Bode Stewart’s first goal of the season was a long time coming and as luck would have it Thursday night at Sadlon Arena, the Barrie Colts forward would have to wait just a little longer to have it confirmed.
Stewart, who sits second in team assists with 15 but had yet to score in 22 games, appeared to finally connect at 7:30 of the second period to give the Colts a 2-1 lead over the visiting Flint Firebirds only to have officials stop the game to review if the goal was offside.
As if Stewart hasn’t waited long enough for this moment.
“Yeah, it was actually me that might have been offside,” Stewart said laughing out loud after a 5-2 Barrie win. “I was hoping I didn’t screw myself there. It was a little bit nerve-wracking there for sure.”
Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson waited for the ruling anxiously, hoping his hard-working forward’s wait to get in the score column was over.
“I was going don’t do this to this poor guy,” said Williamson. “It was a close call too, his skate was in the air, but it (the puck) was still over the blue line.”
Nicknamed “The Orchard” by his teammates for his ability to dish out “apples” (assists), Stewart received one of his own when teammate Kashawn Aitcheson served up a beauty pass across the front of the net that Stewart buried over the stretched-out left pad of Flint goalie Nathan Day.
“That was awesome,” said the Oakville native, who motioned to throw the monkey off his back. “It’s kind of a weight off my shoulders, for sure, to get that first one. It was just a great play by Kash. I got to thank him for that one.”
The Barrie (18-8) bench erupted with joy for their teammate.
“He’s been snake bitten,” said Williamson of Stewart, who had 13 goals last season. “When you’re a forward and you’re sitting on zero, it’s bugging you. It’s been bugging him and it’s nice to see a big smile on his face in the dressing room after the game.
“The guys were razzing him pretty good, so it’s nice to see.”
Dalyn Wakely scored twice, including his 100th career goal, and Beau Jelsma added a goal and two assists to power the Colts to their 11th win in their last 15 games.
Tristan Bertucci also had a goal and assist against his former team to help Barrie move into a first-place tie with the Oshawa Generals atop the Eastern Conference standings, one point ahead of the Kington Frontenacs.
“I’m glad we’re done with those guys. They’re tough to play,” Williamson said of the Firebirds. “That was a tough game in their building (3-2 win on Nov. 23), and this was the same kind of thing tonight.
“It could have been flip-flopped early and they could have been up by a couple because of how sloppy we were in that first period.”
Barrie could have grabbed an early lead but failed to take advantage of three early power-play chances. Urban Podrekar beat Ben Hrebik at 15:06 to give Fint (11-14-0-1) the lead, before Jelsma, with the Colts on the power play, turned into the slot and wired one over the blocker of Day a little more than three minutes later.
After Stewart put the Colts on top in the second, Bertucci fired one home on the power-play goal and Wakely added a shorthanded goal late in the frame to give the home team control.
“We were grinding,” said Stewart. “It wasn’t a hot start for us, but good teams find a way to win. We worked hard and put in that effort, so it was good to come out with that win.”
Wakely’s shorthanded goal was a big one. With Barrie up 3-1, the Firebirds were handed two late second-period power plays, but it was Wakely who fired home a feed from Jelsma to give them a comfortable three-goal lead heading into third period.
“It was kind of the difference in the game, the specialty teams,” said Williamson. “Shorthanded goals are always big when you get one of those, and the fact that we got a couple of power-play goals, it was the difference in the game at that point.
“Just that cushion we had going into the third, was big by Wakely.”
Wakely and Jelsma are starting to develop great chemistry playing with one another. Wakely has four goals and six points in his last four games, while Jelsma has three goals and 10 points in his last five games.
“They talk an awful lot and there’s good communication there,” said Williamson. “That line is starting to come together. That little play at the end and Wakes is pretty good. He’s pretty vocal and that’s good for Jelsma to hear where people are, and it helps him a lot.”
Christopher Thibodeau cut the Barrie lead to 4-2 early in the third, but Wakely, on a set up by Jelsma, scored his second into an empty cage to seal it.
“We have a great team here,” said Stewart. “It could be a different guy here every night. We have a whole lot of talent here and it’s awesome to see different guys step up and have good games.”
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
The Colts kick off an eastern swing tonight when they travel to Kingston before wrapping the weekend Sunday afternoon in Ottawa.
The Frontenacs have been one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference and have won seven of their last 10 games.
“Both teams are at the top and when you have those kinds of games, they’re always kind of benchmarks,” said Williamson. “We don’t see Kingston a ton and we get a little bit of them in the second half.
“To go into their building, they’re rested, and they haven’t played all week, so it’s a great challenge for us and we need to kind of rise to the challenge and not shoot ourselves in the foot with a real dead first period because we’ll be behind by four if we have this kind of period.”
Game time at Slush Puppie Place is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: It was another impressive effort in goal by Ben Hrebik, who stopped 40 of 42 shots to improve to 7-1 on the season. The backup also has a sterling 2.04 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. “I’m looking at that top prospect game and I’m thinking this kid should have been in it,” said Williamson. “He’s done everything we asked for. He’s 7-1, his goals against, his save percentage, this kid is playing great.”. . . The Colts will have three players take part in the inaugural Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game on January 15, 2025, in Brantford. Evan Passmore, Aitcheson, and Jelsma will suit up for the Eastern Conference. North Bay forward and former Colt Shamar Moses will also suit for the Eastern team. . . Emil Hemming had two assists and now has a goal and four points in his last four games. . . Cole Beaudoin had an assist to run his point streak to six games (4-6-10).
