Caledon Junior Hockey: A Month in Review

By Jim Stewart

The Town of Caledon is a hockey hotbed blessed with three Junior teams:  the Caledon Junior ‘A' Admirals of the OJHL; the Caledon Junior ‘B' Bombers of the GOJHL; and the Caledon Junior ‘C' Golden Hawks of the PJHL. 

All three teams work in unison to develop players for the next level of competition.

The following is a recap of how Caledon's three local junior hockey teams fared during the last week of the September as they completed the first month of their respective seasons:

Caledon Admirals

The final week of September was a rough one for Caledon's Junior A squad.

The Admirals lost 7-1 to the Wellington Dukes on Wednesday. Nasser Abou-Marie's power play goal narrowed Caledon's deficit to 2-1 at 6:16 of the second period, but Wellington scored five unanswered goals to provide the margin of victory. The Dukes outshot the Admirals 52-31.  On Monday night, the Admirals were on the receiving end of an 8-0 loss to the Stouffville Spirit during which they were outshot 40-20. Caledon finished September in 12th place in the 12-team OJHL West Conference with a 1-7-0-0 record.

Caledon Bombers

Caledon's Junior B squad finished September in 11th place in the 11-team GOJHL East Conference with 1-5-0-0 record. 

The Bombers lost 7-1 to the second-place St. Catharines Falcons (5-1-0-0).  Bomber Ryan Scott fired a shorthanded goal at 5:42 of the third period to cut the Falcons' lead to 5-1, but St. Catharines added two more goals to secure the six-goal victory over Caledon. 

Caledon Golden Hawks

The Golden Hawks have moved divisions for the 2024-2025 season from the North Carruthers to the East Orr and the new level of competition has been intense.

In the battle of birds of prey on Sunday at the Mayfield Recreation Complex, the undefeated Clarington Eagles (6-0-0-0) flew out to an early 3-0 lead before Ryan Baxter's unassisted goal narrowed the Golden Hawks' deficit to 3-1.

However, the Eagles scored three more in the middle frame before Golden Hawks' forward Kieran Pottes scored at 14:39 to cut Clarington's lead to 5-2, but the PJHL perennial powerhouse Eagles scored five unanswered goals to soar to victory. 

On Thursday night at the MRC, Caledon earned an OT point in a 6-5 loss to the Port Perry Lumberjacks by scoring with one second left in regulation.

Port Perry's Cameron Marshall scored the OT winner for the Lumberjacks  59 seconds into the extra period.

Roenik Mahal opened the scoring for the Golden Hawks at 7:04 of the first period, but Port Perry tallied five consecutive goals to take a four-goal lead with 17 minutes remaining in the third period.  A spirited and sudden comeback by the Golden Hawks ensued as Caledon scored four consecutive goals--Ryan Baxter at 14:19, James Yang at 15:31, and Baxter hit the score sheet again at 15:48 then Mahal scored his second of the game at 19:59 to force the overtime period. 

The Golden Hawks finished the first month of the PJHL season tied for sixth place with Uxbridge in the 7-team East Orr division with a 1-4-1-0 record.