Flyers win thriller vs Falcons to sweep weekend showcase

[flyers2011]

The Leamington Flyers tied the game with 1:55 left then proceeded to win it with 3.0 seconds left on the clock. Very good game by 2 excellent teams. The new additions to the Flyers look like dynamite. Emerson, Elliot and Urbanic are all huge additions. 16 year old Crevatin looks solid on the back end and adding the grit of Luke Sanko from the canadiens will make this team a contender for one of the top spots in the conference.

[GOJHLfan1]

Wonder what Girhny had to say about it

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I was downstairs after the game last night and overheard Girhiny talking to what I believe were parents and he was very high on his praise for both the Flyers and his Falcons.

[GOJHLfan1]

Haha maybe the words coming out of his mouth probably not what he was thinking though

[Northofusa19]

The St. Catharines Falcons came within three minutes of a weekend sweep at the annual Showcase Tournament in London over the weekend.

The Falcons defeated the Elmira Sugar Kings 7-2 Saturday before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Leamington Flyers Sunday night.

“Overall, I thought things went very well,” Falcons coach/general manager Frank Girhiny said. “We had a very good game against Elmira. We started off a little slow and then we got our legs.”

Sunday, the Falcons built a 2-1 lead through two periods against the Flyers on goals by Griffin Roubos and James Guest before the Flyers scored two late goals — the last with just three seconds remaining — to rally for the win.

“We’re playing the best team in the west. It was a good measure,” Girhiny said. “It was fast and hard hitting. Although we wanted the win, we still played a pretty good game.

“We had a 2-1 lead with three minutes to go and we make a rookie mistake that costs us a goal and then we had really bad D zone coverage off a face off and they were able to score to win the game.”

Girhiny said both Joel Horodziejczyk, who made 31 saves in the win Saturday, a rookie Cam Gray, who made 25 saves Sunday, had strong games.

“Both were exceptional,” he said.

Girhiny feels the experience of playing a top team like the Flyers can only help.

“We had four or five rookies in the lineup, one being our goalie (Gray), so it’s all new to them,” he said. “It was a good opportunity for the young guys to see the pace we will be playing as we go on through the season and hopefully in March and April.”

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Girhiny is right .It was an exceptional game coming from two top teams in Jr B. It was fast and both teams handed out some pretty big hits.There were several comments after that this was one of the best hockey games all weekend and I totally agree .There were no bad hockey players on either side and both teams made very few mistakes that resulted in goals .The one line of the Flyers gave up both goals on poor D Zone coverage .
And The same thing happened on the other end .The big boys from both teams were handing out some pretty punishing blows .Fun game to watch .This Flyers lineup from this game was a pretty solid group.Cant see them losing too many games this year If they play like they did Sunday.

[Caledonia Fan]

I only saw about half of the third. What I liked about Leamington is they never give up.
I probably missed the best game of the tournament.

[GOJHLfan1]

Was gone before that game started so i missed it

[Marcie]

Are there any Olympic sized ice surfaces (200 x 100) in the Golden Horseshoe or the MidWest? Both London and Leamington play on Olympic ice. Some teams really struggle on the big ice. They really need to adjust.

[GOJHLfan1]

Fort Ere in the Golden Horseshoe, the only one I believe

[Caledonia Fan]

Waterloo has Olympic ice too .But I don't know if it's that much advantage to the home teams. Caledonia and St Catharines adjusted to it against Leamington the last two years. I haven't been to all the rinks in the GOJHL.
A big advantage is some of theses older rinks. Like the Jack in St Catharines and the Allman in Stratford because of there bench location.
A big advantage to the home teams.

[Marcie]

Typically, I've see that the better teams, and Caledonia and St. Catharines certainly fit that bill, can usually adjust very well. On weaker teams the defense struggles. If they play too close together they will get around them up the boards all night, if they play too far apart they will bust them up the middle. With all that ice you can't take yourself out of the play by trying to make a hit either. St. Catharines has always adjusted very well to the small ice in Strathroy (184 x 80). Again the Falcons are another skilled team that can move the puck quickly. The bluelines are 8 feet closer to the net than on a regulation pad so the forecheckers are on the defense a lot faster. You certainly have to know what you are going to do with the puck before you get it.