Firebirds six. Offensively and defensively the teams had similar stats. Aylmer had a total of 124 goals for and 158 goals against. New Hamburg scored one more goal at 125 and gave up three less with 155. Aylmer did outscore New Hamburg 26-18 in their six matches. The Spitfires had a little more balanced scoring attack all season with four players averaging at least one point per game. Adam Vandepoele was tied for eighth in league scoring with 14 goals, 30 assists for 44 points. Travis Schruder was right behind him in team scoring with 11 goals and 32 helpers for 43 points. Curtis Maracle led the Spitfires with 20 goals and when adding his 16 assists, he too was a point per game player. Mark Pfohl finished the year strong offensively and scored 18 goals with 18 assists for 36 points. The Firebirds had two players above the point per game average. Jordan Blake was tied with Vandepoele for 8th in league scoring with 19 goals, 25 assists for 44 points and veteran Colin Eby had 21 goals, 21 assists for 42 points. In goal, the Spitfires overage net minder Brandon Rohrer finished the season with a record of 9-14-2 with one shut out. His goal against average was 3.92. Partner Brad Booy was 3-6-2 with a 4.84 GAA. The Firebirds have Corey Moore in goal. He had a record of 10-10-2 with a goal against average of 3.19. He had a save percentage of .911 which was third best in the division. The specialty team edge goes to the Spitfires. The power play was second best in the West, scoring 43 goals with the extra man, an effectiveness rate of 19%. The Firebirds notched 38 goals on the PP, which was 4th in the West division, an effective rate of 16%. The penalty killing units also favours the Spits as they were third best killing 85% of their penalties. The Spits also scored 9 times with a man short. The ‘Birds had the division’s worst PK, effective only 79% and they scored 7 goals while short-handed. Who to WatchBoth teams had players who lit up the score sheet in the six games between them. For Aylmer, Travis Schruder led the way against the ‘Birds with four goals and eight helpers. Curtis Maracle had at least one point in every game finishing with four goals and seven assists. Adam Vandepoele and Mark Pfohl both had 3 goals and 3 assists each for the Spits. In goal, Brad Booy was 2-1 and Brandon Rohrer was 1-2 against New Hamburg this season. For New Hamburg, number 9 Colin Eby had five goals, including a hat trick in one game against the Spitfires. He chipped in three assists for eight points. Number 19 Jordan Blake was a three goal and three assist player and # 14 Damien Parent notched two goals against the Spits. Corey Moore played in five games against the Spitfires, winning three and losing twice. So who will prevail in this best of seven series? It is really too close to call. Three wins each. Offensively the teams were one goal apart and defensively only three goals apart. New Hamburg might have a slight edge in goal but the specialty teams do favour the Spitfires. Let’s go on record and predict a Spitfire win in seven games. Go Spitfires! |
Spitfires Rout Merchants By Gus Lagrandeur -- Jan. 25th 2010. The Aylmer Spitfires defeated the visiting Norwich Merchants a 6-1 on Saturday night. The win gave the Spitfires three points of a possible four this weekend and solidified their hold on fifth place. A three to two shoot out loss to Woodstock on Friday earned the Spits one point. With the playoffs nearing it is good to see the team playing some solid defense. Holding Norwich’s second ranked offense to just one goal and the third ranked offense in Woodstock to just two goals, the Spits fortune in the playoffs will stand a much better chance of success with the fine defensive efforts. On Saturday night, Curtis Maracle got the Spits rolling with a goal 1:46 into the game. Curtis’ 19th goal of the year was assisted by Scott Mugford and Travis Schruder. Sean Mullin stretched the lead to 2-0 scoring his tenth of the year from Mark Pfohl and Adam Vandepoele. Norwich veteran forward Chad Barclay scored late in the period to make it 2-1 after one. Two goals within the first two minutes of play in the second frame gave the Spitfires all the offense they would need. Adam Vandepoele scored his 13th from Mark Pfohl and Corbin Bean and then Mark Pfohl scored less than a minute later. Mark’s first goal was short-handed and assisted by Brandon Harbour. Mark completed a four point night with his 17th goal of the year halfway through the period. Scott Mugford completed the scoring in the third period on the power play. Joey Hunter and Curtis Maracle earned the assists on Scott’s tenth of the year. Brandon Rohrer was in goal for the victory. The win proved costly for the Merchants as it cost them a chance at getting first place. The loss drops the Merchants record to 25-7-2 for 52 points. They trail Simcoe by six points now with two games to play. The win improved Aylmer’s record to 11-19-4 for 26 points. The Spits need one point in their final two games to retain fifth place. On Friday night in Woodstock, Aylmer played in their fourth game that went into a shoot out. A tight checking game had Woodstock lead 1-0 after one period then Cassidy North scored his sixth of the year to tie the game at one after two periods. A power play goal gave Woodstock the lead only to have Spits leading scorer on defense Sean Mullin square the score at two three minutes later. There would be no scoring ther rest of the third or overtime. Brad Booy was in goal for the Spitfires and was facing his first shoot out of the season. Adam Vandepoele continued to have the hot hand in the shoot out scoring his third goal in four attempts. Attempts by Mark Pfohl, Travis Schruder, Sean Mullin, and Curtis Roloson were all foiled by the Renegades goalie. Brad Booy stopped four of six shots in the shoot out as Woodstock won the game 3-2. Next Up The Spitfires will travel to New Hamburg on Friday night in what will likely be a preview on the first round of the playoffs. The Spits will try and even the season series with the Firebirds as New Hamburg has won 3, including one in a shoot out, and lost 2 to the Spits. The Spitfires will complete the regular season on home ice on Saturday night against the Woodstock Renegades. Game time will be 7:30 pm. |
Season Winding Down for Spitfires By Gus Lagrandeur -- Jan. 18th 2010. The Niagara Junior C West Division standings are taking form with all teams nearing the completion of their regular season schedule. There are four teams needing to play four games and two teams needing to play five more. With the playoffs just around the corner, the first round match ups are nearly set. Leading the way is the Simcoe Storm. They sit in first place with a record of 27-3-2 for 56 points. The Storm has the number one offense scoring 190 goals in 32 games played, an average of 5.9 goals per game. The Storm has the top three scoring leaders in the West division and five of the top six in the Niagara Junior C League. Simcoe’s defense sit number two allowing 103 goals or 3.2 per game. Norwich (24-6-2) record assures them no worse than second place and likely a first round bye in the playoffs. The Merchants have always been known for the stingy defense and this year is no exception as they have allowed a measly 79 goals against or 2.4 per game. Seven points separate third place Woodstock (15-11-4) and fourth place New Hamburg (13-16-1). Woodstock has their sights on retaining third place as their remaining games are against teams below them in the standings where as New Hamburg still has games against Simcoe and Norwich. The Aylmer Spitfires (10-19-3) can still catch the New Hamburg for fourth place. They currently trail the Firebirds by four points and the two teams face each other the second last game of the year. The Spits cannot look to far ahead as directly behind them in sixth place are the Paris Mounties. Paris trails Aylmer by two points with a record of 9-20-3. Both teams will play Woodstock twice and New Hamburg once. The fourth game remaining for Aylmer is against Norwich and Paris will play Simcoe to complete their schedule. If the standings stand pat for the last two weeks, Simcoe and Norwich will get the byes in the first round of the playoffs. The number three seed Woodstock would host number 6 seed Paris in one quarter-final match up and the other series would have number 4 New Hamburg versus number 5 Aylmer. Tough Weekend for Spits The Spitfires were in tough this past weekend as they faced off against the top two teams in the division. The season struggle against Norwich and Simcoe continued as Aylmer fell 6-1 to Norwich and 7-3 to the Storm. Norwich have won four and lost once to the Spits with one game to be played this Saturday in Aylmer. Curtis Maracle scored the lone goal for the Spitfires with his team leading third short-handed goal. Aylmer fired only 14 shots on goal in this game compared to the Merchants 33 shots. On Saturday night in Aylmer, two third period power play goals by the Spitfires made the score 4-3 but the potent Simcoe offense exploded again and potted three more to make the final 7-3. Scoring for the Spitfires was Scott Mugford, Brandon Harbour, and Cassidy North. Simcoe has swept the six games against the Spitfires this year. The Spitfires will travel to Woodstock this Friday January 22nd and then Saturday night the Norwich Merchants come to town. Both games scheduled to start at 7:30 pm. |
Mugford Secures Win for Spitfires By Gus Lagrandeur -- Jan. 10th 2010. Scott Mugford scored with less than a minute to play in regulation time to break a two all tie and give the Aylmer Spitfires a 3-2 victory over the Paris Mounties. The win improved the Spitfires record to 10-17-3 for 23 points. Mugford is in his first season with the Spitfires. The eighteen year old St. Thomas native has scored eight goals and added nine assists for seventeen points. He is fifth in team scoring and was one of three Spitfires who played in the All Star game on Saturday night. Scott is a player that can excel in today’s game. With the no obstruction rules, the speed and finesse in Scott’s game allows him to go around the often bigger opposing defensemen. Comparison can be made for Scott to Paul Kariya of the St. Louis Blues. Both forwards may lack the power forward size but both possess quick acceleration, agility and deftness with the puck, and a blistering wrist shot. In Friday’s match up against Paris, the first period was a yawner with no goals being scored and only eight shots on goal. Six of those shots were by Aylmer and the Spitfires held the Mounties to two shots even though they were short-handed three times in the period. Sean Mullin scored the Spitfires first goal with assists going to Curtis Maracle and Adam Brisson. Sean has regained the scoring touch he had in the 2007-08 season where he notched 15 goals. After dipping down to four last season, the second period goal was Sean’s eighth this year. Curtis Maracle picked up his team leading seventeenth goal of the year to stretch Aylmer’s lead to 2-0. It was a power play goal at 6:15 of the third period with Adam Vandepoele and Cassidy North earning assists. Paris tied the game by scoring two goals in a two minute span. One goal came on a Mounties’ power play and the other was a short-handed effort. The game remained tied at two and it appeared the two teams were going to overtime which they have done in two previous games against each other. Scott Mugford made sure that the Spits were the only team to get any points in the standings scoring with forty-six seconds to play. Scott’s goal was assisted by Travis Schruder and Curtis Maracle who picked up his third point of the game. Brandon Rohrer earned the win in goal stopping 25 of the 27 shots he faced. Family Night Saturday The Spitfires travel to Norwich to face off against the Merchants on Friday January 15th with a game time of 8 pm. On Saturday January 16 at 7:30 the Spits will host the Simcoe Storm. Kids 14 and under get free admission when accompanied by an adult and there will be a draw for a Playstation 3 game system. The first 200 kids will get a free hot dog or popcorn courtesy of Kuma. ‘C’ you there! |
Spitfires Cling to Fifth Place By Gus Lagrandeur -- Jan. 5th 2010. With seven games remaining in the regular season schedule, the Aylmer Spitfires find themselves barely holding on to fifth place in the Niagara Junior C West division. The record of 9-17-3 sits just two points ahead of sixth place Paris. The Spitfires at best can finish with a record of 16-17-3 if they win the last seven games in the schedule. It will be the second time in club history that they finish with a sub-500 record. In year one, the Spits had a record of 12-18-3 for fourth place. The Spitfires are in no danger of missing the playoffs as all six teams will compete in the post-season. If they remain in fifth place the Spits would play the fourth place team, currently the New Hamburg Firebirds. So even though the team is struggling, as they are on a five game losing streak, the team can still turn the season around. A few wins leading into the playoffs can breed some much needed confidence. If one or two players get hot offensively and a goalie gets hot anything can happen and memories of a losing regular season can soon be forgot. Looking at the stats, the Spits should be a little better off. They have the number two power play in the West division and have the number two penalty killing unit. Usually with special team numbers like that the wins come by more readily. Tightening up defensively is a must as the Spits have given up 130 goals against in 29 games. This past week on home ice the Spitfires lost to the New Hamburg Firebirds 5-3. Sean Mullin, Curtis Roloson and Adam Vandepoele were the goal scorers for the Spits. Aylmer outshot the Firebirds 33-28. On Sunday night, Aylmer got trounced in Simcoe 10-1. Adam Vandepoele scored the lone goal for the Spitfires. Spitfire All Stars The Spitfires will send three players to the All Star game. They are Brandon Harbour, Curtis Maracle, and Scott Mugford. The game will be played this Saturday night in New Hamburg. Aylmer native Brandon Harbour is in his second season with the Spitfires. The steady stay home defenseman won Defenseman of the Year and Most Sportsmanslike player last season. The Assistant Captain has one goal and six assists. Curtis Maracle, another Aylmer native, is in his third full season with the Spits. He currently leads the team with sixteen goals and he has added twelve assists. First year Spitfire Scott Mugford will make his debut in the All Star match. Scott, from St. Thomas, relies on his speed and his elusiveness around the net to get his scoring chances. Scott has seven goals and nine assists with the Spits so far. The Spitfires will play this Friday January 8th against the Paris Mounties at 7:30 pm. |
Paris Double Up on Spitfires By Gus Lagrandeur -- Dec. 28, 2009. The Aylmer Spitfires returned to action this past Sunday with a matinee game in Paris. The Mounties won the game 4-2 to come within two points of the Spitfires in the standings. Paris and Aylmer are in a battle for fifth place in the six-team West division. Aylmer currently holds on to fifth with a record of 9-15-3 for 21 points. Paris has eight wins with fifteen losses and three overtime losses for 19 points and has one game in hand. Corbin Bean got Aylmer the lead with a power play goal in the first period and the scored remained 1-0 heading into the second period. The well-documented second period woes continue to haunt the Spitfires as Paris scored all four of their goals in the second frame. Of the 115 goals the Spitfires have allowed in their 27 games played, they have allowed 54 goals in the second period or over sixty-two percent. They have been completely shut out in the middle frame in ten of the twenty-seven games. In period two on Sunday, Paris forward Dalton Riley nearly duplicated a feat that NHL legend Mario Lemieux accomplished twenty-one years ago. Riley scored a natural hat trick against the Spitfires in the second period. He had an even strength goal, a power play goal and a short-handed goal in just over six minutes of play. Mario the Magnificent is the only player in NHL history to also have three goals in the same manner as Riley but Mario also added a goal on a penalty shot and an empty net goal in one game. Spitfire defenseman Adam Brisson completed the scoring in this game netting a short-handed marker. Next up for the Spitfires will be a home game this Saturday against the New Hamburg Firebirds. Game time will be at 7:30 pm at the EECC. Aylmer will travel to Simcoe the following night to face off against the first place Storm.
NHL record only player to score 5 goals in different ways in one game. (shorthanded, full strength, powerplay, penalty shot, and empty net) (December 31, 1988 against the New Jersey Devils) |
Spitfires Win One of Three By Gus Lagrandeur -- Dec. 20, 2009. A busy stretch of hockey for the Aylmer Spitfires came to an end this past weekend with a 5-4 loss to the Simcoe Storm. It was the Spitfires fifth game in seven days where they won two and lost three. On Wednesday December 16 Aylmer travelled to Paris. The Mounties have been a handful for the Spitfires this season winning two and losing once to the Spitfires in overtime. On this night, extra time was needed and a shoot out before a winner was decided. Of the ten goals scored in this game, eight were scored on specialty teams. Aylmer netted four power play goals and added one short-handed marker. Paris had one goal with the man advantage and scored twice with a player in the sin bin. Aylmer trailed 3-1 after two periods of play with Mark Pfohl scoring the Spits goal on the PP. Power play goals in the third by Curtis Roloson and Cory Bornais knotted the game up at three at the 7:18 mark. The teams exchanged short-handed goals to push the score to 4-4. Cory Bornais scored his second of the game and third goal of the year with his short-handed marker. Defenseman Adam Brisson scored for the Spits again on the power play for a short lived 5-4 lead as Paris veteran Scott Graf tied the game at five with 1:03 to play. There were no goals in the overtime period so a shoot out was required. Brandon Rohrer stood tall throughout the game for the Spits as he faced a total of 51 shots. He was even bigger in the shoot out as he stopped all seven of Paris attempts. Spitfire utility player Sean Mullin was the here by scoring on Aylmer’s seventh try to earn the victory. Final score: Aylmer 6 Paris 5. New Hamburg 4 Aylmer 3 On Friday December 18 Aylmer faced off against the Firebirds from New Hamburg. In the battle for fourth place, New Hamburg got the edge with a 4-3 win. Cory Bornais continued having the hot hand as he had two goals for the Spits. Mark Pfohl was the other Spitfire marksmen notching his fifteenth of the season. Brad Booy got the start in goal stopping 34 of the 38 shots he faced. Simcoe 5 Aylmer 4 Back on home ice Saturday night, Aylmer had a chance to enact some revenge on the Storm. In the previous three games against each other, Simcoe have won all three and have outscored Aylmer 19-8. In a lackluster first period the Spits were outshot 12-6 and outscored 2-0. Fans will recall that the second period has not been kind to the Spits in the previous two games against Simcoe. Aylmer had the lead going into the second period in both those games only to have Simcoe storm back and take control of the games with six and five goal periods. This time it was Aylmer to storm back in the second period, scoring four to Simcoe’s one to take a 4-3 lead after forty minutes of play. Corbin Bean and Sean Mullin scored on the power play to even the game up at two. Simcoe took a 3-2 lead only to have Spit forward Scott Mugford show great hustle in scoring an unassisted goal to level the game at three. Curtis Roloson used some nifty stick handling along the goal line and was able to tuck in the puck behind the Simcoe goalie to give Aylmer the 4-3 lead. Simcoe fought back in the third period scoring twice and taking the win 5-4. Brandon Rohrer played a solid game in goal as Aylmer was outshot 47-24 in the game. The Spitfires will next see game action on Sunday December 27 in Paris for a 1:30 puck drop. The next home game will be Saturday January 2 at 7:30 pm when the New Hamburg Firebirds come to town. The Aylmer Spitfires would like to wish to all their loyal fans and sponsors Happy Holidays and to all a very prosperous New Year. |
Spitfires Split Weekend Games By Gus Lagrandeur -- Dec. 14, 2009.
Second Period Collapse Again! Let's hope for a better second period!
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Spitfires Caught by Mounties By Gus Lagrandeur -- Dec. 7, 2009. The Aylmer Spitfires ran into a well rested team on Sunday afternoon in Paris and the Mounties took advantage with a 4-1 win. Paris had not played in a week where the Spitfires were coming from a shoot out loss to Norwich just sixteen hours before puck drop. The win snapped a five game losing streak for Paris and extended Aylmer’s winless streak to three games. Aylmer had won four of five prior to the last three games and are set to play five games in seven days starting next Saturday. In Paris, the Mounties scored first with an unassisted goal by Andrew Pawluk. Spits forward Mark Pfohl notched his twelfth goal of the season on the power play to tie it at one after one period of play. Brandon Harbour and Curtis Maracle got the helpers on Mark’s fifth PP goal. Paris scored once in the second and then two more in the third to close out the scoring and secure their sixth win of the season. Five of Paris’ fourteen points this season have come against the Spitfires. Paris won 3-1 in the last meeting between the two teams and Aylmer won 8-7 in overtime earlier in the year. The two teams will meet three more times before the end of the regular season. Aylmer 3 Norwich 4 On Saturday, the Spitfires hosted the Norwich Merchants. This rivalry continues to thrive over the years with both teams bringing the best of each other making for some good hockey. The Merchants snuck out of town on this night with a 4-3 shoot out victory. The teams have now played four times this year. They have both won by 6-2 scores and Norwich has won the other two games. Aylmer led by 3-0 before losing 5-3 and was leading 3-1 on Saturday night before losing in the shoot out. Brandon Rohrer got the start in goal and was tested early and often in this contest. Brandon faced fourteen shots in the opening frame then the Merchants fired twenty shots on goal in both the second and third period for a total of 54 before the overtime session. Aylmer had 11 in period one and could only muster ten shots the rest of the game. Corbin Bean and Jason Farquhar scored first period goals for Aylmer just eighteen seconds apart. They also picked up assists on the others’ goal along with Curtis Roloson and Brett Haines. Curtis Maracle picked up his team leading 14th goal of the year in the second period to make the score 3-1 after two. Norwich continued the onslaught of shots at Rohrer and they managed to score two goals in the final seven minutes of play to send the game into overtime. The four-on-four play in OT failed to mount any offensive attack for either team as only one shot was recorded on goal in the extra five minutes. Aylmer ventured into their second shoot out of the season where Norwich was in their first. Captain Adam Vandepoele was the only Spitfire able to score on the penalty shot and Norwich had two shooters scoring to get the win. Next Up The Spitfires will have a busy week playing five games in seven days which will take them to the Christmas break. Game one will be in Aylmer this Saturday against the fourth place New Hamburg Firebirds. The night will give the Spitfires a chance to thank their many sponsors as they host “Sponsor Night’. The winner of the Hockey Heaven draw will also be announced at the game. The next night, Aylmer will travel to Simcoe to visit the second place Storm. On Wednesday December 16 Aylmer will hit the road again to face off in Paris. Friday December 18 the road show continues with a trip to New Hamburg. The week will end back on home ice on Saturday December 19 as they host the Simcoe Storm. The Spits will have draws for turkeys for fans at the game. Be sure to come support your Spitfires. |
Spitfires Win Two of Three By Gus Lagrandeur -- Nov. 30, 2009. A wise man in the 1970’s once stated a line that to this day still rings true. Michael Lee Aday, aka Meatloaf, bellowed out a tune “Two out of three Ain’t Bad” in 1977. Today, the Aylmer Spitfires are singing the same tune as they took two of three wins in a three game road trip last week. On Wednesday the Spits played East Division’s Glanbrook Rangers and won 6-5. Friday night the first place Norwich Merchants fell to the Spitfires 6-2. The road trip ended in Simcoe Sunday evening where the Storm skated away with a 7-4 victory. In their last six games played or eighteen periods of hockey, the Spitfires have won or outscored their opponents in eight periods, been outscored in only three, and were equaled in seven periods. The improved play has the record for the Spits at 7-10-2. In Wednesday’s game versus Glanbrook, the Spitfires scored the first three goals of the gam. Glanbrook clawed their way back into the game with three goals of their own midway through the game. Aylmer regained the lead before the second period expired and stretched their lead to three again with two more goals to open the third frame. An empty net goal with 1:48 left to play gave Aylmer a 6-3 lead but two late power play goals twenty-five seconds apart gave Glanbrook some hope in the final seconds. The comeback fell short as Aylmer held on for the 6-5 win. Scoring for Aylmer were Mark Pfohl with two, Jason Farquhar, Scott Mugford, Curtis Roloson, and Sean Mullin all adding singles. Brandon Rohrer picked up the win in goal. Aylmer 6 Norwich 2 Even though the Spits were outshot 10-3 in the first period, the score was tied at one as both teams exchanged power play goals. Veteran forward Chad Barclay scored for the Merchants and Mark Pfohl continued to have the hot hand netting his eleventh of the season. Spitfire Captain Adam Vandepoele scored the lone goal of the second period. It was Adam’s eighth goal and team leading sixth goal coming with the man advantage. Having the 2-1 lead heading into the third period, the Spitfires were aware they could not sit back against the Merchants. In their last meeting, the Spits jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Merchants fought back for a 5-3 win with three goals coming in the last period. A repeat of that Halloween night would not happen in this game as the ‘Curtis’ took over for the Spits. Curtis Roloson notched his third goal of the season in the first minute then the team leader in goals, Curtis Maracle, scored three times to complete the scoring. It was Curtis’ second hat trick of the year. Simcoe 7 Aylmer 4 Simcoe Storm, the offensive juggernaut of the Niagara Junior C loop, was the final foe for the Spitfires on this three game road trip. The Storm leads the league in goals with 111 and has three players atop the leader board in the point standings. Aylmer’s fine defensive play of late worked well in the opening period as they took a 1-0 after twenty minutes. Adam Vandepoele scored his ninth goal with Curtis Roloson earning the lone assist. The second frame was all Simcoe. Six goals on just fourteen shots on net had Aylmer trailing heading into the last period. Sean Mullin and Tim Donovan squeezed in a goal apiece for the Spitfires in the offensive second period. The two teams exchanged a goal each in the third with Sean Mullin getting his second of the night and third of the year for the Spitfires. Next Game for the Spitfires will be back on home ice this Saturday December 5 at 7:30 pm as they host the Norwich Merchants. The Spits will have a short rest between games as they travel to Paris for a Sunday matinee game with the puck set to drop at 1:30 pm. |
Spitfires Defense Leading Way By Gus Lagrandeur -- Nov. 23, 2009. The Aylmer Spitfires have won two of their last three games and they can look at the teams’ defensive play as the reason why. A 7-2 win over the Dunnville Terriers at home Saturday night improved Aylmer’s record to five wins against nine losses and two overtime losses. The defensive corps of Brandon Harbour, Derek McTaggart, Cassidy North, Sean Mullin, Mitch Roloson, and Jason Gregory has played a major role in posting a shutout against Woodstock, allowing one goal in a 2-1 shoot out loss to New Hamburg, and two goals against Dunnville. Of course the last line of defense, Brandon Rohrer and Brad Booy in goal, have been good as well. The improved defensive play has lowered the teams’ goals against average from almost five goals per game to 4.2 goals a game. Coaches will tell you a teams’ defense is a five-man unit, not just the two players lined up along the blue line so a continued strong effort by all should lead to more victories. Of course when you score seven goals in a game it should lead to a victory on most nights. Against the winless Dunnville squad Saturday night, the Spitfires got two goals from three players. Curt Maracle, netted his second short-handed goal in the first period and added another in period two, Corbin Bean struck twice in the second period, and Mark Pfohl score a pair in the final period. Cory Bornais added the single marker to complete the scoring for the Spits. Travis Schruder and Jason Farquhar helped offensively with three and two assists respectively. In New Hamburg on Friday night, the Spitfires lost 2-1 in a shoot out. Travis Schruder scored with 1:14 left to play to get the game into overtime and earning a point for the Spits. Overtime settled nothing so a shoot out was held. Adam Vandepoele found the net on his attempt but after five more shooters, Aylmer could not score again. The sixth shooter for the Firebirds scored the winner by Brandon Rohrer who deserved a better fate after stopping forty-nine of fifty shots on goal. The Spitfires embark on a three game road trip starting this Wednesday in Glanbrook. This will complete the Spitfires games against the East division. So far the Spits have two wins and two losses, and one OT loss against the East. Glanbrook sit in fifth place in the East with a record of 6-10-2. On Friday November 27 the Spits will challenge the first place Norwich Merchants in Norwich. This is the third meeting between the two teams with Norwich winning 6-2 and 5-3 previously. The road trip continues on Sunday as the Simcoe Storm will host the Spitfires at 7 pm. The Spitfires defense will be put to the test against Simcoe as the Storm has the top four scoring leaders in the league. Aylmer’s next home game is not until December 5th when they will entertain the Norwich Merchants. |
Rohrer Earns Shut Out for Spitfires By Gus Lagrandeur -- Nov. 16, 2009. Veteran Spitfire goaltender Brandon Rohrer earned his first shutout of the season in a 5-0 romp of the Woodstock Renegades on Saturday night. The win improved the Spitfires record to 4-9-1 and drops Woodstock record to 7-7-1. The goalie is on occasion called the teams’ best penalty killer and against Woodstock that was definitely the case. Brandon helped kill off twelve power plays for the Renegades as he turned aside all thirty eight shots on goal to get his third win of the year. All of the scoring in the game for the Spitfires came in the second period. The first frame had Aylmer playing short-handed five times yet they still out shot the visitors 13-10. Captain Adam Vandepoele scored Aylmer’s first two goals of the game early in period two. Scott Mugford and Joey Hunter assisted on goal number one and Curtis Roloson and Cory Bornais helped out on Adam’s seventh goal of the year, a power play marker. Curtis Maracle, returning from a hand injury, scored his eighth of the season to extend the lead to three. Assistant Captain’s Travis Schruder and Derek McTaggart were credited with assists. Joey Hunter picked up his second point on the night scoring the teams’ second short-handed goal of the year. Scott Mugford added his second assist of the game on Hunter’s goal. Completing the scoring for the Spitfires was Corbin Bean with an assist going to Cory Bornais and Jayson Farquhar. This was Corbin’s first goal as a Spitfire in nine games played. If you were to look at the score sheet, it would appear the third period was boring. There were no goals and no penalties in the period. But if you were to ask Brandon Rohrer, he would be quick to argue that it was not boring. Brandon faced 18 shots in the third period alone while Aylmer was limited to only two shots at the Woodstock goal. MINOR HOCKEY NIGHT The Spitfires will hit the road this Friday night as they travel to New Hamburg to challenge the Firebirds. The following evening on Saturday night, the Spitfires will be hosting their next special event as they will have “Minor Hockey Night”. All minor hockey coaches should have passes for this weekend’s game against the Dunnville Terriers. Game time will be at 7:30 pm. |
Spitfires Have Power Shortage By Gus Lagrandeur -- Nov. 8, 2009. The definition of a power play is an attack by a team at full strength against a team playing one man or two men shorthanded because of a penalty which resulted in a player on the opposing team receiving penalty-box time. In today’s game, where all the minor infractions of obstruction are being called, the power play can determine the outcome of the game. A team with a potent power play can take the lead or extend the lead in a game and skate away with the two points for the win. A team that has a struggling power play can do several things to a team. Frustration can build due to the inability to score which can lead to the power play unit taking penalties themselves. It can disrupt the lines as the top lines normally get the power play time thus the other lines sit more and get out of sync. The defending team can also gain momentum by thwarting the other teams’ power play. In Saturday’s contest versus the Paris Mounties, the Spitfires had ten opportunities on the power play, including twice having a two-man advantage, and capitalized only once as they lost 3-1. Paris went one for six on their PP scoring just four seconds into an Aylmer penalty. Going into the game against Paris, Aylmer’s PP was fourth in the division with an 18% success rate scoring 16 times on 88 chances. Paris PK units were fifth best with an effectiveness of 79% allowing 22 goals in 104 times short-handed. A more successful power play against Paris could have won the game for the Spitfires. So why is there a power play shortage for the Spits? Was it a case of over-confidence? Here the Spitfires were coming off their best games of the season with a convincing win over the power house Grimsby where the PP went 2 for 5, and a good game against the first place Norwich where they held a 3-0 lead. Did the Spitfires see the sixth place Paris Mounties coming to town thinking the two points were in the bag? This was Paris, a team that had yet to win on the road and was riding a four game losing streak. This was Paris, a team that over the past few years were having a hard time to get a win at all never mind a road win. The Spitfires know they cannot take any team lightly with their early season struggles so far. The Spitfires offense has the fewest goals scored with 42 in 13 games. They have allowed the second most goals against with 63. They are a team that has not protected their home ice well, having a paltry two wins in eight games. So after Saturday’s game, the Spitfires now see Paris leave town as a fifth place team with the 3-1 road win. Paris can say they earned the win because they gave up all of those power play chances to Aylmer yet still out shot the Spits 37-33. It is back to the drawing board for the Spitfires. Another practice mid-week to try and right the ship as they prepare for a game next Saturday night against the Woodstock Renegades. Game time will be at 7:30 pm at the EECC. |
Pfohl Scores Three In Spitfire Win By Gus Lagrandeur -- Nov. 2, 2009. The Aylmer Spitfires snapped a seven game winless streak with a very impressive 5-2 road victory over the Grimsby Peach Kings. It was the first road win in five tries for the Spitfires this season. Grimsby has been a powerhouse in the Niagara East Division for several years and appears to be again this year. They have either won the Niagara Junior C title or lost in the league finals in the past four seasons. Heading into the game against the Spits, the Peach Kings had eight wins and two losses. The Spitfires, with their fine play of late, were not intimidated and took it to Grimsby right away. Spitfires forward Mark Pfohl scored his first of the game on a power play just 42 seconds into the game. The score remained 1-0 Aylmer until Pfohl found the net again with 46 seconds to go in the period. It was another power play goal for Mark who got help from Adam Vandepoele and Travis Schruder on both goals. The second period had Aylmer extend their lead to 4-0. Defenseman Sean Mullin scored his second goal of the year at the 1:45 mark and the Mark Pfohl completed his hat trick before the period expired. The three goals gives Mark six on the season. Grimsby scored twice in the final period sandwiched around Cassidy North’s fourth goal of the year to make the final 5-2 Aylmer. Brandon Rohrer stopped 35 of 37 shots faced to earn the win in goal. He was particularly busy in the second period when Grimsby out shot Aylmer 15-6. NORWICH 5 AYLMER 3 Back on home ice Saturday night, the Spitfires were treated to an early lead against the first place Norwich Merchants. The visiting Merchants had the last trick up their sleeves as they rallied back with five goals and steal a 5-3 win. Cassidy North and Travis Schruder scored minutes apart to give the Spits a 2-0 lead after one period. Brandon Harbour scored his first goal of the year to spot the Spits up three goals halfway through the game. The Merchants got back into the game with two in the second period and then scored three unanswered goals in the third period to give them the 5-3 win. Brandon Rohrer had another busy night facing 40 shots on goal. KIDS NIGHT SATURDAY On Saturday November 7, the Spitfires will host “Kids Night” when the Paris Mounties come to town. All kids 14 and under get free admission when accompanied with an adult and the first 200 kids will receive a free hot dog or popcorn courtesy of Kuma. There will also be door prizes with the grand prize being a Nintendo Wii System. Come ‘C’ the Spitfires in action. You won’t regret it. |
Spitfires Earn Point in Loss By Gus Lagrandeur -- Oct. 26, 2009. The Aylmer Spitfires gained one point in a pair of weekend games but more importantly, the Spitfires should have gained some confidence with their fine effort against two tough opponents. If the Spits continue to bring this weekends’ effort in their upcoming games, the desired results will come. After a hard-fought 3-1 loss to the East division leading Dundas Blues on Saturday night followed by a 6-5 overtime loss to the third place Chippawa Riverhawks on Sunday, the Spitfires record now stands at 2-7-1. The Spitfires can take some solace in that both games the Spits out chanced the opposition and easily could have come away with victories. Of the six periods of play the Spits out shot the opponents every period except for two. The chances have been there. All the Spits need to do now is concentrate on finishing the plays and burying the puck. On Sunday after the long bus ride to Chippawa near Niagara Falls, the Spits started the game firing 18 shots on goal and taking a 2-1 lead. Mark Pfohl and Scott Mugford sniped Aylmer’s goals in the period. Chippawa took a 3-2 lead in the second period but in a span of fifteen seconds Aylmer regained their lead. Scott Mugford scored his second power play goal of the game and then after the face off, Curtis Roloson scored to give Aylmer a 4-3 lead. The Riverhawks were able to tie the game at four before the second period expired. The third period was all Aylmer as they out shot the Hawks 16-5. Travis Schruder scored the third power play goal of the game for the Spits for the lead but the Hawks fought back once again to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the five minute OT, Aylmer again had their chances firing 5 shots on goal to the Hawks 3 however one Hawks shot eluded Spits goalie Brad Booy as the Hawks won the game 6-5. The line of Curtis Roloson, Scott Mugford, and newcomer Cory Bornais seem to be meshing well together as they posted 7 points in the loss. DUNDAS 3 AYLMER 1 On home ice Saturday night, the Spits hosted the first place Blues and lost 3-1. Adam Vandepoele scored the lone goal for the Spitfires and Brandon Rohrer stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced in goal. The Spits played one of their better games of the season but continued to not get the bounces to snap out of the skid. The effort was there Saturday night and the bounces will come if the hard work continues. There is still a lot of season to play and there is a lot of pride in the Spitfires dressing room. Strong efforts from everyone like in the past two games can only bode well. The schedule makers are not making it easy for the Spitfires as they stay in the East division when they travel to the Grimsby Peach Kings (8-2) on Friday night. Aylmer will then host the Norwich Merchants (9-2) on Saturday night. |
Spitfires Lose Two By Gus Lagrandeur -- Oct. 19, 2009. The struggles continue for the Aylmer Spitfires as they lose two more games in the Niagara Junior C West division. The two losses have the teams’ record now to two wins and six losses for fifth place. On Friday night in Woodstock, the Spitfires lost for the third time to the Renegades. Aylmer out shot Woodstock 37-22 but still came up short in the 7-3 loss. The Spits got the start they were looking for with Curtis Maracle scoring his team leading seventh goal and Adam Brisson getting his first goal of the year to give the Spits a 2-0 lead. Aylmer had a great opportunity to extend the lead with a power play chance but a short-handed marker for the Renegades got the home team back into the game. Specialty teams were the story in this game as Woodstock scored twice on the power play and then twice again while a man short. Aylmer went 1 for 12 on the power play. Woodstock took control of the game with three unanswered goals in the second to go ahead 4-2 after two periods. A power play marker extended the lead to 5-2 before Spitfire centre Joey Hunter scored his second of the season. Woodstock completed the scoring with two more to make the final 7-3 Renegades. In Saturday’s contest versus the East division’s Caledonia Corvairs, Spitfire goalie Brandon Rohrer had a solid game stopping 39 of 42 shots faced. The Corvairs came out firing with 14 shots in the opening frame and all were turned aside by Brandon in the scoreless first period. Port Stanley native Cassidy North got the Spitfires going with a power play goal at the 4:42 mark of the second period. The shots were closer in the second period with Caledonia having a slight advantage 15-13. The third period had more tight defensive play by the visiting team as they limited Aylmer’s chances by allowing only 10 shots on goal. The Corvairs extended the lead to 3-1 nine minutes into the third and then sealed the win with an empty net goal to make the final 4-1. EMERGENCY SERVICES NIGHT This Saturday is the first special event night for the Spitfires as they host Emergency Services Night. Any personnel working in the emergency field can attend the game with free admission with proper identification. The Spitfires will try and get back into the win column as they host the East division leaders on Saturday October 24th. The 6-1 Dundas Blues will be in town for a 7:30 start. |
Spitfires Offense Sputters By Gus Lagrandeur -- Oct. 12, 2009. fire up and produce. For the third game in a row the Spitfires sputtering offense has scored only two goals and now find themselves on a three game losing streak. A 5-2 home loss last Saturday to the Simcoe Storm has Aylmer's record at 2 wins against 4 losses for four points. They are currently in a fourth place tie with New Hamburg and Paris.
the second fewest among the six-team league, a total of 23 goals. Defensively the Spitfires have allowed 33 goals for fourth most in the division. for tenth place. 14 points and after third line centre Joey Hunter's three points, the remaining forwards have yet to produce a point. ranked fourth with an 18% effectiveness rate. Boosting that number up even five percentage points will make a big difference.
during the forty-one times short-handed. The team has one goal when killing a penalty. defense out the window and win a game 8-7 again? chances and get the confidence they need to get going. of the goal to create some chaos for the opposing defense and goalie may add a few more goals per game. A slap shot from the point with men in front just might sneak through or get a deflection and it might be the difference in a close game. end and limiting the scoring chances for the opponents is still likely the best way to get the team back into the win column. |
Junior C Déjà vu By Gus Lagrandeur -- Oct. 5, 2009. Though it is very early in the season, the Niagara West Division seems to be headed towards a repeat of last year. Once again the top teams look to be the Norwich Merchants and the Simcoe Storm. Norwich finished in first place with 53 points followed by Simcoe with 47 last season and both teams are off to a good start again. With the victory over Aylmer Friday night and Paris Saturday, Norwich improved to 5-1 for first place. Simcoe is in second place with a record of 4-1. Simcoe stormed over Woodstock 6-2 Friday night then defeated New Hamburg 5-3 Sunday night. The only loss for the Storm was to the Merchants in overtime. In third and fourth place last season were the Aylmer Spitfires with 45 points closely followed by Woodstock Renegades with 43. Two weeks into the 2009-10 campaign, Woodstock sit in third with a record of 3-1 losing only to Simcoe and having two wins over the Spitfires and one against Norwich. Aylmer has a 2-3 record for fourth place defeating the New Hamburg Firebirds and Paris Mounties. The Firebirds with 34 points and Mounties with 22 finished in fifth and sixth place respectively. Both teams have been slow out of the gates this year with New Hamburg earning one victory in four games and Paris yet to win in four contests, although they have had two overtime losses. Keying in on the Spitfires, a pattern they will want to break this season from a year ago is the losing record versus the teams ahead of them in the standings. Aylmer had only four wins in twelve games versus the top two teams Norwich and Simcoe. Against the other three teams who finished below the Spitfires, Aylmer had a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. It is good to take care of business and get your wins against the lower teams but to make a statement in the division; the Spits must challenge the better teams more consistently. Again, it is early in the ’09-’10 season but the pattern is forming. An opening night loss to Woodstock, followed by wins over New Hamburg and Paris and then the two losses this weekend to Norwich and Woodstock again, one can see the pattern developing. When facing off against the bottom tiered teams playing a run and gun offense and winning in shoot-out type games may be a good way to pad personal stats. But it is certain to develop some bad defensive habits which will haunt the team when facing the top tiered teams. The Spitfires have given up the most goals so far with 28, an average of 5.6 goals a game. When facing off against the teams ahead of them in the division the offence is usually harder to come by. Allowing five plus goals against will most certainly not get you many victories. It is the responsibility of the entire team to play a strong defensive game. If all involved buy into that program, then only better things can happen for the Spitfires. The next season game is this Saturday October 10 where they will host the Simcoe Storm. Game time as always will be 7:30 pm. Spitfires Suffer Two Losses The Aylmer Spitfires played two games last weekend and suffered two losses by the identical score of 6-2. The first game was against Norwich Merchants in Norwich Friday night then a humbling home ice loss to the Woodstock Renegades on Saturday night. On the road, the Merchants jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Aylmer got on the scoreboard with two power plays goals in the third period. Adam Vandepoele and Travis Schruder were the Spitfire goal scorers. Back on home ice Saturday, Aylmer trailed early giving up two goals before the game was three minutes old. Spitfire forward Mark Pfohl scored to cut the lead to 2-1 after one period of play. Three goals by Woodstock in the middle frame seemed to take the sails out of the Spitfires. Another goal by the Renegades made the score 6-1 halfway through the third period. Spitfire Travis Schruder scored his fourth power play goal of the year to make the final 6-2. NEXT UP The Spitfires will return to the ice Wednesday for their regular practice time then will enjoy an exhibition game with the original Spitfire team from 2003-04. This game will take place on Friday October 9 at 7:15 pm. A dance will be held immediately after the game. Tickets for the game and dance are $10. The inaugural season for the Spitfires was played out in the Memorial Arena on Sydenham St. The team did make the playoffs finishing fourth in the six team division. The Spits nearly pulled off a major upset winning the first two games of the best of seven series against Norwich but the first place Norwich squad fought back and won the series in six games. Coaching for the Spitfires in year one was Scott Brooks. Scott will be behind the bench again on Friday night and will have his own contingent from Aylmer. Mike Chipchase, Nathan Gavey, John Ralf, and Jeff Gillies will lace them up one more time. Also returning are Matt Lynch, Luke and Chad Murray, and Jason Geerts. The next regular season game is Saturday October 10 versus the Simcoe Storm with the drop of the puck scheduled for 7:30 pm.
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Spitfires Ready for Season to Start By Gus Lagrandeur -- Sept. 14, 2009. It all starts anew this Friday. The Aylmer Spitfires begin their 2009-10 Niagara Junior C regular season with a game in Woodstock. The Spitfires home opener will be the following evening when they host the New Hamburg Firebirds. The Spitfires completed their exhibition games over the weekend with a home and home series against the Mitchell Hawks. The games were split with Aylmer winning at home Saturday night 4-2 and then Mitchell winning on their home ice Sunday 3-2. In Saturday’s contest, the line of Curtis Maracle at centre, Adam Vandepoele at right wing, and Travis Schruder on the left side accounted for all four goals. Schruder scored his goal in the first period to tie the game at one. The second period had Aylmer dominate as they out shot the Hawks 14-3. Adam Vandepoele scored two goals in the period. His first was on the power play as he snuck in from the side to slide the puck over the goal line. The second goal for Vandepoele was off of a deflection from the point shot of Cassidy North. The score at the end of the second period was Aylmer 3 Mitchell 1. The third period had Mitchell pick up some momentum with an early goal to cut the Spitfires lead to one. Brad Booy was in goal for the Spitfires and used strong positioning and excellent rebound control to limit the Hawks scoring chances. Although, Booy did have some luck behind him as three shots rang off of the cross bar and stayed out of the Spitfire net. Brad will tell you that because of his positioning that is all the Hawks shooters could see to shoot at giving them no chance to score. Curtis Maracle completed the scoring with a short-handed marker. The Mitchell goalie attempted a clearing pass as Curtis skated towards him. The goalie fanned on the pass and Curtis intercepted the puck and scored into the open net. Details of the Sunday game were not available. The Spits record in the pre- season was two wins and three losses. But throw those stats away as it all starts fresh Friday. Fans attending the Spitfire games this season will see a lot of home grown talent. In last Saturday’s game against Mitchell, of the nineteen players that dressed for the game, nine have played in the Aylmer Minor Hockey system. Returning Spitfires from Aylmer are forwards Adam Vandepoele, Curtis Roloson, and Curtis Maracle. Goalie Brad Booy is back for a second season with the Spits as is last years’ defenseman of the year Brandon Harbour. A New addition that will enjoy some home cooking will be Brett Haines, who will patrol the left wing. The Spitfires will once again face off in thirty six games this season with 30 against the Niagara West division and six games in cross over games with the East division. All the home games for the Spitfires, except for one contest in January, will be played on Saturday nights with games to be 7:30 pm. Throughout the year the Spitfires will host special nights. They include Spitfires Reunion Game on October 9, Emergency Services night on October 24, Kids Night on November 7, Minor Hockey night on November 21, Sponsor Night on December 12, Turkey Night on December 19, and Family night on January 16. The Spitfire teams challenge all hockey fans to come out to the games and be loud for your local team. A cheering and boisterous crowd makes the players play harder and work harder for a successful season. Remember, first home game is this Saturday September 19 at 7:30 pm. “C” you there! |
Spitfire Report By Gus Lagrandeur -- Sept. 6, 2009. To err is human, to forgive divine. A common phrase usually stated by the person who made the mistake in hopes of being forgiven. Thus, your humble Spitfire reporter is saying just that phrase this week. In last weeks’ article, the dates for the next Spitfires exhibition games were given as this past weekend. The actual dates are this Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 pm when the Spits will host the Mitchell hawks. The two teams meet again for a rematch in Mitchell on Sunday with a game time of 7:00 pm. It is with great hope that the loyal Spitfire fans were not inconvenienced by the error in last week’s article. Not to make any excuses, it was the first article of the new season. While the team is getting back into shape and preparing for the season with the expectation of improving as the season goes on, let’s hope that the author of the articles also shapes up and improves as the season wears on. It was in the Spitfires inaugural season that then Vice-President Mike Summers approached yours truly to write weekly write-ups in the Aylmer Express. It has been six plus seasons of weekly articles starting in mid-August and continuing through to April. Quick math will have about 32 articles per season, multiplied by 6 seasons, totaling 192 articles. Surely one is entitled to one minor mistake. It has been a privilege to have been involved with the Spitfire organization over the years. Volunteering as the Spitfires’ reporter has given the opportunity to spend time with numerous quality people at the rink. Be it the teams’ executive and directors, the teams’ coaching staffs, the numerous other volunteers working in their various capacities, and of course, all the players that have come and gone over the six seasons. The personal contacts that have developed have made the effort very worthwhile. It is rewarding and somewhat surprising when a parent or fan in general makes a comment on previous articles. A parent of a Spitfire graduate from three seasons past told me just this week that the Spitfire articles came up in a conversation she recently had and how they enjoyed reading about the team and players. It seems crazy that three years later, the articles are still discussed and remembered in a good way. Now you may wonder what all this has to do with the events of the 2009-10 Spitfires. Not much really. The past week, the Spitfires only held practices and continued to work on finalizing their roster. Write-ups about practice time did not seem overly exciting. But anytime the valued Aylmer Express allows an article to be written to get the word out there about the Spitfires, the opportunity cannot be missed. Once again here are the dates the fans need to remember. Saturday September 12 at 7:30pm the exhibition game versus Mitchell at the EECC. The home opener will be the following Saturday, the 19th against the New Hamburg Firebirds. And on Friday October 9 there will be a Spitfire Reunion Game and Dance. Get your tickets now. |
It’s Spitfire Time By Gus Lagrandeur -- Sept. 1, 2009. Yes hockey fans. It is Spitfire time once again. The Aylmer Junior C Spitfires are preparing for the upcoming hockey season and hope to see all hockey fans at the rink. The Spits have been skating off the rust from their skates since mid-August holding open tryouts for all want-to-be Spitfires. With the season fast approaching, the team will look to find the best of the best at camp and bring to Aylmer some action packed hockey. Back behind the bench this season as Head Coach is Mike Shewan. Mike has also taken the task of being the General Manager giving him the opportunity to find and select the style of team he wants to work with from behind the bench. A large task will be to fill in some holes from last season’s team that have graduated. Lost is the offence spark from last season’s league MVP Graham Spriel. Gone is steady veteran defensemen Kyle Simpson and Rob DeSutter. This years’ Spitfire team may be built around the goal crease and blue line. Back in goal for the Spits is Brandon Rohrer. Brandon will be in his overage year and the experience he brings to the team will certainly be a factor. Brandon will be pushed for the number one job between the pipes by Aylmer native Brad Booy. Brad had very impressive numbers in his first full season last year and will look to work hard to get more action in goal. The defensive corps will have three solid D-Men returning. Derek McTaggart, Sean Mullin, and Aylmer’s own Brandon Harbour all should log plenty of ice time to protect their defensive zone. Brandon is returning to the Spits this year after being named Top Defenseman in the Niagara West Division. Another key component along the blue line is having Cassidy North return. Cassidy suffered a season ending injury late last season and missed the playoffs. His offense spark from the blue line will be an asset to this year’s squad. Adam Vandepoele, Travis Schruder, Tyler DeDecker, and Curtis Maracle will look to lead the way offensively for the Spitfires. Adam is returning for his fifth and final year as a Spitfire and he has always been in the top ten in division scoring. The Spitfires have played three exhibition matches so far losing 3-0 to Simcoe in a Rookie game. They hosted Norwich last Saturday night and won 6-4 and then traveled to Simcoe Sunday night and came up short in a 5-4 loss. The Spits will continue their pre-season games by playing a home-and-home series with Mitchell this Saturday and Sunday. Aylmer will host the first game this Saturday at 7:30 pm. Other dates to mark on your calendar are Friday September 18 when the Spits start their 2009-10 season in Woodstock. The first home game will be on Saturday September 19 when the New Hamburg Firebirds come to town. On Friday October 9 the Spitfires will be having a Reunion Game and Dance. Information and tickets will be available at any home game of the Spitfires. The time is near for hockey and there is no better place to be this winter on a Saturday night than at a Junior C Spitfire game. “C ya there” all season long. |