Preseason Recap
September 7th, 2024
The Pelham Panthers rounded out their preseason Thursday night finishing with a 1-2-0-1 record. The Panthers who are once again led behind the bench by former NHLer Zac Rinaldo battled hard in every game, and will look to take the lessons learned in the pre-season into the regular season, starting next week.
Pelham Panthers at Welland Jr. Canadians
The Panthers opened the pre-season with a dominant 11-1 victory over the Welland Jr. Canadians. After the teams traded goals in the opening frame, the floodgates opened in the second and third period with the Panthers tallying five in each. Leading the way for the Panthers were Owen Sound Attack draft pick Nicholas Gilby with a hat trick and an assist, Dylan Leslie with 2 goals and 3 assists, and Jacob Scarpelli with a pair of goals. Additional goal scorers for the Panthers were Garret Nystrom (1 goal, 1 assist), Nathan Pratt-Vallier (1 goal, 1 assist), Ryan Wercholaz (1 goal, 1 assist) and Phillip Castrodale (1 goal). Luke Breadner and Owen Hunks both tallied a pair of assists while Daniel Petrov and Colton Woods added assists of their own. In net, Ottawa 67s draft pick Birk Cassels turned away all but one of the 20 shots he faced for the Panthers.
Hamilton Kilty B’s vs. Pelham Panthers
In the second pre-season contest, the Panthers played host to the Hamilton Kilty B’s. The Panthers opened the scoring at 8:26 of the first period with a tally from Jack Havers assisted by returning forward Noah Aboflan. Aboflan would then extend the Panthers lead less than a minute later with a goal of his own at 9:20 with a helper from Owen Hunks. Despite the Panthers best efforts, the Kilty B’s would come back to take the lead before an empty netter would ice the 4-2 victory for Hamilton. Cassels again played solid in net, stopping 37 of the 40 shots he faced.
Caledon Bombers vs Pelham Panthers
The Panthers were looking to get back on track as they faced the Caledon Bombers for their final preseason home game at the Accipiter Arena. After an uneventful first period for both teams, Caledon opened the scoring in the second with a goal at the 8:33 mark. The Panthers answered back quickly, tying the game with a goal by returning forward Cooper Drennan, assisted by Jaron Marconi and Sean Short at the 14:48 mark in the second period. Caledon opened the third period with a goal at the 3:47 mark. The Panthers fought hard to comeback and tie the game but fell short in the end with a final score of 2-1. Noah Cavallaro and James Kamakaris split the game in net for the Panthers. Cavallaro stopped 18 of 19 shots while Kamakaris turned away 14 of the 15 he faced.
Pelham Panthers at Hamilton Kilty B’s
The Pelham Panthers traveled up the QEW to Hamilton looking to end the preseason strong as they faced the Kilty B’s for the second time in the preseason. Hamilton jumped out to an early lead scoring two goals at the 1:14 mark and the 16:54 mark in the first period. The Panthers cut the lead to 1 at the 5:39 mark in the second with a tally by Nicholas Gilby, assisted by Jack Havers and Sean Short. Colton Woods would then tie the contest at the 14:01 mark of the third period with helpers from Gilby and Pratt-Vallier. After the score remained tied 2-2 at the end of overtime they headed to a shootout where the Panthers narrowly lost with a final score of 3-2. Panthers netminder Derrick Champagne stopped 26 of 28 shots in the hard fought defeat.
Looking Forward…
The Panthers open the regular season on the road where they will face their new Eastern Conference foes the Brantford Titans on Thursday September 12th at the Wayne Gretzky S.C. at 7:30 PM. The Panthers will then travel to Cambridge to face off against the Redhawks on Saturday evening, before returning home on Sunday September 15th for their home opener against familiar rivals in the Caledonia Corvairs. Puck drop is at 2:45 PM at the Accipiter Arena located in the Meridian Community Centre.
