Admirals split two pivotal OJHL games , keeping playoff hopes alive

February 19, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

The Caledon Admirals continued their late-season push for a playoff spot with a timely 5-1 triumph over the Wellington Dukes in Prince Edward County last Tuesday afternoon.

Admirals’ netminder James Meredith — who has turned in his fair share of heroic efforts between the pipes this season for Caledon — stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn the much-needed road win.

Meredith delineated the keys to victory versus the sixth-place Dukes: “We played our game. The guys played our systems. Every phase of the game — penalty killing, power play, five on five — all looked good. We scored any way we could, too — on the power play, on the PK, on five-on-five, on four-on-four. It showed our resilience, especially after being on the road for over six hours to get there. We played our game for the entire sixty minutes.”

When asked about his own “Third Star of the Game” performance against Wellington, the articulate and modest goaltender heaped praise on his teammates for playing such a sound defensive game: “It was one of the easiest games I’ve played. Most importantly, we got the result we needed.”

Meredith and Dukes’ goaltender Royden Smith kept the shooters from both sides off the scoreboard in a goalless first period.

Power forward Jalen Lobo broke the scoreless tie when he lit the lamp at 5:31 of the middle frame to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead.

Zachary Carrier’s 31st of the season evened the score when Wellington’s power play clicked at 8:11. After surrendering a goal to the high-scoring Carrier, Meredith closed the door on the playoff-bound Dukes the rest of the way.

Six minutes after Carrier tied it 1-1, Cam Lang — set up by Captain Braeden Van Gelder — scored the game-winning goal when he beat Smith to restore Caledon’s one-goal lead.

Clarence Allain’s power play marker — assisted by Lang and Ronan Clarke — made it 3-1 with 58 seconds left in the second period.

Van Gelder’s goal at 6:45 of the final frame gave Caledon a commanding three-goal margin.

With 28 seconds left on the clock, Curtis Freeman’s shortie provided the margin of victory for The Fleet.

Last Thursday’s tilt at Mayfield was an old-fashioned, knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out ‘four-point game’ pitting the eighth-place Chargers and the ninth-place Admirals. Caledon looked ready for their rematch versus Mississauga — the team they’re chasing for the final playoff spot in the OJHL West.

However, Chargers’ defenseman Chase McNamara lit the lamp twice in the opening period to give the black-clad visitors a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The Chargers opened the second period on a three-minute power play, but the stellar play of Meredith stymied the hard-charging Mississauga club, and he performed as his team’s best penalty killer. The athletic goaltender turned aside 18 shots in the middle frame to keep the Admirals in the game.

After the scoreless second, the gold and burgundy-clad Caledon club opened the third period on the power play, but it was Meredith who was tested again. He rebuffed Tyler Hinde’s clear-cut breakaway and flashed the leather ten minutes later to keep the Chargers from adding to their two-goal lead.

After Admirals’ centre, Jack Fang, was mugged in the neutral zone with 7:35 left in the game, the home side’s power play took to the ice, but it was the Chargers who scored the decisive goal. On the PK, Mason Kim rifled his 21st goal of the season when he burst in off the right wing and rifled the puck high glove side past Meredith.

The never-say-die esprit de corps of the Admirals was evident in the final scoring play of the game. Joseph Zoldos tipped the puck past Leonard to get the Fleet on the scoreboard with 11.2 seconds left — finishing a three-way passing play initiated by Captain Braeden Van Gelder’s spirited, game-ending rink-long rush during which he fed prodigious playmaker Clarence Allain. A melee ensued after the Admirals’ goal — a fitting end to a penalty-filled final period of play in a hotly contested hockey game.

Meredith — who turned in a masterful 37-save performance between the pipes versus the Chargers — was gracious in defeat after Thursday night’s tough loss: “They were the better team tonight. They were harder on the puck and played a heavy game. They deserved the win.”

The positive puckstopper complimented his teammates’ final valiant charge up the ice in a 3-0 game: “We just kept playing hard. We never gave up — even if it was a three-goal game at that point. It was a good rush to end the game. I’m happy for Joe that he got the goal.”

Meredith and his teammates have been instrumental in resurrecting the fortunes of the Caledon Admirals franchise. The team’s play improved in the second half of 2024-25 after a historically bad start, but Caledon’s steady climb up the standings in 2025-26 under the direction of veteran Head Coach Joe Washkurak has been fun to watch. The fact that the Admirals are still fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot speaks volumes about how far the OJHL franchise has improved in a year.

Tough games are ahead for The Fleet versus Trenton on Friday and in Buffalo on Sunday, but the remarkable improvement of Coach Washkurak’s Caledon Admirals is one of the ‘feel-good stories’ in the OJHL this season.