2002 PLAYOFF SEASON NIAGARA REVIEW ARTICLES
GRIMSBY GAME 2 | GRIMSBY GAME 3 | GRIMSBY GAME 4 | GRIMSBY GAME 5 | GRIMSBY GAME 6
WOODSTOCK PREVIEW | WOODSTOCK GAME 1 | WOODSTOCK GAME 2
GRIMSBY GAME 2 By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
GRIMSBY –The Chippawa Junior C RiverHawks are riding high today after taking a two games to none lead over Grimsby in the Niagara District Hockey League East division championship series. The Mick and Angelos RiverHawks beat the Peach Kings 3-1 last night at the Grimsby Community Centre and could go up 3-0 with a win Sunday at home. The big lead gives Chippawa every right to be confident, but head coach Chris Johnstone knows his club must stay focused. I think 2-0 leads are dangerous because you try to find a comfort zone but its not a comfort zone. They win one and they’re back in it so it’s the time and place to put the squeeze on, he said. Mike Abbott scored at the 6:19 mark of the first period to give Grimsby the early lead Friday. Chippawa hit the post twice in the opening period, but was outshot 11-5, and looked rather sluggish. The visiting RiverHawks were much improved in the second period and tied the game 46 seconds in when captain Tim Velemirovich broke up a Grimsby pass and scored. Chippawa took a 2-1 lead 1:27 into the third stanza with a soft goal from Mike Kelley, and then opened the gap to two goals 10 minutes later when John Rorison caught Grimsby goalie Kyle Foster out of position and knocked it in the wide open net.We are really picking it up. It’s just our second game so we’re just trying to get our legs back, said Velemirovich. But we started coming alive in the second and third. As with Game 1, Friday’s contest was physical, but relatively clean. The game took less than two hours, and just ten minor penalties were called. Chippawa was 0/4 on the powerplay while the Peach Kings were 0/2. We kept our composure really well tonight not only with our discipline but with our play away from the puck, said Johnstone. We played very good hockey tonight. We were patient and we cashed in in the third period. The series resumes Sunday in Chippawa with Game 3 next Friday in Grimsby. The winner of this series will move on to the Niagara District Junior C Hockey League championship series against either Norwich or Woodstock. Notes:Grimsby’s starting goaltender Nick Smith, who won the league’s top goaltender award this season, suffered a minor back injury in Game 1 and sat last night. Peach Kings officials said he felt well enough to start, but they gave Foster the nod to give Smith a rest. Chippawa’s Pat Giampaolo also sat last night after possibly aggravating an injury suffered earlier in the season.
GRIMSBY GAME 4 By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
GRIMSBY –So much for early series momentum. The Chippawa junior C RiverHawks lost their second-straight playoff game last night as the Grimsby Peach Kings tied up their best-of-seven Niagara District Hockey League East Division championship series 2-2 with a win at home. The Hawks, who started the series off with two straight wins last week, dropped Game 3 in overtime 3-2 Sunday and then lost 3-0 in Game 4 last night. We let them back in the series. Grimsby has been the better team in the series and we have to address that, said Chippawa coach Chris Johnstone. As a team we bottomed out tonight. Chippawa goaltender Chad Collins kept his team in the first period with three huge saves onGrimsby’s Mike Abbott, Curtis Edgecombe and Derek Nichols. In the second period, however, Chippawa’s struggling defence caught up to them with Grimsby getting two goals from Brandon Fuller and Matt Hodges in the final five minutes. Grimsby netminder Nick Smith stood on his head and kept his shutout alive in the third period while Ryan Toth scored an empty-net goal to secure the 3-0 win. Smith, who won the top goaltender award this season, gave the credit to his blue line. They were huge. They made it easy for me, said the 18-year-old Ancaster native, who knocked away 24 shots in the win. He said the team didn’t panic after losing the first two games. We just stuck to the systems and kept working hard. I’m really happy because Chippawa is a really tough team. They’re probably the second-best team next to us. Grimsby was 1/3 on the powerplay while Chippawa was 0/7, a number Johnstone isn’t happy with. It’s something that we worked on but this whole playoff series we haven’t been able to put it together, he said. We just have to use our instincts and play a little harder and get more pucks at the net. Maybe some will find their way in Johnstone said the overtime loss Sunday was frustrating and had hoped it would help fire his club up. We were disappointed because we could have taken control of the series. But we were realistic. Last year we had a seven-game series with them so we have to respect them, he said. The series continues Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Chippawa-Willoughby Memorial Arena with Game 6 to follow Tuesday in Grimsby. If necessary, the seventh and deciding game will be in Chippawa Thursday night. Sunday’s game could prove to be interested after a final minute last night in Grimsby that saw four fights, including a three-on-three brawl with 50 seconds remaining. The linesman were outnumbered by far and the melee went on for nearly five minutes. Notes:The RiverHawks were without players Robert Orr and Ken Groves Friday. Orr is nursing an injury while Groves is recovering from a bout with the flu. Both are day to day.
GRIMSBY GAME 5 By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
NIAGARA FALLS - The Chippawa RiverHawks are back on top, and John Rorison had just a little something to do with it. The rookie forward scored four goals in the third period to give Chippawa a 5-2 comeback win and a 3-2 series lead over the Grimsby Peach Kings last night in front of more than 400 fans at home. After going up 2-0 in the Niagara District Junior C Hockey League Eastern Division championship series and then letting Grimsby come back to tie at 2-2, the Mick & Angelo’s RiverHawks got back to winning last night and could wrap wrap up the series Tuesday in Grimsby. Chippawa went into the third period down 2-1 last night but Rorison was the hero scoring a natural hat trick and more with four consecutive goals to give the RiverHawks the much-needed win. This was a huge game for us because now we go into their barn up one,said Rorison. If we go back to their barn down, they play hard there and anything can happen. Facing elimination, Grimsby head coach Dave Brownridge said his team’s trouble Sunday was a lack of work ethic and that home ice for Game 6 isn’t much of an advantage. This series has two tight teams so I think any team can win in any barn...and now we have to win the next two, he said. Chippawa got off to a bad start last night when they allowed Grimsby’s Matt Hodges to skate through both defencemen and score just over a minute into the game. The Hawks tied it up later in the period with a quick shot from Tim Velemirovich, which was the team’s first goal in more than 115 minutes going back to a triple overtime loss in Game 3. Looking at the series one way or another, you look at Velemirovich’s goal at that time and it was probably the biggest goal in the past two years, said head coach Chris Johnstone. You come out of that period without a goal and they’re really going to start squeezing us. That goal was huge. The Peach Kings regained the lead when Scott Smith scored in the second period but Rorison took things into his own hands in the third scoring the tying goal two minutes in, the go ahead goal two minutes later and two insurance markers in the final five minutes. For Rorison, it was simply a dramatic way to break out of a slump. I’ve played like crap the last couple of games so I knew I had to pick it up and bury some goals. It’s a big confidence boost, he said. The series takes just one day off before resuming Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Grimsby Community Centre. If necessary, the seventh and deciding game will be Thursday at 7 p.m. in Chippawa. Awaiting the winner of the Eastern Division final are the Woodstock Navy Vets. The club wrapped up a hard-fought 4-1 Western Division championship series win over Norwich Friday with a 5-2 win. The first four games of the series were decided by just one goal, but Woodstock hung on to end Norwich’s two-year reign as Western champions. Notes:Chippawa’s 3-0 loss to Grimsby Friday night was more significant than first thought. Until that game, the Hawks had not been held scoreless in more than two years, including playoff games.
GRIMSBY GAME 6 By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
GRIMSBY –There will be no seventh heaven this time around for the Grimsby Peach Kings. The Chippawa RiverHawks ensured that last night by knocking off their opponents in front of a packed house at Grimsby Community Centre with a 6-3 win. The outcome gave the Mick & Angelo’s RiverHawks a 4-2 series win and their third-straight Niagara District Junior C Hockey League Eastern Division championship. It also put an end to Grimsby’s trend this year of coming back to force Game 7s, as they did in the first two rounds. For the second game in a row, the Hawks were down by a goal heading into the third period last night but kept calm and came back with four unanswered goals, including the game-winner from R.D. Lacroix. They were on the bench saying we did it last game, RiverHawks coach Chris Johnstone said after calling his wife in the Falls to announce the score. They instilled that confidence in themselves. The Chippawa powerplay that struggled through much of the Eastern Division final started out looking good Tuesday. In the opening period Lacroix scored his first marker of the series while the Hawks were on their first man advantage of the night. But in the second frame Chippawa broke down and took unnecessary penalties twice while on powerplays of their own. The result left the RiverHawks down by a goal heading into the third period. Grimsby tied the game 7:05 into the second with a powerplay goal from Matt Hodges and then five minutes later the Peach Kings Brandon Fuller scored another special teams marker to take the lead. Chippawa tied it up when Mike Orr scored with less than two minutes remaining in the second, only to have Grimsby go up again late in the period on a goal from Nathan Miles. But after what were likely some harsh words in the dressing room, Chippawa came out much more disciplined in the third taking no penalties and getting a powerplay goal from Mike Kelley to tie the game at 3-3. It stayed that way until the 16:13 mark when Orr passed the puck to Lacroix, who was wide open in front of the Grimsby net and fired the game-winner past Nick Smith. Less than a minute later, Chippawa’s Blake Williams potted the insurance marker and then John Rorison added an empty-net goal to secure the championship. Grimsby captain Curtis Edgecombe said mistakes in the third period cost them the game. We had a few mental breakdowns in the third and that’s it. Other than that we outplayed them, he said. we’re happy that we played well but we’re disappointed for the outcome. Securing the series win last night gives the RiverHawks a few extra days off before the Niagara District championship series against the Woodstock Navy Jets, who knocked off Norwich in the Western final. The best-of-seven final series, which is the provincial junior C quarter-final round, will likely get under way Sunday in Chippawa. After that game a coin flip will decide who gets the extra home game in the series. It will be nice to have a little break, said Johnstone. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a short practice in there to work on a few things. Notes:The Hawks were without a couple of key players last night in Jay Shawana, who crashed hard into the boards in Game 5, and Pat Giampaolo, who was a healthy scratch.
WOODSTOCK PREVIEW By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
NIAGARA FALLS - The Chippawa RiverHawks are headed up the 403 for the third time in as many years, only this time they’ll head north to Woodstock instead of south to Norwich. The Mick & Angelo’s RiverHawks knocked Grimsby out of the playoffs Tuesday night with a 6-3 win in Game 6 of the Niagara District Junior C Hockey League Eastern Division championship. That sends the defending Ontario champions into the Niagara District final against the Woodstock Navy Vets, who eliminated Norwich in five games in the Western Final. But unlike the Norwich Merchants, who Chippawa has beat in the NDHL final the past two seasons, Woodstock is virtually unknown to the RiverHawks players and coaching staff. Having only played them twice in the regular season, Chippawa is heading into the series somewhat blind. We’re going to feel our way through the start of this series and get a handle on it as it goes, said Johnstone. We’re so far removed from when we played them. The last time the RiverHawks and Navy Jets went head to head was back on Nov. 25, which was the second game in a weekend home and home series. In the two games, Chippawa outscored their opponents 15-4 in 10-2 and 5-2 wins, but Johnstone is quick to steer clear of any overconfidence that may come from those games. It was so far back that it’s hard to look back on those two games and think we should be confident, he said. I think they have some team speed much like Grimsby, except I don’t know if they have it through their line up as much. Johnstone and his coaching staff scouted the Navy Vets during one of the games against Norwich last week, and came away with a basic idea of how each team’s lines will match up. Rather than putting the top-scoring line anchored by Tim Velemirovich against Woodstock’s top unit, Johnstone said he’ll likely put the checking line of Mike Orr, Jason Shawana and R.D. Lacroix on the ice to try and frustrate their scorers. We figure we have a pretty good handle on who their big line is but we’ll see as the series goes if we were right, he said. If the RiverHawks are to knock of the Vets, they’ll need a much better powerplay, and a better performance from some of the team’s leaders such as Fort Erie native Pat Giampaolo. The 20-year-old former junior B Meteor led the team with 10 points in the first round against Dunnville, but failed to put a single point on the board against Grimsby amid unnecessary penalties and fighting off the flu. It was more of a mental thing with Grimsby that wasn’t allowing me to play as well as I could, said Giampaolo. I took a few dumb penalties and I just wasn’t playing the way that I can play. Johnstone decided to sit Giampaolo in Game 6, which served two purposes of letting the player rest, and giving a wake-up call to his teammates. We had a lineup that could beat Grimsby even if I wasn’t in it. I think it was a smart move because it set an example for some of the other guys who might not be playing up to their potential, said Giampaolo. The winner of this quarter-final series moves into the provincial semifinals, in which teams are paired by location. In the other quarter-final rounds, Central champion Uxbridge play Empire’s North Frontenac, Mid-Ontario’s Stayner plays Western winner Kincardine, and in the Great Lakes final, Essex plays Southpoint. Four of those eight teams are ranked fifth or higher according to the subjective system on the Ontario Hockey Association’s web site. Uxbridge is the highest-rated team while Chippawa comes in at No. 4 and Woodstock is ranked ninth. The series gets underway Sunday at 7 p.m. in Chippawa and will likely resume mid-week. Official dates won't be decided on until after Game 1, when a coin flip will determine who gets home-ice advantage. The RiverHawks will be sending fan buses to the road games in Woodstock. Anyone interested should contact Niagara Falls Golf Club at 905-358-4653.
WOODSTOCK GAME 1 By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
NIAGARA FALLS - Joe DeCarlo makes it look easy. The 21-year-old forward turned a nail-biter of a hockey game into a sure-win with three minutes left last night as the Chippawa RiverHawks beat Woodstock 4-2. The win gives the Mick & Angelo’s RiverHawks an early 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Niagara District Junior C Hockey League championship series with Game 2 set for Tuesday in Woodstock. DeCarlo, who lives in Peterborough and commutes here for games and practices, scored the opening goal last night and added two key goals in a 20-second span of the third period that turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 win. But while Chippawa came away with the series lead, their overall play in the second and third periods, including taking numerous unnecessary penalties, left the team concerned. We played very undisciplined, said DeCarlo, who led the Hawks scoring after the first two playoff rounds. We took a lot of dumb penalties and just let them right back in the game. We’ve been doing that quite a bit this year. We let team’s hang around instead of blowing them away like we can. Just over a minute into the game last night DeCarlo got things started when he got a shot past Vets goalie Mike Matika. Mike Orr made it 2-0 midway through the first with a fluke goal in which Matika made the stop and then knocked the puck into his own net after trying to get up. But the fairly controlling play that allowed Chippawa to take the lead gave way to penalty trouble late the period. Woodstock's Jeremy Demarest scored while his team had two-man advantage with 2:33 left on the clock to close the gap. Chippawa was able to hold its 2-1 lead through a second-period paced by Woodstock, but five minutes into the third Brent Laur scored to tie the game. Chippawa coach Chris Johnstone said he could see his team getting outpaced at times Sunday. They moved the puck well and we didn’t get used to the speed they were playing at. It’s definitely something we’re going to discuss, he said. Their game got stronger and ours got weaker. It looked like the contest would head into overtime but DeCarlo got a 2-1 and scored with 3:15 left in the game. He stayed on the ice for resulting face-off and scored again with 2:55 left to make it a 4-2 game and complete the hat trick. We gave up an odd-man rush and it cost us, Woodstock coach Scott Brooks said after the loss. They’re a good team. You can’t give them too many opportunities like that because they’re going to make you pay. I didn’t think it was a terrible start for us, it just took us a while to get our butts in gear. As the leading scorer, DeCarlo will likely draw extra attention in Game 2, but he says he’s confident his line mates Tim Velemirovich and John Rorison can take over if he’s held at bay. They can’t cover us all. If they cover me, Vele’s gonna score. If they cover Vele, Rorison’s gonna score, said DeCarlo. As long as we keep winning that’s all I care about. The points come with hard work and that’s all you can do. A coin flip before the game Sunday gave Chippawa home ice advantage for the series. Game 2 resumes Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. in Woodstock with Game 3 back in Chippawa Thursday. Game 4 will be Saturday in Woodstock, Game 5 Sunday at home, Game 6 Tuesday, March 26 in Woodstock and Game 7 the following Friday in Chippawa. NOTES: A fan bus headed to Woodstock will leave Niagara Falls Golf Club Tuesday at 5 p.m. The cost is $20 and anyone interested should reserve their spot by calling the club at 905-358-GOLF.
WOODSTOCK GAME 2 By DAN DAKIN Review Sports Writer
WOODSTOCK –The Chippawa junior C RiverHawks came less than two seconds away from taking a 2-0 series over the Woodstock Navy Vets last night, but instead, left the arena infuriated. The Mick & Angelo's RiverHawks had a two-goal lead with three minutes left in the third period, but Woodstock came back in dramatic fashion to tie Game 2 of the Niagara District Junior C Hockey League championship series with 1.22 seconds remaining and then get the game-winner in overtime. Chippawa emphatically argued the sudden death goal by Woodstock's Chad Paton didn't cross the goal line, but the officials disagreed and awarded the Navy Vets the 4-3 win. "This is the biggest game of the year by far," Paton said after celebrating the win with his teammates. "Now we go back to their rink and it's a best three of five series." The series is now knotted at 1-1 and resumes Thursday at 7 p.m. in Chippawa. Paton, a 20-year-old Woodstock native was also credited with the tying goal late in the game but said it was teammate Jeremy Demarest who scored it. Chippawa coach Chris Johnstone, who was written up for arguing after the game, said he had asked for goal judges to be present before the contest started. "The disappointing thing is we had a very good hockey game on the road. It's disappointing that (the officials) lost control of a great game," he said. "We told the OHA there should be judges and now it comes down to something like this." The first time the puck went into the net for either team last night was 1:41 into the second period when Demarest kicked a puck past Chippawa goaltender Chad Collins, though the goal was waved off. The RiverHawks won the face-off that followed the resulting whistle and 20 seconds later Blake Williams scored with Mike Orr getting the assist. Chippawa held the lead until late in the second when Navy Vets captain Matt Carey got one past Collins to knot it at 1-1. The tie was short-lived as R.D. Lacroix picked up a rebound from a Robert Orr shot and scored 34 seconds into the third period. Joe DeCarlo made it 3-1 with an unassisted powerplay goal at the halfway mark of the third stanza, but the Vets were far from calling it quits. Carey scored his second of the night with two minutes remaining to close the gap and then Demarest stole a puck and hammered it past Collins with just 1.22 seconds showing on the scoreboard. That sent it into sudden death, where Paton rang a puck off the crossbar 1:43 into the first overtime period. It dropped straight down and was called in, sending both teams into a frenzy, with Woodstock celebrating at centre ice and Chippawa fighting the call from the bench. The series resumes Thursday at 7 p.m. in Chippawa before coming back to Woodstock Saturday night. Game 5 is schedule for Sunday in Chippawa, Game 6 is next Tuesday and Game 7 is set for a 3 p.m. game on Friday, March 29 in Chippawa. The RiverHawks and Navy Vets are evenly matched on the ice, leaving a six or seven-game series a good possibility. But with the provincial semifinal round awaiting the winner, both coaches are hoping that doesn't happen. "The longer it goes the more chances there are of guys getting hurt," said Woodstock coach Scott Brooke, who saw one of his top forwards, Ryan Kikut suffer a season-ending shoulder injury in Game 5 against Norwich. "If that series had been over in four, he would be healthy." The RiverHawks were able to sweep the Norwich Merchants in the Niagara District finals last year, which gave them a lengthy rest before the semifinals. "We had that luxury last year and it would be nice to put us in that position again," said Johnstone before last night's game. Chippawa will be without veteran forward Mike Orr for the next four games after he was handed a four-game suspension for spearing Paton in the third period. Orr was given a five-minute match penalty, which carries the automatic suspension, and can't be bought back in the playoffs. NOTES:The Woodstock Navy Vets play their home games at the six-year-old Woodstock District Community Complex. The spacious facility has two rinks, two banquet halls, a Tim Horton's and seating in the main arena for more than 2,000. It's exactly the type of complex desperately needed in Niagara Falls.