Feb 03, 2025 | Winterhawks News | 187 views
First Round Battle with Tavistock
It's a long-distance battle for the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks in the first round of the Ontario Elite Hockey League "AA" playoffs.
The Winterhawks finished in fifth place in the OEHL standings, and will face the fourth-ranked Tavistock Royals in a best-of-seven quarterfinal series.
The series will begin at The Plex on Friday night, February 7th, with an 8:30 p.m. puck drop, sponsored by Vanderwerf's Your Independent Grocer.
The first 125 fans through the doors on Friday night will receive FREE Winterhawks thundersticks, courtesy of Vanderwerf's.
The Winterhawks finished strong in the regular season, reeling off wins in eight of their final nine games after a tough start due to a myriad of injuries to begin the season, finishing with a record of 11-8-1.
Tavistock also had a solid season all around, finishing with a record of 13-7-0, winning seven of their final nine games.
It's likely to be a series with plenty of goal scoring, as the Winterhawks were one of only two teams in the OEHL to score at least 100 goals during the regular season, but the Royals were no pushovers in that department, scoring 93 times during the 20-game regular season.
Luke Pither paced the Winterhawks offensive efforts, registering 32 points in just 14 games, while Andy Mitchell (29 points), Justin Donnelly (23 points), Brent MacDermid (23 points), Mike Fiegehen (21 points) and Curtis Johnston (20 points) all cracked the 20-point mark during the regular season.
Captain Miles MacLean returned from an injury late in the season and recorded 12 points in 9 games.
Tavistock's offence goes through Deven Kropf and Trevor Sauder, who recorded 28 and 26 points respectively. Also keep an eye on Drew Gerth (23 points) and Patrick Vulgan (20 points), as well as Erik Robichaud and Matt Zilke, who recorded lower point totals due to playing fewer games.
It may be a cliche, but it likely rings particularly true in this series - the team to stay out of the penalty box is likely going to have an edge in this series.
The Winterhawks and Royals feature the two best power plays in the league. Nobody scored more power play goals than the Winterhawks, who struck 29 times on the man advantage during the regular season.
Tavistock was number two in that department, scoring 27 power play goals.
The Royals and Winterhawks met twice early in the regular season, both times the Winterhawks iced depleted lineups. Tavistock won 7-2 on home ice on October 19th, and then a much closer affair at The Plex on November 8th, when the Royals edged the Winterhawks by a 4-2 score.
It is sure to be entertaining hockey, tickets will be $12 per person throughout the playoffs, and as always, season ticket holder passes are valid for playoff admission.
Series Schedule:
Game 1 - Friday February 7th - 8:30 p.m. in Port Elgin
Game 2 - Saturday February 8th - 7:30 p.m. in Tavistock
Game 3 - Friday February 14th - 8:30 p.m. in Port Elgin
Game 4 - Saturday February 15th - 7:30 p.m. in Tavistock
Game 5 - Friday February 21st - 8:30 p.m. in Tavistock (if necessary)
Game 6 - Saturday February 22nd - 7:30 p.m. in Port Elgin (if necessary)
Game 7 - TBA in Tavistock (if necessary)