Hawkesbury Hawks

Yanik Laliberte breaks CCHL record of most games played; CCHL playoffs commence

Laliberte receiving his monumental plaque.

An exciting finish to the end of the CCHL Junior A season came in the form of a make up game between the Hawkesbury Hawks and the Ottawa Jr. Senators. When Yanik Laiberte placed his skates on the ice at the Bob Hartley arena, he not only reached a personal milestone but broke records.

The 20 year old from Rockland, Ontario has played the past five years and his entire junior career with the Hawkesbury Hawks. As his junior career comes to an end, he can leave knowing he pulled the Hawk crest down over his head 287 times; the most games played for one player in CCHL history and franchise history.

The rest of his squad pulled out a win to cap off his career in the form of a shoot-out. Even though they gave up a 4 goal lead in the third period, overtime couldn’t solve matters was both benches exhausted themselves to the very end. Laliberte himself ended the 6-5 victory with 3 assists. That’s all she wrote for the Hawks however, as they failed to make the playoffs.

The teams that did will open up their first rounds beginning in 7 days. After a well deserved week off expect to see the Kemptville 73’s take on the first place Carleton Place Canadiens, the Nepean Raiders tangling with the Smith Falls Bears, the feisty Cornwall Colts will see action against the Ottawa Jr. Senators and the final match up will have the Brockville Braves taking on the Pembroke Lumber Kings.

The race to the Bogart Cup begins with the series of Kemtpville/Carleton Place, and Nepean/Smith Falls on March 11^th. Puck drop is 7:30 and you can catch every game on www.fasthockey.com

Hawks soar to 4 point weekend

After a stunning victory Friday night at home against the Kemptville 73’s, Hawkesbury rolled into the Navan Memorial Centre on Sunday afternoon with only one thing on their mind: keep the momentum going.

Their opponents for the night were the Cumberland Grads who just days before made a coaching change. The Hawks top line of Yanik Laliberte, Francis Landers, and Carl Faucher took advantage of the situation and exploded for 10 points to topple the Grads 5-1. Hawks goaltender Matthew Jenkins stood tall and and played a solid game to pick up the win.

Friday night’s home ice advantage certainly paid off as the Hawks rallied back from a 3-1 deficit and a very rough second period to bring the 73’s into a shootout. After 5 shooters it was Laliberte who became the hero and secured the win.
Hawkesbury will have to definitely keep this winning momentum going as they head into their next game this coming Friday, December 2nd. The Hawks host the Smith Falls Bears at the Robert Hartley Arena. Puck drop is 7:30.

Gold Hawk Down: Trouble in Hawkesbury

Just a short tidbit of information that has come across into my brain while I have been browsing and watching some of the past CCHL games that I’ve missed due to being a little under the weather lately. To say that the Hawkesbury Hawks have hit a slump is not something that should be taken lightly. The team is only 10 games into the 2013-2014 campaign and they currently sit at the bottom of the Robinson division with a record of 1-8-1.

Ouch.

Needless to say head coach Shawn Anderson is not a happy man. The players on the ice have not been competing at top potential and clearly it shows. The coaches know it, the fans know it and most importantly, the whole league seems to know it.

There needs to be a shake up in the locker room for them to get back on track. I sense this coming. There’s been too many games that have fallen into losses with a high deficit. Players like Yannik Laliberte and Zach Car needs to step up their games and provide some more scoring. Granted, I know they’re giving it their all but it’s not enough to compete with the competitiveness in teams like that of Carleton Place, Cornwall and Nepean.

I can’t harp on the goaltending. Matthew Jenkins and Guillaume Therien are doing everything they can to keep the pucks out of the net. Yes, most games the shots have been close but when you have no defence standing up to help you well, the situation turns bad in a hurry.

Somebody needs to light a spark to get things moving in the right direction for the Hawks and FAST. If not, be prepared to be in for a loooong season. Hell, being 1-8-1 into your first 10 games in the season is long enough.

We’ll see how the Hawks take flight when they face the first place Carleton Place Canadiens on Friday night at home.

Side note: Do something with that gold jersey. Get a big bad logo on it PLEASE.

Cornwall Colts take home opener with 2-1 win over Hawkesbury Hawks

On a special night in front of a hometown crowd of 829, the Cornwall Colts put all the drama between them and the LNAH’s Cornwall River Kings in the back of their minds and played an exciting game of hockey to open the 2013/2014 season.

Commissioner Kevin Abrams started off the pre game speeches congratulating the Colts on their hard fought win of the Bogart Cup last spring. The championship banner was raised to the rafters of the Ed Lumley Arena in honour of their efforts. From there, it was time to usher in the home opener.

The first brought a solid period of hockey with both teams playing evenly. Cornwall’s Grant Cooper had two brilliant scoring chances early on but was stopped by the glove of Hawkesbury’s Guillaum Therien. Although the teams seemed to match one another, the Hawks were pulling away with better opportunities both offensively and defensively.

Hawkesbury’s Trent Durocher used his size to his advantage to keep the Colts away from the net. Nicholas Vlahos capitalized on the opportunity and put one past Cornwall netminder James Edwardson. The Hawks went into the third with not only the lead but a commanding presence on the ice. At the same time they also went into the third with a 4 minute major.

Continue reading “Cornwall Colts take home opener with 2-1 win over Hawkesbury Hawks”