The Barrie Colts crossed off an important item Tuesday night in St. Catharines on the must-do list of goals this season, but the work, they say, is far from done.
Anthony Romani, Dalyn Wakely, and Kashawn Aitcheson each had three points and Sam Hillebrandt made 38 saves to help the Colts wrap up the Central Division title with a 7-4 win over the Niagara IceDogs at the Meridian Centre.
It was a nice bounce back for the Colts (39-20-2-2), who claimed their first division title since 2018 and ninth in franchise history.
“It means a lot to us,” said captain Beau Jelsma, who scored his 20th goal in the division-clinching win. “Getting the division is first, but our main goal is to get that conference (title). It could be a huge goal for our team here. Kind of go into the playoffs with a bit of confidence.
“We’re excited. We got a lot of work to do, but I believe in this group.”
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With the win, Barrie moves 12 points up on the Brampton Steelheads, who lost 8-6 to the Sudbury Wolves last night. The Steelheads can still match the Colts in points with six games left but are nine wins behind in the tiebreaker.
With five games remaining, Barrie trails the Brantford Bulldogs by three points atop the Eastern Conference standings.
“It’s one of the goals obviously to win the division,” said Colts’ general manager and head coach Marty Williamson, who got his 600th win behind the bench. “It was a big thing, and we think we’re still in some kind of contention for the conference. We got to keep pushing for that now.”
Romani, with a pair, Wakely, Owen Van Steensel, Beau Akey, and Jaiden Newton also scored for the Colts, who were coming off a 7-2 pounding in Sudbury on Sunday afternoon.
“To be honest, we needed to have this game,” said Jelsma. “It was just a poor effort from the team in Sudbury. Kind of a game that is unacceptable, especially at this time in the season. We knew we had to bounce back here, and we found the net a bunch tonight and went our way.”
It was Jelsma who set the pace early with a strong shift to begin the game that included a prime scoring chance. The captain, who wears his heart on his sleeve, was a force every time he stepped on the ice.
“The thing with Jelsma is that he’s one of those guys that you got to pull back a little bit,” said Williamson. “You know he’s going to give you everything and sometimes he tries so hard out there that he spins his wheels and other times you get rewarded with the effort we got today.
“Jelsma has been our heart and soul, and that’s why he wears the ‘C’ and we’re awfully proud of him.”
Kevin He, Sean Doherty, Ethan Czata, and Mathieu Paris scored for Niagara (28-27-4-4), which has now lost 16 out of its last 17 games and remains three points behind Sudbury for sixth place in the conference.
If the Colts finish second, they could face the seventh-place IceDogs in the opening round of the playoffs.
“I don’t know where we’re going to finish,” said Williamson. “It’s looking like Niagara, but it could be a few different things. So, we just got to keep pushing and playing good hockey, and let’s see if it does go down to the final couple of games.
“If we can win a few more, you never know.”
Up 3-2 heading into the third period, Jelsma and Romani scored a little more than two minutes apart early to give the Colts command, but Czata beat Hillebrandt less than four minutes later to get Niagara back in the game.
Van Steensel would get that right back a little more than a minute later to quell any kind of Niagara come-back.
“That was a big bounce back,” Williamson said of Van Steensel’s 19th goal. “I was pretty upset with the (Niagara) goal, and I think those guys kind of realized it. We made a pretty soft play on that goal that we gave up, but then they bounced right back and did a good job, the Wakely line, getting us feeling good about ourselves again.”
Reunited in the second period, the line of Wakely, Romani, and Van Steensel, a trio that combined for 301 points last season, ignited and finished the contest with a combined four goals and eight points.
“They were really good,” said Williamson. “I thought they played one of their best games. I thought all three guys were hustling and away from the puck they were good. Then they got rewarded for what they can do in their passing and that kind of stuff.
“It was nice to see. They’re going to be a big key for us in the playoffs. If we can get production from them and with our balanced scoring, I think we’ll be a tough team to beat four out of seven.”
Newton opened the scoring at 7:11 of the opening period on a pretty individual effort where he slipped it past a defenceman, walked in, and beat Niagara goaltender Matthew Humphries between the pads.
It was one of just six Barrie shots in the frame, but they would rebound with 17 in the second and 13 in the third. Niagara outshot the visitors 42-36, but the Colts generated plenty of offensive opportunities all night.
“It wasn’t a 60-minute game, but there were a lot of really good spots in there that I was really happy with the guys in what we’re trying to do,” said Williamson. “I thought after that first period we got our shot count up, pucks to the net and did some good things like that.
“That’s a real positive sign.”
The Colts wrap up their five-game road swing Friday night in Brampton, before returning home Saturday to host the Sarnia Sting.
Barrie then wraps up a busy stretch of seven games in 11 days on Sunday afternoon in North Bay.
“It’s a must-win for us,” Jelsma said of Friday night in Brampton. “We have our eyes on the conference here. We just got to keep going.”
Game time at the CAA Centre in Brampton is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Williamson trails only Brian Kilrea (1,194), Dale Hunter (1,002), Bert Templeton (907), Stan Butler (822), George Burnett (774), and Larry Mavety (658) in all-time OHL coaching wins. . . Defenceman Tristan Bertucci is set to get an ultra-sound on Wednesday. “If we get good news, there’s a chance he could play Friday,” said Williamson. “If not, it might be another week. He looks great at practice and says there’s no fatigue, everything is good, so we just got to cross our fingers that the spleen size is cooperating.” . . . Romani now has eight goals and 13 points in his last seven games.
