PJHL Roundup: Three Firebirds reach personal milestones and shine in three weekend wins

By Lee Griffi

Three members of the New Hamburg Firebirds reached impressive milestones during the team’s games last weekend.

Captain Owen Fischer reached the 200-career point plateau, moving into fifth place all-time with the club. He was acquired in a trade from the Hespeler Shamrocks in 2021 and has spent the last three and a half seasons as a Firebird. Tyler Randerson tops the list with 290 points. His father, Dave Randerson, a Stratford native, was drafted in the 10th round of the NHL draft by the New York Islanders in 1981.

Jake Thompson played in his 200th career game on Sunday in Hespeler. The over-ager started his career in 2019 as an affiliated player and has skated in 145 regular-season and 55 playoff games. He is the ninth player to be on the exclusive list.

Defenceman Matt Domm picked up his 100th career point against Woodstock last Thursday. He has been on the team since 2021 and retired from junior hockey after last season but decided to come back.

The Gazette reached out to head coach Shane Gerber who has been behind the bench during the careers of all three young men for his thoughts on each of his veterans and their landmark seasons, starting with his captain who is just the fifth Firebird to reach 200 points.

“That is a big achievement in itself. It takes a special person to do it and there are a lot of factors that go into it. He has had a relatively healthy career, other than an injury this year, or he might have hit it earlier. To do it, you need to be healthy, have a good attitude and be consistent. Owen is all of those things.”

As for Thompson, Gerber said again it’s been health, consistency and a drive to win. He said 100 points by Domm is an incredible feat.

“Some of his points were pretty timely. One of them was an assist on a championship win (last season). Those three guys, I would group them all together. They are all good people, all consistent and that’s what it takes to have the success they have had. They are all a pleasure to be around.”

Gerber said all those factors contribute to team success, as was shown by last year’s deep playoff run by New Hamburg. He added the fact the three young men were able to achieve their milestones without hockey during the entire 2020-2021 season thanks to the pandemic is even more incredible.

“All three of them missed an entire season. That just speaks volumes,” he said.

All three of the veterans played key roles in a six-point weekend that started with a 3-2 home win against Woodstock Thursday. Fischer scored the overtime winner on a feed from Owen Sculthorp. Keegan Metcalf and Domm also scored for the Firebirds.

New Hamburg travelled to Norwich on Saturday with first place in the South Doherty Division on the line. It was the Owen Fischer and Deklan Jermol show as Fischer scored all three Firebirds markers and Jermol stopped all 30 shots he faced for his second shutout as a member of the team since being acquired from Dorchester. He has a minuscule goals-against average of .080 and a save percentage of .974 with five wins in his five games.

The team completed the weekend sweep with a 7-3 win in Hespeler against the cellar-dwelling Shamrocks. Aydan Burns and Thompson had three points each while Fischer added two assists.

Gerber said it was a perfect weekend of hockey.

“It was playoff hockey against Woodstock and we answered. The kids gave us everything we wanted. It was a well-played hockey game,” he said.

Norwich has one of the best attendance numbers in the entire PJHL and over 400 fans turned out for Friday’s game.

“Any time you can get a win there is an achievement, it’s not an easy place to play,” Gerber added.

Applejacks split two games

Wellesley started its weekend with a disappointing 2-0 loss at home against Hespeler but bounced back to beat Woodstock 3-2 in a shootout.

Stuart Sinclair was the only player to find the back of the net in the shootout. He also scored in regulation for the Applejacks.

Braves win at home and lose in Norwich

Tavistock started its weekend with a 4-1 win on home ice over Dorchester on Friday. Izac Blum led the attack with two points while Kaden Lange kicked out 19 of the 20 shots he faced.

The Braves travelled to Norwich on Sunday and dropped a 5-2 decision. Newly acquired Keaton Bartlett scored in a losing effort as did Grady Murphy, who also added an assist.