Falcons escape London’s Webb at showcase
Jack Webb got the goal but Owen Savory enjoyed the last laugh when the St. Catharines Falcons’ 50th anniversary season opened on the weekend.
Webb, in his first game in league play for the London Nationals after two seasons with the Falcons, beat his former teammate in Friday night action at the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League showcase at Brantford.
Webb’s power-play marker, midway into the third period, was one of only three goals surrendered by Savory, who made 37 saves backstopping St. Catharines to a 5-3 victory over the defending Western Conference champions.
Tanner Ferreira, Matt Busby, on the power play; Zach Lawrence, shorthanded; and Michael Davies, also on the power play; found the back of the net for the Falcons in Dan Fitzgerald’s debut as the junior B team’s head coach.
London outshot St. Catharines 40-35, but the Falcons enjoyed the edge on special teams. They went 2-for-5 with a man advantage, while the Nationals finished the game 1-for-7.
Webb, 20, of Fort Erie was traded to the Nationals along with his brother Mitchell because both are attending Western University, which is located in London.
In return the Falcons received a developmental fee.
Jack Webb scored 13 goals and collected 28 assists in 47 regular season games for St. Catharines last season. Mitchell netted 25 goals and assisted on 32 others in 40 games.
The Falcons, who trailed only the Caledonia Corvairs in the Golden Horseshoe Conference, didn’t fare as well when they faced their second reigning conference champion at the 26-team tournament.
Special teams were anything but special this time around, at least not an offence. While St. Catharines limited the Listowel Cyclones of the Midwestern loop to one goal in eight power-play opportunities, the Falcons only managed to score two goals in 10 manadvantage opportunities.
Hayden Broomhead and Davies netted goals and Savory made 21 saves for St. Catharines, which was outshot 26-23.
The Falcons open the home half of the 48-game Golden Horseshoe schedule Friday against the Niagara Falls Canucks.
The 7 p.m. puck drop at Jack Gatecliff Arena is a rematch of last season’s conference semifinal, which St. Catharines won 4-2 before losing the final to Caledonia in six games.
While Fitzgerald would have loved to open the season 2-0, he enjoyed opening against “two very strong teams” that, unlike the Falcons, were able to bring many players back.
“It’s great to play teams like that right off the hop, it really puts you the test,” he said. “If we could play another 48 like that, we would.
“It was a lot of fun, good hockey, and the guys learned a lot.”
Fitzgerald, last season’s Midwestern Conference coach of the year with the Cambridge Winterhawks, was impressed with the team’s work ethic and resiliency.
“Whenever we got down, we were able to bounce back,” he said.
The Falcons’ win was the lone silver lining for the Golden Horseshoe on opening night of the three-day showcase at the four-rink Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre.
The Ancaster Avalanche dropped a 6-1 decision to the Leamington Flyers and the Pelham Panthers fell by the same score to the Brampton Bombers spoiling the coaching debuts of Ken Peroff and Mark Barrick, respectively.
Chris Webber scored for Pelham, which finished 0-for-7 on the power play.
Ancaster rebounded with a 6-4 victory over the LaSalle Vipers the following night.
Golden Horseshoe teams went 4-4 on Day 1. Caledonia, 4-3 over the Sutherland Cup champion Elmira Sugar Kings; Niagara Falls, 4-2, Sarnia Legionnaires; and the Welland Jr. Canadians, 4-3, St. Marys Lincolns; began the season on a winning note, while the Buffalo Regals, 8-0, Komoka Kings; Fort Erie Meteors, 7-2; Waterloo Siskins; and Thorold Blackhawks, 2-0, Guelph Hurricanes; all fell short.
Welland native Brandon McCorriston, 19, made 23 saves to earn the win in his debut in the Caledonia lineup. He played the previous three seasons with the Jr. Canadians.
Patrick McCabe, Matthew Caruso, Maxwell Lightfoot and Noah Boman scored the Canucks who jumped out a 4-0 lead and outshot Sarnia 31-28. Zach Moore earned the victory between the pipes for Niagara Falls.
Matthew Giannini, with two goals; Noah Bollert and Alexander Dameski scored for the Jr. Canadians. Simon Wood, 18, of Sudbury, who played in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League last season, made 22 saves for the win.
Marco Lariccia and Tanner Lynds scored for Fort Erie, which wrapped up the weekend 0-2 following a 2-1 loss to Sarnia. Brady Lee replied for the Meteors.
Blair Coffin, 17, of Dunnville made 25 saves in his Sarnia debut. He spent last season in Welland as McCorriston’s backup.
Also entering intraconference play 0-2 are the Blackhawks. Goals from Brandon Charlton and Austin Jensen weren’t enough to eclipse the St. Thomas Stars in a 4-2 loss.
Sunday’s other action involving teams from the Golden Horseshoe had Welland suffering a 4-1 setback to the Stratford Warriors.
Noah Blakely scored for the Jr. Canadians and Charles Grimard was tagged with the loss between the pipes as Welland was outshot 42-23 and went 0-for-6 on the power play.
Pelham hosted the Strathroy Rockets and Caledonia played the Chatham Maroons later in the afternoono, while Buffalo faced the host 99ers and Niagara Falls played the Kitchener Dutchmen in Sunday night’s late games.