Saugeen Shores Winterhawks

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks completed their comeback with a 5-0 win over the Lucknow Lancers at the Plex on Sunday.  In what could be described as a very defensively co-ordinated attack, the Hawks pounced on two errant passes while killing penalties to take an early lead.

Ryan Dudgeon started the show with a perfect steal on the Hawks blue line, and went down the length of the ice to beat the Lucknow goalie.  Bryan Kazarian added to the lead at the eighteen minute mark as he received a clearing pass from Jason Hutchinson, went around the net and slipped one over the outstretched arm of the Lucknow tender.  Tyler Smith earned the other assist.

In the second period, the hawks kept the pressure on, and were finally rewarded with their third goal when Chad Little outraced the Lucknow goalie and defence , and slid one into the open net.  Greg Thede and Jeremy Beatty earned the assists.  Not yet finished, Little then out-muscled the Lucknow defender, and was able to tip a nice feed from Bryan Kazarian .  Ryan Dudgeon earned the other assist.

The third period was end to end with both tenders making great saves, and both teams battling back and forth.   Finally at the ten minute mark, Ryan Dudgeon broke down on a 3 on 1, faked a pass and roofed it into the top right corner to make the score 5 – 0.  From there the teams defence and goalie Jeremy Beatty shut everything down.

The team is to be commended on their turn-around, and the exceptional three games they played this weekend.

The Winterhawks will now face the Shelburne Muskies.  Details are being worked out, and will be posted when available.

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks continued where they left off on Friday night with another convincing win over the Lucknow Lancers.  Jeremy Beatty stopped all 23 shots enroute to the 3-0 victory.  The hawks struck early and peppered Lucknow goalie, Erol Kahraman, with 41 shots. 

Brent MacDermid opened the scoring with a “seeing-eye” snapper at the two minute mark of the first period, while the Hawks were on the powerplay.  Greg Thede and Ryan Dudgeon earned the assists.  The Hawks continued to press, and kept most of the play in the Lucknow end.  Finally, Shawn Walker, who skated around three Lancers in the corner, was able to beat Kahraman at the 16 minute mark.  Curtis Johnston earned the lone assist

The final goal of the game was scored in the second period when Ryan Dudgeon followed up the play and banged home a huge rebound to make the score 3-0.  Johnston and Walker earned the assists.

Defensively the Hawks were very sound tonight as they were able to kill off six Lucknow powerplays, and styme their powerplay and breakout.

The Hawks next face the Lancers tomorrow ( Sunday February 7) with game time being 2:30 pm.  Make it a complete day of sports by catching the game and then hitting one of the local Super Bowl parties.

Bryan Kazarian set off a wild celebration as he kept the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks AA playoff hopes alive with his OT winner against the Lucknow Lancers Friday night.

While Kazarian did the finishing, it was newly converted winger Chad Little who laid a perfect pass on the speedy centre’s stick to set up the goal.  The Hawks shuffled their lines completely in order to light a fire under the team and it seemed to work as the line of Kazarian, Dudgeon and Little was dangerous all night. 

Lucknow goalie Erol Kahraman was outstanding again between the pipes as was ‘Hawks ‘tender Jeremy Beaty who made a slew of stops early to keep the ‘Hawks in the game.

Ryan Dugeon was the first ‘Hawk to burst Kahraman’s bubble as he blasted a slapshot past the lanky goalie in the second while the home team enjoyed a 5-0n-3 advantage.

Lucknow evened the score with less than a minute to go in the first period and then took the lead in the third before Shawn Walker’s power play goal tied it up and set the stage for Kazarian’s overtime winner. Walker earned Crabby Joe’s Player of the Game recognition for his efforts and the ‘Hawks stay alive to try and win Game 4 in Lucknow on Saturday night. 

The Lucknow Lancers took a 2-0 series lead Saturday with an 8-4 win in Lucknow.The Johnston Boys, Craig and Curtis, scored for the ‘Hawks to make it  2-2 after the first period in Game 2 in Lucknow but the Lancers scored a pair of power play goals and one while the ‘Hawks were on a 5 on 3 power play in the second and then finished things off in the third. Game 3 is Friday at The Plex.

The Lucknow Lancers rolled into Saugeen Shores Friday night and left with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five opening series.It was a 3-1 final as the Lancers employed a relentless forecheck to box the ‘Hawks in all night.Lucknow scored twice in the opening frame and carried that lead until late in the second when Winterhawk sniper Brent MacDermid  was hauled down on a breakaway. Referee Gary Gravett called for a penalty shot and MacDermid calmly deposited the puck in the five-hole to put the ‘Hawks within reach.Unfortunately for the home team, that was as close as they would get and the ‘Hawks head to Lucknow Saturday night for Game Two. Watch this site tomorrow night for period-by-period updates as the ‘Hawks look to tie the series. The next home game is Friday night.

Saugeen Shores Winterhawks vs. Lucknow Lancers

The Winterhawks’ biggest crowd of the season was treated to a thrilling game on Friday night as the ‘Hawks edged the Durham Thundercats by a 6-4 margin to finish out the regular season.Bryan Kazarian got the ‘Hawks on the scoreboard first with his 12th of the season following a pre-game ceremony commemorating both the 10th anniversary of The Plex and T-Cat Rob Leblanc’s 500th goal in his 5ooth game last weekend.Brent MacDermid potted his 16th of the season to put the ‘Hawks up by a pair after the first period.Durham answered back in the second and the ‘Hawks then had a pair of goals disallowed after the net was knocked off its moorings.In the third, Curtis Johnston, who seems to be catching fire at just the right time, scored the first of his three goals on a power play to make the score 3-1.Johnston was the beneficiary of one of Brent MacDermid’s magical dekes later in the third as the shifty winger undressed a defender and then slid a beautiful pass to Johnson who buried it behind the T-Cat goalie. Durham scored to narrow the margin and then Ryan Fry scored his 7th of the season on a power play  to make it 5-2.The ‘Hawks seemed to have the game in the bag but no one told the Thundercats who pulled their goalie with more than five minutes remaining. The risky move paid off as the T-Cats scored two quick goals to pull within one.Johnston dashed Durham’s hopes as he finished out the hat trick thanks to a selfless feed from Shawn Walker as the pair found themselves on a 2 on 0 with the net empty.The ‘Hawks will now wait out the weekend to see who they will face in the first round of the playoffs next weekend.

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks threw a balanced attack at the Walkerton Capitals on Sunday afternoon at the Plex and were rewarded with a 5-1 win.The ‘Hawks have just one regular season game remaining against the Durham Thundercats next Friday at The Plex. The playoff picture is still a little cloudy with the ‘Hawks currently sitting in third with no prospect of finishing any higher.Five different players lit the lamp with Bryan Kazarian getting the home team on the board first with his 11th of the season. Brent MacDermid then scored his 15th of the season, banging in a loose puck in the goal mouth.Walkerton got one back in the second before Matt Turcotte widened the margin to 3-1.The ‘Hawks Shawn Walker, who was hauled down on a breakaway, was awarded a penalty shot but the Caps goalie poke checked the puck away to thwart the speedy winger.Rookie Steve Shields scored his second of the season with a great move to the backhand before roofing it past the Walkerton goalie.Ryan Fry scored his sixth of the season, banging in a terrific pass from linemate Chad Little to round out the scoring. Bryan Kazarian received Crabby Joe’s Player of the Game honours.

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks travelled to Elora on Friday night to take on the undefeated Rocks.  Expectations for this game were high as both teams had played to very close games earlier in the year.

There is an old saying that you have to be “good to be lucky and lucky to be good”!  This statement describes the Rocks perfectly.  They pressed the Hawks defence right from the drop of the puck and all the bounces seemed to go their way.

Elora jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period before Shawn Walker scored on the powerplay.  Darryl McKinnon and Derek Skinner earned the assists.  Less than two minutes later, Elora took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. 

Bad bounces, lots of penalties and missed opportunities plagued the Hawks in the second period, and as a result, Elora scored six times ( twice on the powerplay ) to take a commanding 9-2 lead into the second intermission.  Ryan Dudgeon was the only player to beat the Elora tender in the period.  Assists went to McKinnon and Greg Thede

The third period was a little different.  Maybe Elora felt very comfortable with their eight goal lead and decided to sit back, but whatever the case,  Saugeen came out and played like they could.  Nic Goetz was solid in the third, and the whole team put in a solid effort.  The result was four – third period goals.

Chad Little scored the first one unassisted.  Shawn Walker continues to impress as he netted his second of the game with assists going to Bryan Kazarian.  Chad Little got his second, with assists going to Walker and Skinner.  Curtis Johnston rounded out the scoring with assists going to Kazarian and Brent MacDermid.  Elora managed one more to make it a 10 – 6  final.

The Hawks next see action on Sunday as they play their second last game of the regular season when they face the Walkerton Capitals at 3:30 at the Plex.

It was a game of five minute intervals.  Shelburne managed to score three powerplay goals and two very timely short handed goals  and an empty net goal en route to a 9-6 victory over the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks.

Shelburne opened the game when they scored at the fifteen minute mark while short handed.  They would go on to score three more within a five minute period to take a 4-1 lead after the first period.  Brent MacDermid scored the lone goal for the Hawks .

The second period was wide open and saw eight goals being scored.  The hawks managed to score four goals within a five minuted period to make the game close.  Brent Buckton started the scoring when he took a shot from the top of the face-off dot and beat the Shelburne goalie high to the glove.  Ryan Dudgeon and Darryl McKinnon earned the assists.  Shelburne started to take penalties which allowed Saugeen to score three power play goals.  All three were scored by Ryan Dudgeon, with assists going to Nick Quaid and Tyler Smith, Derek Skinner and Darryl McKinnon and Skinner and McKinnon again .  This narrowed the score to 6-5, but Shelburne then scored two powerplay goals within the last minute to take an 8-5 lead.

The third period was pack and forth.  Dudgeon scored his fourth of the game when Adam Weir was able to keep the puck inside the Shelburne zone, and feed a nice pass to Dudgeon.  Shelburne would add an empty net goal to seal the game 9-6.

The Hawks next face the league leading Elora Rocks in Elora on Friday night before coming home to play the improved Walkerton Capitals Sunday afternoon.