Junior C Hockey moves to championship round

April 22, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Ontario Junior C hockey championship final round will see the Port Hope Panthers meet the

Ayr Centennials.

Port Hope earned the right to go to the final round after eliminating the Alliston Hornets with a 3-0 win in Game Six of their semi-final series on Saturday, April 16, in Port Hope.

The Centennials won their semi-final series with a surprising four game sweep over the powerhouse Essex 73’s on April 10.

The Alliston/Port Hope series got underway on April 6 in Alliston and ended with a 2-1 Hornets win.

The series was tied when the Panthers evened it up with a 6-4 win in Port Hope on April 8.

The Hornets went ahead on April 10, taking a 6-4 win to make it a 2-1 series, but the series was again tied when the Panthers pulled off a 4-1 win in Game Four.

After taking a 6-4 loss on home ice in Alliston on April 15, the series returned to Port Hope on Saturday night with the Hornets needing a win to stay alive.

Their season ended when they were shut-out 3-0 in the final game.

Alliston forward Devon Gillham notched one for the record books after scoring the last four Alliston goals for the season. Gillham scored all four Hornets goals in game five on Friday night.

“We got a couple of quick goals and we got down on ourselves,” Gillham said after Friday night’s game in Alliston. “Once we got a couple back we realized we were still in this game. I think that once we take the body to them, they can’t handle our speed, we’ve got to do that more and do it right off the bat.”

The Hornets went to Game Six hoping to take the win and force game seven back on Alliston home ice.

“It starts on the bus ride,” Gillham said of getting ready for the game. “We have to make sure we are ready and as soon as we get off the bus it starts right there and get it in our heads that we are going to win the game no matter what.”

The loss means the Hornets season is over, but they had a season to be proud of.

Alliston ended the regular season in first place with a 35-2-3 record and 73 points – 29 points ahead of the second place Huntsville Otters.

They won the Georgian Bay Mid Ontario Junior C Hockey League championship with a four game sweep over the Penetang Kings.

It was the eighth time the Hornets have won the GMOHL championship over the past nine years.