The Fort Erie Meteors placed second in the seven-team Golden Horseshoe Conference and will play the seventh-seeded Port Colborne Sailors beginning Saturday night in Fort Erie. Photo Credit: Facebook/Fort Erie Meteors.
Three best-of-seven playoff series featuring five Niagara-based Junior B teams begin this week.
The Fort Erie Meteors placed second in the seven-team Golden Horseshoe Conference and will play the seventh-seeded Port Colborne Sailors beginning Saturday night in Fort Erie.
Fort Erie is coming off a franchise record 36-win campaign, and took six of seven games from Port Colborne this season, outscoring the Pirates 33-11.
The St. Catharines Falcons finished third and meet the sixth-seeded Pelham Panthers starting Friday night in St. Catharines.
The Falcons won all seven meetings against the Panthers during the regular season, holding a 41-16 scoring advantage.
The most appealing and intriguing matchup sees the fifth ranked Welland Junior Canadians facing the fourth seeded Hamilton Kilty B’s, which began Thursday night in Hamilton.
The Junior Canadians took four of seven games from the defending Golden Horseshoe Champions, and have really improved under coaches Trevor Lariviere and former NHLer Chris Gratton who took over behind the bench in early December.
The Caledonia Corvairs won the regular season championship, finishing six points ahead of Fort Erie, and earned a first-round playoff bye.
The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) also announced their all-stars for each respective conference, and no fewer than three Fort Meteors made the top six. Kyle Adamo at forward, Rylan Masterson on defense and Charlie Burns in goal.
St. Catharines Falcons forward Caleb Thompson was also named an all-star.
Five of the six All-Rookie Team members play for teams based out of Niagara, including the entire forward line – Liam Beamish (Fort Erie), Noah Read (St. Catharines) and Hunter Coley (Fort Erie).
Gabriel Trozzo of the Port Colborne Sailors (defense) and Hayden Jeffrey of the St. Catharines Falcons (goaltender) were the other ‘local’ players named to the All-Rookie Team.
The following is the schedules for the three local Junior B playoff series underway this week:
(2) Fort Erie vs. (7) Port Colborne
Game 1: Saturday, March 9 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Monday March 11 at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Wednesday, March 13 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Friday, March 15 at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 5: Saturday, March 16 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
*Game 6: Monday, March 18 at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 7: Tuesday, March 19 at Fort Erie, 7:40 p.m.
*if necessary
(3) St. Catharines vs. (6) Pelham
Game 1: Friday, March 8 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, March 10 at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, March 12 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Thursday, March 14 at Pelham, 7 p.m.
*Game 5: Friday, March 15 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
*Game 6: Sunday, March 17 at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
*Game 7: Tuesday, March 19 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
*if necessary
(4) Hamilton vs. (5) Welland
Game 1: Thursday, March 7 at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
Game 2 Saturday, March 9 at Hamilton, 7:15 p.m.
Game 3 Sunday, March 10 at Welland, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Wednesday, March 13 at Welland, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 5: Thursday, March 14 at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
*Game 6: Sunday, March 17 at Welland, 7 p.m.
*Game 7: Monday, March 18 at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
*if necessary
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
