CJHL Hockey
Up-and-down week ends on a sour note for Cumberland Grads
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

The Grads Daniel Goyette powers his way into the Gloucester Rangers offensive zone during third period action on Sunday. Fred Sherwin/Photo

It's been a roller coaster week for the streaky Cumberland Grads who have lost three of their last four including a 5-2 loss to the Gloucester Rangers who came into their Sunday matinee showdown having lost their last seven in a row.

Prior to their current string, the Grads had won three in a row. They beat the league-leading Pembroke Lumber Kings 5-2 in Pembroke; they blanked the Hawkesbury Hawks 7-0 in Navan; and they downed the Smiths Falls Bears 5-3 in Smiths Falls.

Everything pointed to the team going on a bit of a roll until the Nepean Raiders came to town last Sunday.

After battling the second best team in the CJHL through two periods of hockey, the Grads found themselves trailing by just two goals heading into the final stanza which is when things started to go south for the boys in white and blue.

The Raiders scored early and scored often to extend their lead to 6-0 before the period was seven minutes old. They would add a sixth goal for good measure to hand Cumberland their worse loss of the season.

The Grads were looking to rebound two nights later when they welcomed the Carleton Place Canadians to town.

Despite outshooting the expansion Canadians 60-42 through three periods of hockey, the Grads found themselves heading to overtime after Carleton Place tied the game on a penalty shot with less than a minute to go in regulation.

The Grads eventually won the game in a shootout, but they expended a lot of energy and didn't have much left in the tank when they faced the Ottawa Jr. Senators the next evening in Ottawa. The end result was a 5-0 loss in a game that featured two inciting penalties, a pair of double minors for roughing and a second period fight.

After suffering a pair of lopsided shutout losses in their last three games, the Grads were hoping to get things back on track against the Rangers on Sunday -- and for the better part of the first two periods things looked to be going their way.

After a forgettable first period in which they were outshoot 8-3, the Grads took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Mitch Gallant. Then with 53 seconds left in the period, Cumberland turned the puck over at the blue line and in the blink of an eye the Rangers were on a 2-on-0 break with predictable results.

Despite the sudden turn of events it was still anyone's game, or at least it was until the Grads stopped skating in their own end and the Rangers took advantage with a pair of goals by Andrew Creppin just two minutes and 32 seconds apart.

The Rangers extended their lead to 4-1 midway through the period when Stephen Blunden scored on a breakaway on a shot that Grads goalie Adam Laderoute would dearly lkove to have back.

The Grads were given an excellent chance to get back into the game five minutes later when a pair of back-to-back penalties against the Rangers gave them a two-man power play advantage for 50 seconds.

After failing to score on the 5-on-3, the Grads finally beat Rangers goalie Morgan Hudson with 14 seconds left to go in the second penalty. But unfortunately it was too little too late as the Rangers would add an empty net goal to make the final score 5-3.

The Grads are currently tied for fourth place with the Raiders who have three games in hand. The good news is they have the next four days off to prepare for the Hawkesbury Hawks. They then play the Pembroke Lumber Kings in back-to-back games on Sunday and Tuesday.

Grads' head coach Paul Flindall is looking for his team to start playing a more consistent brand of hockey from beginning to end and not just in five and 10 minute spurts.

Part of the problem, he says, is that they're not making enough of any effort to go after loose pucks.

"We're not going after the loose pucks with any real authority," says Flindall. "We're reaching with our sticks and trying to push the puck ahead instead of forcing it ahead."

"Overall our effort was terrible tonight. We're allowing far more shots than we were earlier in the season. Part of the problem is that we're relying too much on Adam (Laderoute) to make the big save and he's getting frustrated. We have to tighten up around the net and cut down on the shots."

The Grads have a four day stretch to get ready for the Hawkesbury Hawks, who they face in Hawkesbury on Friday, and they play Pembroke in back-to-back games on Sunday and Tuesday.

Sunday's game is in Pembroke and Tuesday's game is back in Navan. Faceoff is at 7 p.m.

The Grads Michael Borkowski comes within an inch of batting a loose puck into the Rangers' net as Morgan Hudson scrambles to get back into position. Fred Sherwin/Photo

(Posted 10:30 p.m., Nov. 23)

Return to top

Return to Front Page