As is often the case in Jr. C playoff hockey, the top two teams in their respective divisions often face off in the final. That's exactly what we'll get again this year as the Mount Forest Patriots and Wingham Ironmen will do battle for Pollock Division dominance.
The Patriots, of course, are seeking an unprecedented three-peat, while the Ironmen look for their first division crown since 2014. These two teams battled all year for top spot, with Wingham holding it down all the way to the final weekend, when Mount Forest rose up and beat them twice to steal the number one seed at the very last breath of the season. As a result, Wingham have had to play one extra series, but it's not as though they've run into a ton of trouble. The easily dispatched Goderich and pushed Kincardine aside with a little less ease, but it will be interesting to see if tired legs factor in here against a Patriots squad that got a bye and then got by Walkerton in a 4 game sweep. These foes are the cream of the crop and are built differently, as we will see speed and high octane rush hockey battle with grinding ground-and-pound hockey.
The Patriots are just fine on offense so far despite only having 4 games to their name. The usual suspects are doing their thing, with new/old addition Riley Cribbin leading the way with 10 points so far. Cribbin had 19 points in just 11 regular season games after he returned from out West, and he's the puck wizard that stirs the drink for Mount Forest. Captain Klayton Hoelscher remains the trigger man, with his 6 goals tied with Cribbin for the team lead, and his 9 points sitting second on the team. He continues to prove he can score from anywhere. Michael Stefanelli and Troy Weber both had 5 points, and both are an epitome of what Patriots hockey is all about; hard-hitting, nose-to-the-grindstone cycles and relentless forechecks, combined with a complete willingness to block shots and come back to defend the fortress. Jack Birkett is another example of this, as he also had 5 points, and the hometown kid continues to grow and take on more responsibilities on special teams. The Pats can score with the best of them and shouldn't have a problem in a shootout style game with Wingham.
There are few teams that have the scoring depth that the Ironmen possess. Wingham prefers to quickly turn pucks up ice as fast as possible and generate rush offense that can quickly catch opponents off guard. Captain Jamie Huber continues to lead the way, with his 21 points pacing not only the Pollock, but for a time he paced the whole PJHL, with Glanbrook's Connor Maitz recently taking over with 23. Huber is followed by league MVP and top defender Carter Collinson's 18 points, while the forward production continues with Shane Vollmer and Kyle Stanbury at 13 each, and Rhys Vollmer has 12 to round out a handful of double digit scorers. There is so much speed and depth here that can punish teams when they aren't careful. Look past Corey Restoule, the two Toltan's and youngster Josiah Kraayenbrink at your peril. All of them can skate, all of them have great shots, especially Kraayenbrink, who has one of the sneakiest releases in the league. If Mount Forest tries to get into a track meet with Wingham, that might suit the Ironmen just fine.
On the back end, the Patriots are a group that is very much a take-care-of-home unit, but countering Wingham's Collinson threat is diminutive Thomas Haffner. Now Haffner will miss game 1 due to suspension, something that will surely hurt the Patriot's breakouts, but he is a key part of the power play and can defend extremely well with good positioning and a great stick. It will be interesting to see how Mount Forest fares without him to start the series. He had 2 points in just 3 games. Dylan Brown, who played centre a lot this year before Cribbin returned, has settled right back onto the blue line, posting 4 points in the short series with Walkerton. He knows how to calm down his team and make solid transition plays, so he can ease the loss of Haffner. After that, you won't see high end scoring production from this group, just solid shut down defending with some bite. Thomas Coulter, Chet Phillips, Nathan Bolger and Derek Williams are steady, big, and physical, and will not shy away from any opportunity to lay the body.
Wingham will go as far as MVP Carter Collinson can take them, or skate them rather. No one can rush a puck quite like Collinson, and he often bravely chip and chases his own dump ins down, acting as an extra forward at times. His skating is so good he can get back to break up odd man rushes the other way if a mistake is made, and no one runs a power play better than him. The Patriots need to find a way to shut him down, be it with aggressive forechecks and hits, or erasing his space on the power play, if Mount Forest can disrupt him in any way, it will go a long way to winning. Much like Mount Forest, the offensive capabilities drop off a lot with the rest of the group, who are all smooth skaters and can be defensively sound. Kyle Langlois has morphed into a solid stay-at-home partner for Collinson, while Jacob Bishop, Chris Adlys, Jarod Logan and Ryan Litt have all proven to be sound defenders who can be physical enough to cancel out opposition rushes. Whether this group can handle the the relentless Patriots forecheck is the big question on Wingham's side. If they can quickly get the puck out of corners and get cleanly out of their zone, that would bode well for the Ironmen's chances.
In goal, Mount Forest will roll veteran David Lobsinger right into familiar territory. All Lobsinger has done is win and be consistent in his 2 years with the Pats. He started all 4 games against Walkerton, winning them all with a 1.75 GAA and an obscene .939 save percentage. He is dialed in, and there are few goalies harder to beat down low than Lobsinger. Being smaller in stature, Lobsinger has to come out a bit more to cut angles down, and generating and getting to rebounds will be key if Wingham want to score much on him. Aidan Quish will continue to back-up and won't see any action barring an injury or blowout.
The Ironmen continue to flip-flop their starter, with Devon Carson seeing the bigger workload at 6 starts and Jamie Brock has the other 4. Expect Carson to start, and if he starts well Wingham likely will roll with him. But they will have no qualms about throwing Brock in if they feel they need a spark. Carson is a perfect 6-0 with a 2.12 GAA and .911 save percentage, and he's big and positionally sound in the crease, and it takes near perfect shots to beat him clean. Screens and rebounds can be issues sometimes. Brock has gone 2-2 with a 3.76 GAA and .877 save percentage. He had the misfortune of taking the Ironmen's only two losses so far, but is quick and has excellent reflexes and can make the saves that goalies aren't supposed to make in key situations. Wingham has no issue with their goalie situation.
Special teams so far have been very good so far on both sides. Mount Forest has the 4th best power play, albeit in just 4 games, in the entire league so far in the post season as they clip along at just over 22 percent. The Patriots Penalty kill is also a strength, sitting 5th overall at over 89 percent. Wingham unsurprisingly has the best power play in the whole league at over 27 percent, but the penalty kill lags behind in 11th overall at just 75 percent. That is where the difference could be huge. Both teams are fairly disciplined, but as the stats show, Wingham should be far more leary of consistent trips to the sin bin. The Patriots play an aggressive in-your-face style, and if Wingham get frustrated and take retaliation calls, that could be something that turns the series.
This shapes up to be an excellent final. The two top teams will put on a great show that should go 6 or 7 games. Both play a different style and both want to show that their way is best. Mount Forest could potentially raise three straight Pollock Division trophies after a 21-year drought heading into the first one, while Wingham want back on the throne after a lengthy wait of their own from back in the Aaron Armstrong days. One of these teams will face either Alliston or Penetang in the Northern Conference Championships. It all kicks off Thursday, March 7th at 8 p.m. in Mount Forest, and we will have live coverage there and for the whole series on CKNX AM920. Enjoy the show.
Full Pollock Division Finals schedule:
Game 1-Thursday, March 7th at 8 p.m. in Mount Forest
Game 2-Friday, March 8th at 7:30 p.m. in Wingham
Game 3-Sunday, March 10th at 2:15 p.m. in Mount Forest
Game 4-Wednesday, March 13th at 8:30 p.m. in Wingham
If Necessary
Game 5-Friday, March 15th at 8 p.m. in Mount Forest
Game 6-Saturday, March 16th at 7 p.m. in Wingham
Game 7-Sunday, March 17th at 3:30 p.m. in Mount Forest
