Flags, Chartrand can't solve 73's, Cassels
ESSEX - The Mooretown Flags were in town Tuesday night in hopes of derailing the Essex 73's who were hoping to extend their winning streak to 14 games.
Mooretown played a sound game, and goaltender John Chartrand - as he always is - was sharp once again in goal, but the orange, black and white got goals from William Claridge early in the opening period, and Luke Sherk on the power play in the third period, to spoil any efforts by the Flags to break the 73's winning streak.
With the 2-0 win, the 73's now have points in 15 straight games and their 22-3-1-0 record is tied with Dundas for tops in the entire Provincial Junior Hockey League.
Claridge's goal was a shot from the point through traffic that found its way under the pad of Chartrand at 6:57 of the first period.
From that point forward, both teams played each other tough, but a window of opportunity presentred itself with a little less than half a period in regulation, and the 73's were sumoned to the powerplay and made the best of it on a Sherk goal, his 10th on the season on a beauty setup by Connor Hunt and Noah Mathieson.
In goal for Essex, Birk Cassels was solid, turning aside all 24 shots fired at him for his third shutout of the season. Cassels now boasts a 1.51 goals against average, second best averagein the PJHL for goalies who have played 10 games of more.
Chartrand in the meantime stopped 32-of-34 shots he faced, many of the dangerous variety. The goal post was also Chartrand's best frend on this night, as the 73's hit the iron on him five times over the course of the game.
Lewis scores late game winner; 73's win 13th straight
AMHERSTBURG - Essex pumped 52 shots at former 73's goaltender, Bennett Horrocks, and in the end, needed a late-game goal by Jack Lewis to propel the 73's to a 4-3 win Saturday night in Amherstburg.
The win was the 73's 13th straight, and they now have earned points in their last 14 games.
Essex overcame two, two-goal deficits in this matchup, to comeback and pick up their league-leading 21st win of the season.
Defenceman, Jaxen Fortier-Smith, scored the natural hat trick for Essex. He now has 11 goals on the season, which is one goal behind the PJHL defence leaders in that category.
Amhersbturg got two goals from Brayden Hebert and another from Stefan Djordjevic.
Birk Cassels relieved starter, Brock Devlin, and picked up the win in goal for Essex, who combined, only allowed 17 shots on goal in the game.
Cassels-73's shutout county rivals, 5-0
ESSEX - The Essex 73's turned in one of their best efforts on the season, out-shooting the Lakeshore Canadiens, 40-27, and shutting them out, 5-0, in front of 614 at the Essex Centre Sports Complex Tuesday night.
Birk Cassels was solid in the net all night for Essex, earning the shutout.
Essex took advantage of Lakeshore's undisciplined play, and scored four times on the powerplay, a powerplay that looks to be creating a lot of quality chances over the past several games.
Noah Mathieson paced the 73's with a goal and three assists. Connor Hunt, Luke Sherk, Jaxen Fortier-Smith and Marcus Levesque had the other 73's goals.
Boe Piroski played well in goal for Lakeshore, but took the loss.
On the game sheet, Lakeshore took 59 minutes in penalties on 17 infractions while Essex was whistled 11 times for a total of 38 minutes in penalties.
The 73's will travel to Amherstburg Saturday night to take on the Admirals.
Fortier-Smith lifts 73's to 4-3 overtimre win in Mooretown
MOORETOWN - The Essex 73's traveled to Mooretown Saturday night to lock horns with the Mooretown Flags.
The 73's were rolling along and had built a 3-0 lead heading into the third period when things went a little awry. Mooretown scored three goals in less than four minutes early into the period to tie the game, and put the 73's on their heels temporarily.
Andrew Baker had a pair of goals, and Gabe Barrette added another to build the 73's the 3-0 lead, outshooting the hometown Flags, 32-12, along the way.
As usual, Flags' netminder, John Chartrand, was solid in the pipes and when he is, he always gives Mooretown a chance no matter what the score.
Carson Crawford got things going for Mooretown at the 2:20 mark, and then, 1:21 later, Mitchell Stack found the back of the net to pull the Flags to within a goal.
To add to the 73's sudden uncertainty, Austin Guevremont was called for a head contact penalty, putting the Flags on the always dangerous powerplay.
Flag's leading scorer, Dylan Dupuis, would make no mistake and scored on the powerplay to tie the game at 3-3 with still 13:43 left in regulation.
Neither team could resolve anything in the regular play so off to overtime they went, and at 2:32, captain Jaxen Fortier-Smith scored to earn the 73's what ended up being a hard-fought victory.
Essex moved to 19-3-1-0 on the season and remain in first place in the Stobbs Division, 6 points up on the Lakeshore Canadiens whom they will face Tuesday night in Essex.
Mooretown falls to 12-8-1-0.
Final shots had Essex on top, 48-21.
73's add 3 more to Wall of Honour
The Class of 2025 Wall of Honour induction ceremony took place Saturday, Nov. 15th at the Essex Recreation Complex.
The night included dinner, comedy and music, enjoyed by 200 in attendance.
This year's honourees were Dave Moore, Jamie McDermott and Adam Gaiarin. Moore and McDermott were inducted in the Staff Category, while Gaiarin was the only player inducted this year.
In all, the Wall of Honour consists of 47 members as of this year.
Dave Prpich presents Dave Moore to the WOH Class of 2025
Tony Piroski presents Jamie McDermott to the WOH Class of 2025
Scott Miller presents Adam Gaiarin to the WOH Class of 2025
Leading Scorer award named in honour of the late, Don Chittle
Earlier this year, the Essex 73’s lost one of its most popular players of all-time, Don Chittle.
Donny grew up on a farm in Maidstone, Ontario along with brothers Bob, Paul and Jim. He played minor hockey in Essex and played for the Essex 73’s in the mid 1970’s – considered by many to be the Golden years of the Essex 73’s. He was a loving husband and best friend to Kim, sharing 32 beautiful years of marriage.
A devoted and cherished father to Amy, and a proud “grandpa” to his beloved fur grand-dog, Caesar.
Known for his boundless energy and warm heart, Don was truly the life of the party. His selflessness, kindness, and ability to uplift those around him made him a treasured friend to many. He had an incredible gift for making people laugh and feel welcomed, leaving a lasting impression wherever he went.
On the ice, Don was the most prolific goal scorer in 73’s history. His 136 goals in just 3 years playing for the 73’s still stands as the 73’s record for most career goals. In 1977-78,
Donny set a then league record for goals and points in a season, scoring 62 goals and 130 points. He ranks third on the 73’s all-time career points list. Donnie ws inducted to the Essex 73’s Wall of Honour in its inaugural year, 2022.
For all the reasons above, and more, the Essex 73’s organization have acknowledged Don’s achievements as a player, and have renamed the 73’s Leading Scorer trophy in honour of him. From this day forward, the leading scorer trophy will be called the Don Chittle Memorial Trophy.