PJHL Roundup: Top Doherty teams continue winning ways

Ryan Brenton carries the puck into the offensive zone during the Wellesley Applejacks’ game against the Tavistock Braves on Nov. 12. Brenton had a goal and an assist in the game against Tavistock, before scoring two goals in the Applejacks’ 7-5 win on Nov. 15 against the Paris Titans, as well as three goals and five points in Wellesley’s 7-3 victory over the Dorchester Dolphins on Nov. 16. Alec Richard photo

By Lee Griffi

Wellesley, Woodstock, Tavistock and New Hamburg are creating some room between themselves and the bottom four teams in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s (PJHL) Doherty Division.

The Braves won their third straight game at home on Friday, a 6-3 victory over Paris. Andrew Torchia had one of his best outings between the pipes, stopping 43 of 46 shots for his fifth win in six starts. The 17-year-old Baden native has a goals-against average of 3.01 with a .912 save percentage.

Tavistock jumped out to a 4-1 lead after just 20 minutes on goals from Yann Raskin, Marc Dionne, Felix Isert-Bender and Carer Otto. Carter Aresneau and Tyler Brezynskie added second and third-period markers. Evan Palubeski chipped in with three assists while Brezynskie added a pair of helpers.

The Braves played a rare Wednesday night game in Wellesley last week, a game scheduled after some ice problems had cancelled the matchup a few weeks ago at the Bill Gies Recreation Centre. Tavistock roared out to a 3-0 lead as Dionne, Keaton Bartlett and Nolan Miller scored second-period goals. Ryan Brenton and Ian Speiran scored in a three-minute span of the third to bring the Applejacks within one, but Miller’s second of the game and fourth of the season sealed the win.

The Braves have matched last year’s total win number less than halfway through the season, something general manager Brant Lange attributes in part to his staff behind the bench.

“The coaches have been great, putting in lots of work behind the scenes with video and holding players accountable. They have also been very good with their communication with the players this season,” Lange said.

“Zac is turning into the head coach we knew we hired last year, who wants good, honest, hardworking players who play as a team and for the team. He’s done great so far and is getting his message across to the players.”

Lange added they have a great bunch of kids on the roster who all get along and who all battle for the guy next to them.

“We have 22 good players who don’t get into every game, like they should maybe. I don’t want to jinx anything, but our players have also been relatively healthy for the most part or battling through some tweaks here and there.”

Before the season began, Lange predicted the Braves would be a vastly improved squad.

“I knew when we built this team, it would be much better than last year with the new players and goalies we brought in. We, as a staff, learned so much in our first year and made sure we would not repeat the mistakes we made.”

Despite the top-four teams beginning to pull away from the rest of the pack, the Braves are very focused on their opponent, no matter what their point total may be.

“Our division is so strong and tight; it can go any way any given night. Top teams losing to teams in the bottom three or so happen all the time on our side. Each team in our division has improved their clubs just like we have. Being one point out of first like we are today can change very quickly each weekend. We were just tied for first on Saturday, now we’re a point back.”

Tavistock’s big three, Raskin, Palubeski and Arseneau, have combined for 85 points to date, but Lange is encouraged by the recent contributions from others.

“Those guys have been great so far and we want them to keep the momentum going. But our whole team has really been contributing. Bartlett, Bernhardt and McKellar on the back end have been coming on strong.”

He added the depth of the team’s four lines is evident on any game night as Reid-Brant, Dionne, Bryzenskie, Stokes, Peppas, Hambly and Carter Otto have all stepped up their games. 

“Our Rookies have also been great. Tucker Otto, Nolan Miller, Brett Bell and Felix Isert-Bender continue to improve. We are blocking eight to 10 shots a game or more, taking a hit to make a play, being hard on pucks, getting pucks on net and getting to the dirty areas.”

Wellesley had a pair of home games on the weekend and earned a 7-5 win over Paris on Saturday before downing Dorchester 7-3 on Sunday.

Firebirds have firm grip on fourth

Despite a 4-3 home-ice overtime loss to Hespeler on Friday, New Hamburg has a four-point edge over fifth-place Norwich. Owen Bruder forced the extra period with his fifth goal of the season with just under three minutes remaining in regulation time, but the Shamrocks ended the game three minutes into overtime.

New Hamburg fired back with a 5-2 victory in Dorchester on Saturday as Owen Sculthorp led a balanced attack with a pair of goals. Bobby Tsilogianis and Jacob Jordan added a pair of assists each.