PJHL roundup: Firebirds take over sole possession of third

By Lee Griffi

A pair of victories to start 2026 has put New Hamburg a single point ahead of Tavistock in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s (PJHL) Doherty Division.

Ben Oliver’s goal 36 seconds into overtime gave the Firebirds a 6-5 come-from-behind victory at home on Saturday, the first of a home-and-home with Hespeler. The Shamrocks jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first period as they outshot the Firebirds 21-16.

After Stephen Peppas scored the second period’s only goal, New Hamburg outscored Hespeler 3-1 in the final frame on goals by Owen Bruder, Carter Niall and Andrew Gear, setting up the extra period. Oliver, Bruder and Peppas added two assists each in the winning effort.

It was a different story on Sunday on the road as the Firebirds downed the Shamrocks 5-0, as Connor Harmon stopped all 35 shots he faced. Peppas and Oliver had a goal and an assist apiece to lead the attack. Bruder, Michael Gear and Josh Soulliere added single markers.

Tavistock entered the new year on a five-game win streak, but lost both games last weekend, including a 4-3 shootout loss in Wellesley on Saturday. After a scoreless first, the Applejacks led 2-1 after two periods, but goals from Keaton Bartlett and Evan Palubeski, shorthanded, put Tavistock in the lead with three and a half minutes remaining. Kian Harron, with his second of the game, forced overtime before Hudson Parker and Stuart Sinclair beat Braves goalie Blake Richard to earn the win.

The Braves outshot the Applejacks 41-22, but Xavier Bussiere kept Wellesley in the game and then stopped both shots he faced in the shootout.

Tavistock travelled to Norwich on Sunday and found themselves in a 3-1 hole after 40 minutes. Keegan Metcalf and Ryan McKellar scored goals 26 seconds apart early in the third to tie it up, but the Merchants would score the game-winner at the 18:14 mark of the final frame.

Despite the rough start to the unofficial second half of the season, general manager Brent Lange took away some positives.

“Yeah, we lost both, one in a shootout and the other one with a late goal against, but we were without our top goal scorer (Yann Raskin) for one, our captain, Marc Dionne, was also away, along with one of our best defencemen. We knew going into the weekend with a few gaps in the lineup would be tough, especially with a week and a half off over the holidays.” 

Lange expects the Braves to get back on track this weekend with a full lineup on the ice.

Wellesley went to Paris on Sunday to take on the seventh-place Titans where they dropped a 6-2 decision. The Applejacks led 2-1 by the 11:20 mark of the first period on goals from Hudson Parker and Kian Harron, but Paris notched five straight goals to earn the win.