Nightmare starts to the season for Caledon’s Hockey Clubs

By Robert Belardi 

All three of Caledon's hockey clubs might be bellowing out a roar of discontent to start the campaign, but luckily it is still just the first month of the season and there is time to right the ship. 

So far, this 2021-2022 OJHL/GOJHL/PJHL campaigns have seen one Caledon team record a win. That was the Caledon Golden Hawks in the first game of their season, as the boys defeated the Huntsville Otters 6-2 on home turf. 

This past week was anything but. Some close calls and some far from it. Let's take a look. 

Caledon Admirals 

The Caledon Admirals put forward two of their highest scoring games so far this season but once again struggled to keep the puck out of their own net. 

The Admirals fell to the Trenton Golden Hawks 7-5 at home last Thursday, and lost to the Cobourg Cougars 6-4 on Saturday before heading out on the road to fall 5-2 against the North York Rangers on Sunday. 

Ryan O'Toole and Luke Perovic gave the Admirals a 2-0 lead early before Jake Campbell got the Golden Hawks on the board. 

O'Toole scored his second and Jake Barkley added a fourth for the Admirals as the boys led 4-2 at intermission. 

With Trenton coming back in the second period and the game heading into the third tied at 5-5 the Admirals couldn't get on the board in the final frame and conceded twice to fall 7-5. 

In the next loss, the Admirals' leading scorer Sebastian Bulovs' two goals couldn't propel the boys past the Cougars despite the Admirals outshooting their opponent 27-24. 

On Sunday, it was quite the tough loss as the Admirals were outshot 47-19. Goaltender Owen Porter stopped 42 of 46 shots he faced in quite a stellar performance to give his team a chance to win. 

Caledon Bombers 

The Caledon Bombers couldn't get past the Ayr Centennials as the boys fell 5-4 (SO) coming down to a grudge match of a shootout to decide the winner. 

The Bombers were inches away from earning their first victory of the season in a hard-fought bout against a Centennials team that is now 4-2-1 on the year. 

In the first period, Andrew Reynolds got the Bombers on the board just under four minutes in the contest. Brayden McDonald tied it up for the Centennials before Tyler Bortkiewicz potted in his second goal of the season to give a 2-1 lead after first. 

Skipping over to the third period, and the Bombers now up 4-2, David Anderson and Eli Palfreyman put two goals James Norton to tie it all up at four. 

Centennials forward Ben Moldenhauer was the lone-scorer in the shootout. 

Heading over to Cambridge last Saturday for a date with the Redhawks, the Bombers outclassed 5-2. 

Tanner Bibby and Andrew Britton got things started on the score sheet just over a minute into the game before Ben McChesney got within one near the end of the period. 

The Redhawks, put forward three goals in the second period as Luke Bibby got his sixth of the season while Nolan Milne got his fourth and Michael McKnight got his third enough to put the Bombers away. 

Caledon Golden Hawks 

The Huntsville Otters got their revenge since the first game of the season at home last Friday, taking down the Golden Hawks 4-1. The Golden Hawks then came back home to take on the Orillia Terriers and were stymied 3-0. 

The Golden Hawks only held a lead for three minutes and fifty-two seconds over the two games in the week. 

Luke Camara's second goal of the season came 6:59 into the first period. 

At 10:52, Otters' Tye Lindeman put his second of the season in and the rest is history for the Golden Hawks. 

All three clubs are in action this week. 

To keep up with all three Caledon clubs, visit ojhl.ca, gojhl.ca and thepjhl.ca.