First place up for grabs in PJHL local division

Firebirds captain Owen Fischer’s hot streak has helped give the team a chance at claiming the Doherty Division regular season title. Contributed photo

By Lee Griffi

New Hamburg swept a pair of weekend games and moved two points ahead of second-place Norwich in the battle for top spot in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Doherty Division.

The Firebirds flew out to a 4-0 lead in Tavistock on Friday and secured a 5-2 win. Antonio Pasqualino led the attack with a pair of goals and an assist. Owen Fischer and Take Thompson had a goal and helper each with Owen Bruder also scoring.

Stephen Peppas and Grady Murphy scored for the Braves, who outshot the Firebirds 38 to 30. Deklan Jermol earned the win and since joining the team has won his eight starts and posted a 1.25 goals against average and an incredible .959 save percentage.

Fischer, New Hamburg’s captain, has been another reason for the team’s success, riding a nine-game point streak with 12 goals and eight assists. The captain is on a line with Owen Sculthorp and Jake Thompson.

“We played together last year and unfortunately, in the preseason, Scully had a pretty bad leg injury and only came back in January,” explained Fischer. “We’ve had the chemistry going from last year and it was unfortunate for him. It was a pretty serious leg injury. It happened right in front of me and it was tough to see my linemate go down like that.”

Fischer said the team wasn’t even sure if he would be back at all this season but is thankful the recovery went better than expected.

“He’s making that impact like he always does. Both of those guys make the game of playing hockey easy and I owe my success to them. Without them, none of it would be possible.”

Since returning, Sculthorp has eight points in nine games. Fischer said the three linemates complement each other very well.

“I think we are all pass first-first players. We are always looking for each other on the ice, and we have pretty high hockey IQs. We just read each other and understand how we play the game. We know who’s got the puck, where they’re going with it and who’s going to be open. It makes the game a lot easier.”

Norwich has two games in hand on New Hamburg and first place in the division may not be decided until the final day of the regular season.

“At the start of the season we struggled against them. They were playing really good hockey and they are a great team. The loss to Dorchester at home (two weeks ago) put us behind a bit. We were hoping for some magic, but at the end of the day, we made our bed and we had to sleep in it,” said Fischer.

The Firebirds first-round opponent will be either Paris, Tavistock or Hespeler. Fischer said he doesn’t have any preference.

“Whoever is next up is who we will worry about. I am confident in our team and what we can do and we know what the requirements are come playoff time. Whoever we get is who we get and we will prepare for them.”

Fischer said good coaching is one reason the team finds itself battling for first in the division but

“After games guys are hanging out. We hang out away from the arena. We all like each other and get along. There’s nothing in the room I worry about.”

He explained the organization’s culture is something that can’t be discounted.

“We have always had tight groups. I still talk to the guys I played with during my rookie year on a regular basis. It’s ingrained in the culture here and that’s the expectation that’s been set by people before us and we aren’t going to be the ones to change that.”

Fischer said one player who stands out during his time in New Hamburg was the team captain during his first season.

“Zach Mark. I was playing for Hespeler and I used to work with him and he said hey, come play with the Birds. Just seeing how passionate he was about the team I decided to join the team. Coming from what I thought was a good locker room then seeing what an amazing locker room was like really opened up my eyes.”

Fischer said he still talks often to Mark and other leaders from that team

“Last year was my first year as captain and I texted Zach a few times to see how he would deal with certain issues and what his approach would be. I definitely leaned on him a lot.”

New Hamburg ended the weekend in Hespeler and came away with an 8-4 win over the struggling Shamrocks who have lost seven in a row. Bruder and Fischer each had four-point games. Keegan Metcalf and Sculthorp added a pair of goals each.

The Firebirds final three games are against Wellesley, Dorchester and Woodstock while the Merchants battle Hespeler, Dorchester, Woodstock, Paris and Tavistock.

New Hamburg’s home game on Friday, Feb. 7, is our Overage Appreciation Night. The team will thank and celebrate its overage players - Owen Fischer, Jake Thompson, Matt Domm, Antonio Pasqualino, and Josh Jacklin.

Braves skid hits seven games

Tavistock continues to struggle, losing its sixth and seventh straight games on the weekend. Following the loss to New Hamburg, they dropped a 6-2 decision in Dorchester on Saturday. The Dolphins led 3-0 before Carson Bernhardt pulled the Braves within a goal midway through the third, but Dorchester would score three times in five minutes to seal the win. The Braves outshot the Dolphins 40 to 28.

Tavistock went 0 for 16 on the powerplay over the weekend.

Applejacks losing skid reaches three

Wellesley’s late-season struggles continue as they dropped a 5-1 decision at home to Norwich. Liam Waddel scored the Applejacks only goal in the third period after the Merchants scored the game’s first five goals.