Pat Payton
Sports Editor

WATERLOO - Stratford Cullitons coach Phil Westman says a team goal in early February is to finish 6-2 over their final eight regular-season games.

Here Sunday afternoon, the Tribe dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision to the home-town Siskins in front of about 450 fans.

It leaves Cullitons with a 2-2 record after their first four games this month, meaning they would have to win all four of their remaining games to reach the 25-win plateau and a .500 regular season.

Bucky Nelson says it’s a tall order, but believes he and his teammates can achieve it.

“Three of the next four games are at home,” the team captain noted. “October and November were long months with the (11-game) losing streak, and it kind of put us off track. But after the (holiday) break, we’ve got back to what we were doing at the start of the year.

“I think everybody’s got their confidence back, and every game we’re getting more and more confident. Everyone knows we can win the next four games, and that would get us to .500.

“It would be a perfect way to get us ready for the real (playoff) season,” Nelson added.

After weekend action, Stratford (21-25-1) sits in a fifth-place tie with Elmira Sugar Kings (19-20-5) on the Midwestern Conference ladder. The two teams are just two points behind fourth-place Listowel Cyclones (22-20-1) and only four behind the third-place Cambridge Winterhawks (21-16-5).

Winning their final four games is Cullitons’ only chance of moving up in the standings as they have played five more games than Cambridge, four more than Listowel, and three more than Elmira.

Convincing win over Kings
On Friday night at the Allman Arena, approximately 1,050 fans watched Cullitons pull into the tie with Elmira with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Sugar Kings.

The Tribe had too much firepower for the Kings on this night, out-shooting the visitors 46-21 – including 23-3 in the second period.

“We played well,” coach Westman said. “All four lines were going; we had some pretty good jump.”

The previous night in Brantford, Cullitons held 3-2 and 4-3 leads, but the first-place Golden Eagles scored twice in the final six minutes to pull out a 5-4 victory in front of about 175 fans.

“It was a good game; we gave a good effort and I was happy with the way we competed against a strong team,” Westman said.

Last Tuesday night at the Kinsmen Arena, two unanswered third-period goals lifted Cullitons to a 4-2 victory over the last-place Kitchener Dutchmen in front of about 150 fans.

It was the Tribe’s third straight win, and the Dutchmen’s third consecutive loss.

Waterloo 2 - Stratford 1
In Waterloo Sunday afternoon, Cullitons were playing their fourth game in a six-day stretch and they couldn’t recover from a 2-0 first-period deficit.

Goals by Andy Mitchell and Eric Lekun – just 1:28 apart midway through the opening frame – put Siskins ahead to stay.

After a scoreless second period, Kyle Roes finally got the Tribe on the board with an unassisted goal at 1:14 of the third. But that’s as close as the visitors would get.

“We out-shot Waterloo 10-5 in the third period, but just couldn’t finish,” Westman said. “The turning point was in the second period when we had a five-on-three powerplay and couldn’t capitalize. In those one-goal games, you have to cash them in.”

Overall, Siskins out-shot the Tribe 36-28, including 17-6 in the opening 20 minutes. Will Sibley (14-4) got the win, while Evan Gronestege (13-12) took the loss.

The win was Waterloo’s fifth in a row over Stratford. Siskins (38-6-1) also moved to within a point of Brantford (37-5-4), and they have a game in hand on the front-running Eagles.

Stratford 5 - Elmira 1
At the Allman Friday night, Cullitons pulled away with three third-period goals after Sugar Kings had closed the gap to 2-1 early in the final frame.

Defenceman Craig Dalrymple fired his 17th of the season at 8:17, Brock Reynolds made it 4-1 just over three minutes later, and Kyle Wilhelm completed the scoring on a powerplay at 17:07.

Captain Bucky Nelson and Cohen Adair (powerplay) also scored for the Tribe, while Kody Ellis was the only Elmira shooter to get a puck past Evan Groenestege.

Nelson, Adair and Reynolds all finished the night with a goal and two assists, and Groenestege made 20 saves for his 13th win.

“It was the first time in a while that we played a full 60 minutes,” Nelson said. “Against Brantford the night before, we let up for a couple of minutes and it cost us late in the third period.”

With Friday’s victory, Cullitons improved their season record to 3-2 against the Sugar Kings.

The teams play again Feb. 21 in Elmira.

Brantford 5 - Stratford 4
In Brantford Thursday night, Mike Ryan’s second powerplay goal of the night – with just 1:52 to play – broke a 4-4 tie and lifted Eagles to their fifth straight win over the Cullitons.
Josh McQuade – the GOJHL’s leading scorer with 131 points – had tied the score with his 51st goal of the campaign with 5:28 remaining.

The Tribe trailed 2-1 after the first period, but scored three of the four second-period goals to take a 4-3 lead into the final 20 minutes.

Joe Vanni and Dave Lazarus (shorthanded) scored the other Brantford goals, while Thomas Middup contributed three assists.

Nik Knezic, Brock Reynolds, Tyler Masson and Craig Dalrymple replied for Stratford, with Kyle Wilhelm and Cohen Adair chipping in two assists apiece. Knezic and Dalrymple (his 11th powerplay goal) connected with the man advantage.

The game featured two Brantford natives in net. Darryl Borden made 23 saves for his 34th win. Cody Vinnai (8-13-1) went the distance for the Cullitons, facing 36 shots.

Eagles took 44 of the 68 penalty minutes, giving the Tribe 12 powerplay opportunities on the night.

Brantford, meanwhile, won the season series 5-1.

Stratford 4 - Kitchener 2
In Kitchener last Tuesday, Cohen Adair’s goal 38 seconds into the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and it stood up as the winner. Brock Reynolds assisted on the big centreman’s 20th of the campaign.

Kyle Wilhelm added an empty-netter with 10 seconds remaining.

“It was a sloppy game,” coach Westman reported. “I knew it was going to be a bit of a letdown after Saturday night’s game against St. Marys.

“Nonetheless, we got the two points and Evan (Groenestege) played very well in net. He was the difference.”

Groenestege, making his first start since Jan. 16, turned aside 22 shots – including 10 in the third period.

Goals by Craig Dalrymple (powerplay) and Brock Reynolds gave the Tribe a 2-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old. Bucky Nelson assisted on both markers.

Mark Scheifele scored the first Dutchmen goal at 10:16 of the first period, and teammate Brett Gibson tied it on a powerplay at 9:37 of the middle frame.

Overall, Stratford out-shot Kitchener 29-24, and now leads the season series 4-2.

Upcoming: Cullitons have just one game this weekend, hosting Cambridge Friday at 7:30 p.m. With the Winterhawks sitting in third spot, the game could be a possible playoff preview.

“There’s four games left before the real hockey starts,” Westman quipped.