Golden Hawks climbing the standings on hot streak

January 30, 2018 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
The Caledon Golden Hawks have made an impressive turnaround in the last calendar year.
By the end of January 2017, the Hawks found themselves in last place in the PJHL’s Carruthers division, 12 points behind their closest rival.
One year later, they now find themselves sitting pretty in third place in the junior C league, their first climb to third this season after an impressive hot streak.
The Hawks entered their game last Wednesday against the last place Orillia Terriers after winning four of their last five, riding a hat trick from captain Matt Magliozzi to a 7-4 win.
The captain added two assists, bringing his point production to 54 in just 30 games, a production of 1.8 points per game, matched by only a handful of elite players in the league.
Matthew Drumonde, Sean Nottle, Jeffrey Ohashi and Mathiau Young also had three-point nights for the Hawks.
Their three-game winning streak came to a halt Friday night in Penetang, facing a Kings team that lurked just one point back of the Hawks in league standings before puck drop.
Following a scoreless first period, Penetang blew open the barn doors with a five-goal second, cruising to a 6-2 victory.
Yet the Hawks returned to form for Sunday night’s home game at Caledon East, becoming the first team all season to beat the Alliston Hornets in back-to-back meetings.
A back-and-forth affair through the first two periods, both teams headed to the dressing room with a 3-3 tie and 20 minutes to go.
With the game devolving into a boxing match in the third period, Caledon took advantage of a pair of Alliston penalties with back-to-back power-play markers to seal the 5-3 win.
The victory was especially sweet as it was the junior debut of goaltender Ethan Olenchuk, a midget AAA call-up for the Hawks.
In his first action, Olenchuk made 32 saves on 35 shots to also earn his first junior hockey win.
Another newcomer, Landis Antonic, led the way offensively with a three-point night in just his fourth game in a Hawks’ uniform.
The win put the Hawks back above the Kings in a constantly shifting race for third place, up one point with a record of 21-16-0-2, though the Kings hold a game in hand.
The two teams will meet up in the penultimate game on the PJHL schedule Sunday in Caledon East, which could very well decide the fate of both squads.
For the Hawks, they can put some distance between them this week with road games against the Huntsville Otters and Orillia Terriers, the two teams sitting last in the Carruthers division.
Puck drop Sunday is set for 7 p.m., while the first round of the playoffs will begin the following week.
For stats, schedules and more information, visit www.jrcgoldenhawks.pointstreaksites.com

Caledon’s William Patry looks to get around Orillia’s Konnor Blimke in the Golden Hawks’ 7-5 win over the Terriers last Wednesday.
Photo by Jake Courtepatte