Admirals win pair of road games in Wallaceburg and Dresden

By Ron Giofu

The Amherstburg Admirals were on the road twice last week but won both games.

The first game was more dramatic, as it featured a comeback effort by the Admirals. Amherstburg won the game

6-5 in overtime last Wednesday over the Wallaceburg Thunderhawks but faced a three-goal deficit late in the second period.

After Josh Remsik put the Thunderhawks up 2-0 with a pair of goals in the first period, the first being on a powerplay, Owen Papulkas scored with under a minute left in the opening frame to make it a 2-1 game. The second period followed a similar script, with Wallaceburg going up 4-1 on goals by Zander Wright and Nelson Dekoning before Braeden Burke scored for the Admirals with about three seconds remaining in the period. Dekoning’s goal as well as Burke’s goal were powerplay goals.

The Admirals flipped the script in the third period, outscoring Wallaceburg in the final 20 minutes. After Xavier Gelinas scored to make it 5-2 for Wallaceburg, the Admirals scored three straight goals to force overtime. Kyle Bleau, Mitchell Demelo and Connor Demelo scored for Amherstburg, the former being on the powerplay and the latter scored at the 19:08 mark.

Papulkas’ second goal of the game came 3:22 into overtime and snapped a five-game losing streak.

Amherstburg outshot Wallaceburg

53-49 on the night.

The Admirals were back on the road Friday night in Dresden. They toppled the Kings 6-2, breaking the game open with four goals in the third period.

Drake McGowan scored his first Jr. C goal in the first period to give Amherstburg a 1-0 lead, in a period where Amherstburg outshot Dresden 21-8.

In the second period, Owen Campbell tied it for Dresden but Mitchell Demelo scored a powerplay goal in the second period’s final minute

Breck Rainey tied it for Dresden just 14 seconds into the final period but Amherstburg would score the next four. Papulkas put the Admirals up 3-2 just over four minutes later before Connor Demelo scored a pair of shorthanded goals. Bleau added another goal at the 19:23 mark. The next games for the Admirals are this Friday in Lakeshore before returning home this Sunday against Wallaceburg. Both games are at 7 p.m.

The Admirals will then wrap up February with a pair of road games, the first being Feb. 21 in Essex and then a game in Mooretown Feb. 25.

There are two regular season games in March to wrap up the regular season, including a game back in Wallaceburg March 1 and the season finale March 5 at home against Dresden. The playoffs begin after that.

Amherstburg has an 12-22-0-2 record, good for 26 points, and sixth place in the PJHL Stobbs Division.

Wolves’ boys hockey team splits pair of road games over the past week

By Ron Giofu

The North Star Wolves boys hockey team played a pair of games on the road last week and won one of them and lost the other.

The Wolves started their week on a positive note, winning 5-1 against Riverside last Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 7) at the WFCU Centre in Windsor. After Brett Jones scored for North Star in the first period, the Wolves outscored Riverside 4-1 in the second with no goals in the third period. Cam Roussell scored two of the second period goals for North Star with Declan McGrath and Ryken Atherton adding the others.

Roussell added an assist for North Star with Ryan Grondin and Carter Prieur each adding a pair of assists. Brett Jones and Max Evans also had assists against Riverside.

Brayden Hebert had the Riverside goal.

The Wolves travelled to the Atlas Tube Centre in Lakeshore last Wednesday afternoon for a game against the Belle River Nobles.

The Nobles won 3-2 but North Star head coach Glen Holden called it a “great hockey game with a playoff atmosphere.”

Belle River built a 3-1 lead after two periods with Carson Lippert, Dallas

Eddy and Anthony Puccio with Tiago Goncalves scoring the North Star goal. Roussell added a third period goal for the Wolves but they could get no closer.

The Wolves had a 5-2-1 record into this week. They finished the 2022-23 WECSSAA Cullen Conference regular season yesterday afternoon (Feb. 14) in Essex. The Red Raiders were 7-0-1 through their first eight regular season games.