Caledon Golden Hawks offence coming alive as playoffs loom

Written By ROBERT BELARDI

The Caledon Golden Hawks could not have chosen a more opportune time for their offence to come alive. 

In the last five games, the Golden Hawks have scored 27 goals, with 10 of those coming on the powerplay. 

In this past week, the Golden Hawks fell on the road to the Penetang Kings 5-3, with several controversial penalty calls in the game. 

In the first period, the Golden Hawks trailed by two goals, until Ethan Lajeunesse, the work horse that he is, put a goal on the board. Head Coach Stan Kondrotas has praised Lajeunesse, for his persistence and courage on the ice. 

In the second period, the Golden Hawks scored two goals, and with momentum on their side, a victory seemed imminent. 

That was until the penalty trouble came along. 

The Kings rallied from behind thanks to two powerplay goals from Brandon Bressette. Much to the dismay of the Golden Hawks, Brayden Irwin added a fifth goal in the third period. 

In total, the Golden Hawks were punished for 34 minutes in the sin bin with 14 infractions. 

In their return to home ice to face the Midland Flyers, the team could not have bounced back any other way. With one rule of course. 

There was no impunity to those who took bad penalties. Kondrotas made it clear, if you were undisciplined, you sat on the bench. 

In an effort to tap into the player's minds, the boys immediately got on the scoreboard thanks to Ethan Lajeunesse. The improved powerplay was confounding for the Flyers penalty kill to solve. 

It didn't take too much time before Marc Bottero found a way past Zach Mather, twice before the end of the period. 

In the second period, the Golden Hawks' powerplay struck again. Alex Mourani's shot from the slot through traffic beat Maher. Shortly after, a sweet wrister from the hashmarks from Dante Zuccaro sent Maher to the bench, with backup Nicholas Porretta playing out the rest of the game between the posts. 

Later on, in the second period, the Flyers were not too shy to display their frustrations, checking players after the whistle and since that moment, both teams began to scrap it out even more. 

Got to love Junior C hockey eh? 

In the third period, Alex Rasonen showcased what the penalty kill can do. He broke free on a breakaway, dodged a sprawling Porretta who sprung out of his crease and buried the puck into the empty net. 

Midway through the third period, Marc Bottero completed his hat trick. The forward now has scored seven goals in his past three games. 

He shared after the game with the Caledon Citizen, the true reason for his goal streak as of late. 

Bottero explained, “Just shooting the puck, my teammates have been helping me out. It's not a one man show, teammates got to help you out, give you the puck. Also, find the areas and kind of get noticed and find the small areas, where you can shoot the puck and when the play is in the right spot, it goes in. 

With the Golden Hawks facing the Kings once again on the road this Friday and the chippy, Orillia Terriers on the road this Saturday, for the final two regular season games, head coach Stan Kondrotas shares what the boys have been doing to produce good results.  

“They're being where they need to be. There's little more determination, little more hard work. First to the puck, keeping the high guy where he needs to be. Being able to pinch down walls, you create all sorts of havoc when you do that and you know, we're moving pucks.” 

On the verge of playoff hockey, the Caledon Golden Hawks organization is giving you the chance to order your very own Moose Kit. 

This kit comes with a personalized sweater of a player, two packs of team hockey cards and a team poster. All proceeds will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. The cut off for this is Feb. 2. Email mooseme@ahghockey.com for more details.