Eagles Undefeated through First Month of the Season

Article by I. Schoonderbeek/Media by R. Mansfield

The Clarington Eagles are on a roll.

The Junior ‘C’ squad rang off six victories in a row, going undefeated in September to pace the Orr division standings. The Eagles outscored their opponents by a combined 38-10 margin along the way, showing they are prepared to battle for the top seed once again.

Clarington is one of only four remaining clubs in the 63-team PJHL with perfect won-loss records this season, along with Frankford, Alliston, and Essex. The Eagles have scored the second-most goals in the PJHL without sacrificing attention to their own zone in doing so.

One could argue a couple of those early-season games were a guaranteed two points. However, the win streak included a hard-fought 4-3 triumph over the Georgina Ice, who will be looking for another shot at knocking the Eagles off their perch at the top of the standings this year.

Clarington kept the ball rolling in their first October contest, outbattling former Eagles assistant coach Chris Kerr’s Uxbridge Bruins for a 3-1 victory at Rickard Arena Thursday evening.

Kyle Shepherd got the Eagles on the scoreboard first with a powerplay goal set up by Nate Burelle and Mitch Davies just under eight minutes into the second period. But the Bruins drew even at the 14-minute mark with a powerplay tally of their own.

Brayden Hicks put the Eagles back in front with another powerplay goal just over a minute into the third period from Will Gourgouvelis and Trevor Urquhart.

Shepherd would add an insurance mark with his second of the game three minutes later from Hicks and callup Ethan Baker.

Clarington’s Braeden Derks stopped 18 of 19 shots for his fourth victory in goal this season. The rookie netminder has allowed only five goals in his four starts this season and sports a stellar 1.25 goals against average along with a .950 save percentage.

“We were slow to start tonight,” said head coach Dean Baumhauer after Thursday’s victory. “Uxbridge worked hard, but we only gave up one. We were a little light up front. Smitty (Kyle Smith) is sick, (Jack) Davis is still out with an ankle injury, and (Ben) Stycuk is out with a shoulder issue. Then we lose (Trent) Gaylor mid-game. But that’s giving a bunch of forwards an extra opportunity with ice time that they likely would not have had otherwise.”

With a lack of healthy bodies up front, Eagles overage defenseman Shepherd’s versatility has proven to be an asset to the coaching staff this season. With seven healthy skaters on the blueline, Shepherd has been playing regularly on the wing this season. “He has been excellent up there all year, and he got us going tonight,” said Baumhauer.

Baumhauer also praised Baker’s effort in his second game as a callup this season. “He played really well tonight. Lots of hustle in his game and was rewarded with an assist for his effort.”

For any club to stay on top in Junior ‘C’ hockey, improvement needs to come from within as young players gain experience. Second-year forward Brayden Hicks appears to have taken that next step in his development based on his strong play through the first month of the season. “Hicksy has been a guy that we want to keep playing at that level,” said Baumhauer. “He’s playing with a couple of good players and has responded and elevated his game. He led our team in points in September, and he popped in the winning goal for us tonight.”

Dean will never tell you his Eagles are perfect. He again pointed to several unnecessary penalties taken by his club, which were addressed after the game. But he’s happy with what he’s seen so far. “Overall, we’ve had a decent start. I’m interested to see what we look like when we have our whole lineup on the ice. It’ll probably be another month before that happens, but right now, we’re in good shape. We’ll likely need to bring a full line of call-ups to Little Britain this weekend.”

Saturday’s road game in Little Britain will be the second meeting between the two clubs this season. The Eagles beat the Merchants 6-1 in the season opener last month.

The Eagles will be back home on Thursday, October 10, when they host the Caledon Golden Hawks.