Oct 12, 2025 | Winterhawks News | 79 views
Winterhawks Split Thanksgiving Weekend
It was a wild weekend of offence as the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks picked up a Thanksgiving split.
The Winterhawks dropped a 6-5 decision on Friday night to the Durham Thundercats at The Plex.
Mike Fiegehen and Miles MacLean kickstarted the Winterhawks to a 2-0 lead early, but Durham drew even with goals late in the 1st, then early in the 2nd period.
Fiegehen put the Winterhawks ahead two minutes later when he snapped a shot off the rush to make it a 3-2 game.
Again, Durham answered back, this time shorthanded to knot it at 3-3, then scored late in the 2nd to take a 4-3 lead to the third period.
The goals came quickly again in the third, MacLean's second of the night on the power play made it 4-4, but Durham retook the lead with a power play goal of their own less than two minutes later.
MacLean notched the hat-trick on a power play slap shot goal with seven minutes remaining, but again, Durham had an answer and took back the lead, this time for good, with four minutes remaining for a 6-5 final for the visitors.
Clayton Fritsch was busy in the Winterhawks net, putting 39 saves on the board in the loss.
The Winterhawks redeemed themselves Saturday evening on the road in Shelburne, taking another high scoring affair, 7-6 over the home Muskies.
An already short bench was further challenged when the Winterhawks lost two defencemen in the first period, forcing forward Keegan Angel to the blue line for the rest of the game.
Shelburne opened the scoring late in the first period on the power play, then followed up with a shorthanded goal and another power play goal early in the second period to jump out to a 3-0 lead.
Undaunted, the Winterhawks began the climb back just 10 seconds later when Justin Donnelly tapped in a centering pass from Justin Marlowe to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Rookie Wyatt McNabb also picked up an assist for his first point as a Winterhawk.
The Winterhawks immediately went to the power play and made the Muskies pay, with MacLean scoring on the doorstep on a feed from Fiegehen. Brent MacDermid also assisted to make it 3-2.
A red-hot Winterhawks power play struck again to tie the game when Donnelly tipped in Josh Urbshott's point shot, completing a run of three goals in just over four minutes to make it a 3-3 game.
The Muskies took the lead back a minute later, however, but again, the Winterhawks made Shelburne pay for taking penalties.
Fiegehen's third goal of the weekend tied the game, this time 4-4, when the big winger gathered the puck off the draw and fired a shot from the top of circle past the Muskie goalie.
The Muskies took the lead, again, this time on a flukey goal from the goal-line to make it 5-4, but as was the story of this game, the lead was short-lived.
Winterhawks starting goal Eric Peicheff departed the game due to illness shortly after the goal, and was replaced by Fritsch.
The power play again went to work and MacLean scored his second of the game stepping in from the boards and firing a low shot through to knot the game at 5-5, which held through the end of the second period.
The Winterhawks took the lead early in the third period when MacLean held the puck in at the point, getting it down-low to Donnelly, who got the puck in front to Fiegehen.
Fiegehen's first shot was stopped, but he put the rebound in as he was being taken to the ice to give the Winterhawks a 6-5 lead.
Shelburne tied it with six minutes remaining on a quick shot off the rush, but again, the Winterhawks answered the bell.
Urbshott put the Winterhawks ahead for good with 2:35 remaining, when he set up MacLean for a one-timer as the Winterhawks put pressure on the Muskies.
MacLean couldn't convert, but put the puck back to Urbshott, who fired a quick shot past the Shelburne goalie to give the Winterhawks a 7-6 lead. Spencer Sutter also assisted for his first point as a Winterhawk.
Shelburne pulled the goalie in the final minute, but the Winterhawks held them off without giving up any chances, holding on for the 7-6 victory.
The Winterhawks improve to 1-1-1 on the young season and will be off next weekend, returning home on Friday October 24th, when they host the Georgian Bay Applekings at The Plex. Game time is 8:30 p.m.