CALEDONIA – After coming off a first round “bye”, the Caledonia Pro-Fit Corvairs found themselves waiting again after eliminating the Ancaster Avalanche in four straight games.
St. Catharines Falcons took six games to eliminate the Niagara Falls Canucks in the other divisional round and will open the Conference Championship round, Thursday night, March 29, at 7:30 p.m., in Caledonia against the red hot Corvairs.
The Corvairs offence will be led by league scoring leader Brandon Lindberg who finished the regular season with an amazing 109 points by way of 42 goals and 67 assists in 44 games. Adam Craievich is not far behind with 46 goals and 47 assists for 95 points.
But in between are St. Catharines’ top guns Lucas Smilsky and Zach Main, both with 95 points and a significant threat.
It could turn out to be a goaltenders duel. Caledonia goalie Daniel Chenard finished the regular season, tops in the league with a 1.77 goals-against average while Falcons’ Owen Savory finished second with a GPA of 1.99.
Chenard’s backup, Bradley Van Schubert was given playoff ice-time and won all three of his starts against Ancaster.
“Everybody is relatively healthy,” says Corvairs’ general manager Brian Rizzetto. “There a few nagging aches and pains but we should be alright moving forward.”
Game No. 2 is set for the Jack Gatecliff Rink for Friday, Mar. 31 at 7 p.m. Game No. 3 is back in Caledonia, Sunday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m., and Game No. 4 is back in the Falcons barn Tues. April 4. A possible Game No.5, if necessary, is April 5, in Caledonia. Game No. 6, if necessary, is in St. Kitts Friday April 7, at 7 p.m., an a possible Game No. 7 will be back in Caledonia Saturday, April 8, if necessary.
Meanwhile, the London Nationals and the Leamington Flyers are matched up in the B series, which will also begin Wednesday, at the Western Fair Grounds.
Caledonia will have to watch out for the Falcons’ potent powerplay. They led the league in powerplay goal at 24.78 per cent, with a penalty kill percentage of 89.39 per cent.
Caledonia was eighth in powerplay success with 20.26 per cent in the regular season, and a penalty kill percentage of 85.76 per cent. This gives the Falcons a slight edge in special teams.
