PJHL Roundup: Playoff picture set; Braves battle Firebirds while Applejacks take on Dolphins

By Lee Griffi

The Provincial Junior Hockey League’s (PJHL) first-round playoff matchups are set and what that means for Tavistock is a date with geographical rival New Hamburg.

The second-place Firebirds and seventh-place Braves will kick their series off in New Hamburg on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tavistock won the first matchup between the two teams back in September by a 9-6 count but New Hamburg took the next five matchups.

Tavistock started a three-game weekend with a 3-2 home win over Hespeler. The teams traded goals until Liam Gorman put away his tenth of the season with five and a half minutes remaining in the third period. Ethan Sharpe scored twice for the Braves.

On Saturday, the last-place Shamrocks took the second half of the home and home with a 3-0 victory.

Tavistock concluded its regular season with an 11-2 Family Day loss on home ice to Norwich despite outshooting the first-place Merchants 41-24. Gorman and Marc Dionne scored for the Braves while Kaden Lange stopped 13 of the 24 shots he faced in a losing effort.

Tavistock general manager Brent Lange said while the weekend didn’t go as well as he had hoped, the 42-game regular season is behind them.

“We will go into Wednesday night’s practice and start preparing for a whole new season and fresh start. New Hamburg has a really strong team and they have earned it along with the respect they get.”

Lange added while he accepted the underdog role in round one, his team didn’t help itself over the last month or so by winning just one of the last 10 games.

“We will start to prepare Wednesday night and get the guys ready, focused and motivated, as well as put the last 42 games behind us as anything can happen in playoffs. We have a great, young group here with some strong veterans as well that will be challenged in the first round here.”

Lange said now is the time for all the players to step up and show the coaching staff, management and fans  who really wants it and who wants to move onto the next round. It is also a showcase for some of our players who might not have had a great season to bounce back and show us they belong back here next season.”

Consistent goaltending has been an issue for the team this season, something Lange admitted both he and the goalies themselves know.

“But it’s not all on them completely, either, as there are usually five other guys on the ice with them who can prevent a turnover, cover an open guy in the slot, or tie up a guy in front of the net. We don’t know for sure who will be starting in Game 1 yet. Both of them are equally deserving and both have won us big games this year.” 

New Hamburg finished its regular season with a pair of 4-3 overtime road wins in Dorchester and Woodstock. Ayden Norley scored the winner against the Dolphins while Owen Bruder’s 25th of the season was the difference in Woodstock in front of over 900 fans on Family Day. Bruder scored three times and finished the regular season with 25 goals.

Applejacks face Dolphins in round one

Wellesley dropped a 4-3 decision on home ice Friday to Dorchester in a first-round preview. Dimitri Eleftheriadis scored twice and Langon McGrath scored once in a losing effort. Tavistock native Connor Roth, a member of the Titans U21 team and an AP for the Dolphins, earned an assist in the game. He has two points in five appearances this season.

The Applejacks bounced back Monday at home in front of a Family Day crowd of 215 to down Paris 8-5. Anthony Pede had a goal and an assist to lead the attack while Tyler Wagner scored twice.

Wellesley took the season series against Dorchester, winning four of the six matchups.

The other series

First-place Norwich will take on Hespeler and, despite the wide difference in the standings, the first three Merchant wins were by one goal. The next three Norwich victories resulted in a goal differential of 16-3.

Woodstock won five of its six games against Paris as they head into their series.