Kanata Stallions surprise Junior Sens as disappointing CJHL season winds down
Posted Mar 5, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Sports - When Kanata Stallions finally ended their record setting 26-game losing streak back on Friday Nov. 13, general manager Lou Nistico predicted his young team would improve over the long haul and could potentially act as spoilers in the late stages of the campaign.
It's the only role the club has as the Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) regular season comes to a conclusion. But a few times they have played it to the hilt, including last Tuesday's 5-4 upset win over playoff-bound Ottawa Junior Senators at Kanata Recreation Complex (KRC).
Stallions' scoring sensation Allan McPherson fired his team-leading 36th goal at the 22 second mark of period three and that proved to be the winner. The incredibly consistent McPherson also helped set up two markers, taking his points total to 95. That's the fifth best total in the 12-team league.
For Ottawa (31-24-0-5) the one-goal defeat prevented them from pulling level with third place Nepean Raiders in the Yzerman Division. They have since surged ahead of Nepean with two more victories. Monday morning Ottawa was in fifth place overall and are among eight teams who have qualified for the post season in the Junior A loop.
The Kanata victory, in their second last game of what has been a long and disappointing season, left them buried at the bottom of the Yzerman Division standings with just 14 wins in 61 games. Despite Tuesday's win the sixth place Kanata club (11th overall) still trail fifth place Cumberland Grads by 30 points in the Yzerman.
Stallions' brass must have breathed at least a slight sigh of relief following the Ottawa game. The triumph put them 10 points ahead of the Hawkesbury Hawks in the battle to avoid last place overall in the final CJHL standings. Despite having six games remaining to Kanata's one, the Robinson Division Hawks retained only a tiny chance of passing Stallions and taking 11th place. That opportunity slipped away on the weekend when Hawkesbury dropped a 7-1 decision to Pembroke Friday and was shut out 5-0 by Gloucester Rangers Sunday.
Kanata is now guaranteed 11th place overall.
This marks the second consecutive season in which Hawkesbury has finished last in the league. With 11 wins in 58 games, as of Monday, they will finish with more victories however! The 2008-2009 Hawks won just eight of 60 contests.
Stallions and Hawks faced off Tuesday in Kanata's final game of the 2009-2010 campaign at KRC.
Tight race
Except for Kanata, who trail the division so badly and Pembroke Lumber Kings who lead it by a country mile, the Yzerman has easily been the more competitive of the league's two divisions this season.
Following weekend action three teams remained within four points of each other with two clubs, Junior Sens and Nepean Raiders, in position to finish third in the division and fifth overall.
Also last Tuesday, Gloucester nailed down second place in the division with a 6-2 home ice victory over Smiths Falls Bears.
Rangers also clinched fourth place in the overall standings meaning they will have home ice advantage when the playoffs begin next week. The CJHL regular season concludes Sunday. Look elsewhere in the EMC for a league playoff preview!
At KRC last Tuesday Stallions never trailed in the contest holding period leads of 2-1 and 4-3. As mentioned McPherson's goal early in the third proved to be the winner. But Ottawa centre Drew Anderson made it interesting when he netted his seventh goal of the campaign at 10:15 of the final frame.
Winning goalie Sebastien Parker proved equal to the task, holding Senators at bay the rest of the way. Parker made 28 saves to record his sixth win against 12 defeats.
Ryan Bradley and Ryan Donnelly each fired powerplay goals for the winners with Brandon Timm notching his 26th of the campaign in the first period. Light scoring forward Dylan Gareau of Richmond delivered a back breaker when he netted his fifth goal of the campaign with just eight seconds remaining in the second period to restore Stallions' one goal advantage.
Kanata defenceman and team captain Barry Roytman earned three important assists in the game giving him 31 points including 28 helpers this season. Roytman's three-point performance moved the Staten Island, New York native into fifth place on the team scoring chart. He is the top scoring blueliner on the club, one point ahead of rookie rearguard Mat Hagen of Ottawa.
Junior Sens briefly tied the game on tallies by defenceman Maxime Villeneuve-Menard and forward Andrew Hampton just 11 seconds apart late in the middle frame. Villeneuve-Menard's third of the campaign came on an Ottawa powerplay. Matt White triggered his 26th of the season in the first period for Sens.
Kanata out shot Ottawa 34-32 on the night with veteran Sens' net minder Niels-Erik Ravn taking the loss, despite the fact he only played the third period. Starter Dean Shepherdson was replaced after making 18 saves over the course of 40 minutes. The only goal Ravn allowed was McPherson's winner after just 22 seconds. He was busy the rest of the period, kicking out 11 shots as Kanata held a 12-7 advantage in that department in the final stanza.
In the penalty department Referee Tom Sweeney whistled a dozen infractions, seven of them to the visitors. The only major was a 10 minute misconduct for head checking handed to Ottawa scoring leader Maxime Pilon early in the second period. Pilon's major was also accompanied by a minor penalty.
Pilon had one assist in the game to take his totals to 71 points including 40 helpers. He was tied for 14th in the league scoring derby following Tuesday's action.
A reasonable late season crowd of 175 was in the stands to watch Kanata score its 14th win of the campaign giving them 33 points. It's a major drop for the hockey club who, last season, missed a playoff place by a single point and finished the campaign with a 26-27-3-4 record and 59 points.
As mentioned, Stallions hosted Hawkesbury in their final game of the season Tuesday night. This marks the second year in a row and the third time in five seasons the club has failed to qualify for the post season.
EDITOR'S NOTE: You can follow the CJHL playoffs every week on the EMC sports pages!
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