By Haldimand Press Staff
HALDIMAND—With winter now looming on the horizon, local hockey is back in full swing and, unfortunately, things aren’t looking great at the moment for the Hagersville Hawks and the Dunnville Jr. Mudcats in their division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL).
The Hagersville Hawks are off to a slow start this year, sitting dead last in their division after 16 games with a 3-11 win/loss tally that includes two overtime losses.
Dunnville isn’t faring much better, sitting just above the Hawks in second-last place. Through 13 games they have a 4-9 record with one overtime loss.
In their match against the Glanbrook Rangers last Wednesday, Hagersville lost 6-2, with both of their goals only coming in the third period, courtesy of defenceman Brendan Judson and forward Ricky Johnstone.
A Hagersville-Dunnville match up last Friday was a bit more eventful, with Hagersville winning 7-4. Dunnville opened up the scoring with a powerplay goal from forward Jack MacDonald five minutes into the first and a second marker hit the net off the stick of forward Aiden Alfonso. Hagersville answered back with two goals of their own, scored by forward Bevan Aitchison and forward James Johnston.
A quiet second period saw Dunnville notch just one more goal before the third period saw Hagersville’s offense explode. The Hawks put five goals in over the 20-minute frame, and Dunnville only managed to muster one more.
The match was also notable for the number of penalties accrued. During the first period, both teams were served one penalty each, while six were handed out evenly between the teams during period two. It was during the third period that the gloves really came off, according to game stats.
Dunnville received 10 penalties in the final 20 minutes, with game notes revealing penalties administered for a range of offences including head contact, abuse of officials, disrespectful, abusive, and harassing behaviour, and unsportsmanlike conduct. The game notes called the match a “travesty of a game.”
It appears the local teams will be battling it out all season. Their previous match in October saw Dunnville take the win 6-2, in an exact reverse of last week’s score.
Saturday’s match against the Port Dover Sailors was more subdued for the Hawks, who ended up losing 4-1. Their lone goal came in the third period, notched by forward Nate Veldstra.
Over in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL), the Caledonia Corvairs are faring a little better, currently sitting in fourth place in their division, winning slightly more games than they’ve lost as they took 13 of the 24 games played so far in the 2022-23 season.
The team continued this mixed performance in their two most recent matches against the Niagara Falls Canucks and the Welland Canadiens, losing to the Canucks 5-2 last Friday and rallying for a 4-3 win against the Canadiens the following night.
The Corvaira have two upcoming games at home this weekend, hosting the Canucks at the Caledonia arena this Saturday before facing the Pelham Panthers on Sunday.
You can catch the Jr. Mudcats in their next home game this Friday against Glanbrook. Hagersville’s next home game is on Saturday against the Grimsby Peach Kings.
