Flyers won 2013-14 Western conference title

By C. Scott Holland

On April 3, 2014, the Leamington Flyers celebrated their first ever Western Conference playoff championship. It had taken them two decades to accomplish the feat and the victory abolished many years of the pain and agony of falling short.

The road to that title began with the regular season, where the Flyers finished first overall. Pitted against the eighth place St. Marys Lincolns, the Flyers won the best-of-seven series 4-0 and earned three shutouts in four contests, winning 7-0, 5-0 ad 4-0. In the only game the Lincolns were in, the Flyers won 3-2 in overtime. Kyle Quick ripped the game-winning goal at 6:04 of the extra period.

Up next was the fifth place London Nationals — a club which had already been a top contender for a few seasons — and would ultimately become a nemesis for Leamington in the future. The Flyers took the opener 5-3, then lost 3-2 at London. A thrilling 3-2 double-overtime victory at home featured the heroics of Eric Henderson, who slotted the game-winner at the 11-minute mark of the second overtime. Leamington outshot the Nats 68-31 as Flyers’ goalie Austin Roudebush outlasted his Nats’ counterpart, Jacob Riley.

The next contest also went into double OT. This time, Leamington emerged the winner again as David Dalby cashed in a powerplay tally at 5:08 while London’s Ryan Wells served a minor penalty for roughing.

The only scoring in the game occurred in the second when the Nats’ Jeff Bauer and Leamington’s Tony Spidalieri traded goals. The Flyers closed out the series with a 6-1 win and went on to face the third place Chatham Maroons for the championship, which they won in five games.

Members of the 2013-14 Flyers team were:

Head coach Tony Piroski, a/ coaches: Ron Soucie, Lee Jones, Jamie McDermott, Branden Robitaille, Mark Epplett, trainers: Dr. Steve O’Neil and Dr. Luke Szczepanik; GM: Mike Daler, A/GM. Kevin Hopper. Players: Austyn Roudebush, Trevor Wheaton, J. P. Grineau, Ryan Muzzin, Blaine Bechard, Cole Chevalier, David Dalby, Alex Seguin, Dylan Seguin, Alex Friesen, Eric Henderson, Colin Moore, Nathan Opblinger, Mitch Amante, Cale Allen, Chris Scott, Kyle Quick, Tony Spidalieri, Daniel Robertson, Graham Kelsey plus APs Anthony Salinitri and Brett Markham.