Lincs and Maroons tied through two games of West Final

Luca Spagnolo fights through traffic to score a goal during the St. Marys Lincolns’ 4-0 win over the Chatham Maroons in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.

By Spencer Seymour

Heading into Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on April 22, played after the Independent’s press time, the St. Marys Lincolns and Chatham Maroons each scored a victory in the best-of-seven conference championship series with the newly renamed Joe Thornton Trophy at stake.

To reach their third consecutive conference final, the Lincolns defeated the London Nationals in seven games. The Nationals came back from being down three games to none to force a seventh and deciding game, but finally, the Lincolns managed to fight back and take a 3-2 win over the Nationals on April 15, eliminating London from the playoffs.

Head coach Jeff Bradley was thrilled with the team’s Game 7 performance.

“We were excellent, top to bottom,” Bradley told the Independent. “The main thing for us was sticking to what we were doing but doing it at the level we’re capable of. London didn’t really change all series, so we didn’t have to adjust too much. As a coach, it made the job very easy at times, but almost to the point of feeling a bit helpless. It was on the players to play the way they needed to play, and they did that very well in Game 7 from start to finish.”

Bradley said the coaches began seeing changes in the right direction in the second-last game of their semi-final series against London.

“In Game 6, we didn’t quite have the first period we wanted, but we got a lot better in the second and third, so, going into Game 7, the confidence level our coaching staff had in the players was really high. We got some really good performance out of some guys that we needed to perform at a high level, and that carried over into Game 7. Our game was in order and, if we keep that up, then we believe we will be in a good spot.”

The first period saw Ryan Hodkinson open the scoring just shy of the frame’s halfway point before Ty Moffatt tied the game with just under three minutes left in the first.

Hodkinson netted his second goal of the night three minutes and 46 seconds into the middle stanza. Jaden Lee then buried his fifth of the post-season on a powerplay to put the Lincolns ahead by two goals.

Denis Beley-Camara brought the game back within a goal in the third, but the Lincolns withstood the Nationals’ late-game surge to close out the victory.

Bradley credited his team’s rearguards for their strong defensive effort.

“Our defence was outstanding,” said Bradley. “Ethan (Coups) had a really good bounce-back game. Jacob (Montesi) got better and better as the game went on. Owen (Kalp) has been a huge part of that defence. They were all just really strong for us.”

Lincs continue strong play in Game 1 shutout win

Having no time to catch their breath following their series win over London benefited the Lincolns, who kept their execution high when they faced the Chatham Maroons in Game 1 of the conference final on April 17 and came away with a 4-0 victory.

St. Marys got the scoring started 11-and-a-half minutes into the game when Kyle Morey buried a wrap-around past Maroons’ netminder Gannon Hunter for his sixth of the playoffs. Morey later one-timed home his second of the contest with a powerplay marker, which came almost exactly 12 minutes after Luca Spagnolo fought through a net-front crowd to lift the puck over the goal line.

Cohen Bidgood iced the game with an empty netter late in the third.

Bradley praised his team’s well-rounded effort in their Game 1 victory.

“We played really well,” Bradley said. “We managed Chatham’s speed well, which was important considering how quick they are and how much offense they’re able to generate from that speed. Nico (Armellin) getting a shutout was big for us. We took away the rush, we were on the right side of our guys and our penalty kill was really good.”

Just hours before the first game of the conference final, the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) announced its year-end award winners, which saw Lee receive the Kevin McIntosh Award for the Western Conference’s Best Defensive Forward, as well as the Bill Lochead Trophy for the West’s Most Gentlemanly Player.

Lincs’ netminder Colby Booth-Housego earned the John Faulkner Award as the conference’s Most Valuable Goaltender. According to Bradley, Lee and Booth-Housego were more than deserving of their respective honours.

“It’s well deserved for both Jaden (Lee) and Colby (Booth-Housego). Obviously, I’m a bit biased, but I was hoping to see some of our other guys get recognized as well, but Jaden and Colby were certainly worthy of being celebrated. Jaden and Colby are both so important to this organization, so to see them get their flowers is certainly nice to see.”

Bradley himself was recognized as the Coach of the Year with the Kearnsy Memorial Award, which he said was an honour he had plenty of help achieving.

“It’s certainly nice to have that respect from other teams. That’s what you get when you have a general manager who puts an amazing team together, you have so many returning guys and an amazing support staff. It used to be called the coaching staff of the year and, to me, that’s really what it is because without the rest of the coaches and trainers here, obviously, I don’t get this award.

“You look at some of the people who have won this award,” continued Bradley. “Dave Williams, Jesse Cole and Jason Williams, guys like that, are really incredible company to be in. But the main thing is the players. You can be Scotty Bowman, but if you don’t have players who compete the way ours do, you won’t go anywhere. Most importantly, my mom is very happy, so I’m happy.”

Lincs falter in Game 2

The complete, 60-minute effort the Lincolns showed in their two previous outings disappeared in the second game of the Western Conference Final, with the Maroons downing St. Marys 4-3.

“We got off to a really slow start,” Bradley said. “We knew that they would have a really good push that we just didn’t seem like we were up to defending or matching, and obviously, we paid for it in the end.

“You have to give Chatham a lot of credit. They came out fired up and needing to win a game. They played really hard and we just weren’t willing to play as hard as they were in the first 40 minutes of that game.”

Less than halfway into the opening period, the Maroons jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Connor Hunt and Brody Gillis. Coming into the game, Gillis had just one goal in his last six games, while Hunt had managed just one goal in his previous 12 outings.

Before the first was done, Hodkinson tapped in a one-timer at the side of the net to cut the Maroons’ lead in half. The goal, Hodkinson’s ninth of the playoffs, gave the hometown centre points in nine of his last 10 games heading into Game 3.

Chatham extended their lead back to two goals halfway through the second with the only goal of the period coming from Carter Gillen.

With just 20 minutes left, the Lincolns emerged for the third period reinvigorated, leading them to claw back into the contest with Lincoln Moore and Ryan Cornfield scoring to tie the game at three apiece. However, with three-and-a-half minutes left in regulation, a tight-angle shot by Gillen found a way past Armellin, a goal that held up as the eventual game-winner with the Lincs unable to find another equalizer.

Game 3 of the series took place after the Independent’s press time on April 22. Game 4 of the series is on April 24 in Chatham before the two teams return to St. Marys on April 25 for Game 5. If necessary, Game 6 will take place April 27 before Game 7 would be on April 29.