Panthers edge Blackhawks

Nicolas Elia is a new addition to the Thorold Blackhawks this year, but he is a well-known face in the emergency room at the William Osler Hospital in Woodbridge.

“I do a lot of volunteering at the hospital because I want to be a doctor in the future,” Elia said after his team dropped a 4-3 decision to the Pelham Panthers in Golden Horseshoe Conference action Thursday night at Frank Dougherty Arena. “I have good marks and also would like to explore playing hockey at a college in the United States after I am finished playing Junior B.”

Although Elia is only 17 and attending McMaster University, he already has experienced the drama of helping a patient when he was doing his volunteer work.

“An elderly man was brought into the ER and the paramedics stood him up to check him out and told me to go get a wheelchair,” the Woodbridge native said. “I noticed that the man was unsteady on his feet and when the paramedics walked away from him, he started to fall backwards. I quickly got the wheelchair underneath him and saved him from smashing his head on the floor.

“The paramedics shook my head and thanked me because it would have done a lot of damage if he had smashed into the floor.”

In the first 15 games of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season, Elia has six assists in 16 games but he is “happy” being a Blackhawk.

“I like it here in Thorold and billet with Charla Dionne,” the 6-foot-1, 180-pound defenceman said. “She is super nice and we do a lot of talking.”

When Nicolas looks into the stands, he will always see the familiar face of his father, George, who travels to all of his son’s games.

“I don’t think he has ever missed a game,” Nicolas said. “No matter how busy my dad is, he always finds time to come to my games. It really means a lot to me to have that kind of support.”

In the first 20 minutes on Thursday night, the Panthers displayed the ferocity of a jungle cat as they gouged the Blackhawks with 10 shots and took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Tyler Kennedy.

“Playing Junior B is a lot harder than major midget,” Elia said. “You have to play in systems here and it is not about being an individual. If you get caught in the wrong place, there is no one there to bail you out because everyone is playing their role.”

It was more of the same in the first half of the second period; the Panthers attacked and doubled their lead with a strike from Mathiau Young while the Blackhawks played defence and struggled to find their offensive prowess.

At 11:51 of the middle frame, the Blackhawks showed their talons when GOJHL points-leader Brendan D’Agostino made a pass to Jake Lloyd in the left-faceoff circle and he ripped a low shot past Panthers goaltender Avery Hartwick.

That was my first of the season so it was nice to score that goal. I knew that puck was going in the net as soon as the puck left my stick.” Bailey Stumpo

The Panthers retook a two-goal lead six minutes into the third period when Bailey Stumpo redirected a pass up and over Blackhawks’ goaltender Kirk Fraser’s right shoulder.

“That was my first of the season so it was nice to score that goal,” Stumpo said after he earned the Post Media First Star of the Game with two goals. “I knew that puck was going in the net as soon as the puck left my stick.”

Less than two minutes later, Dylan Latty cut into the lead when he squeezed a puck over the goaltenders right shoulder from a tight angle at the side of the net, but the Panthers put the game away when Stumpo scored his second of the game into an empty net.

“I just got out of the penalty box and I was confident I could put the puck in the net,” Stumpo said after he fired his second goal from his own blue line. “I hoped it would go in because I would have been in trouble if it didn’t.”

Hawk talk: The Blackhawks squandered a chance to get to .500 with the loss and sit fifth in the GHC at 6-8-1-2