Flyers open on road, beat St. Marys

By C. Scott Holland

LEAMINGTON — The Leamington Flyers’ lineup has been set for the 2021-22 season and most fans will notice that the club does have a few veterans who played in 2019-20. However, like many other Jr. B clubs, the majority of players are rookies who are getting their first taste of regular season Jr. B action.

Among the most notable names are forwards Wyatt O’Neil, Darby Lemieux, defenseman Colton O’Brien and goalie Ryan Polidori. Others the fans will see are Kale Couvillon, Gabe Piccolo, Koen Taves and Nolan McKibbin who were APs and played in a few contests.

The Flyers kicked off their 2021- 22 campaign on the road Friday night, Sept. 24, when they traveled to St. Marys and rallied for three second period goals to double the Lincolns 4-2.

Their home opener will be this Thursday, Sept. 30 when they host the LaSalle Vipers at 7:10 p.m.

In the opening period on Friday, both teams were hesitant and perhaps a bit jittery during their first shifts, but the combatants settled into a flow of end-to-end action that featured plenty of good bodychecking. Despite the Lincolns having plenty of puck possession, the Flyers’ defense played superbly.

The Lincolns struck first when Cole Schnittker’s shot eluded Flyers’ starter Ryan Polidori who lunged with his glove but couldn’t snare it at 15:13. The Lincs’ tally came on a powerplay.

It didn’t take the Flyers long to assert their offensive presence at the start of the second stanza. Only seconds into a powerplay opportunity, Darby Lemieux blasted a screen shot off a faceoff. Lemieux’s goal evened the score and the Flyers’ attack was sustained through much of the period. Combined with the solid hitting, Leamington chalked up another two markers to take a 3-1 lead going into the third period.

Flyers’ forward Jason Daraiche had himself a fabulous second frame as he collected the next two tallies. At 15:48, he collected a loose rebound from Seth Martineau’s leftwing bullet and Daraiche tucked it into the net. From the left of the slot at 17:51, he rifled a high shot that found the target.

In the third, St. Marys applied pressure as they inhabited the Flyers’ end zone for a good portion of the 20 minutes.

However, for nearly a 10-minute span, the Flyers forechecked and kept icing the puck to wear the clock down.

The scoring attempts by the Lincs came often, but the Flyers’ defense and some speedy work by Polidori prevented any goals until Noah Vanderbrink flipped in the second Lincs’ goal while on the left side of Polidori’s doorstep.

The Lincs pulled Wheeler for an extra attacker in the final minute, but at 19:26 the Flyers’ defense intercepted the Lincs at the blueline and Andrew Uturo grabbed the puck and skated inside the Lincs end zone and deftly shot the puck into the empty net for a 4-2 victory.

Polidori finished the contest, stopping 39 of 49 shots, while Wheeler halted 20 of 23.

The Flyers next games are Thursday, Sept. 30 at 7:10 p.m. in Leamington and Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Strathroy.