Monday, February 26th, 2024. 2:43pm
The Ottawa Jr. Canadians played the first two games in the best-of-five first-
round of the Barkley Cup Playoffs against the Char-Lan Rebels. Two convincing wins
saw the Jr. Canadians take a 2-0 stranglehold on the series as they look to move on to
the second round.
The first game at the Earl Armstrong Arena took place on Saturday Night which
saw the Jr. Canadians make a statement with a 6-3 win. The first period was tightly
contested seeing a score of 1-1 heading into the second frame with the goal being from
Nicholas Bell (2G). The second period was more of the same seeing a 2-2 score going
into the final 20 minutes and it was the Captain, Liam Kelleher (2G) tallying his first of
the playoffs for the Jr. Canadians. The third period saw the Jr. Canadians explode for
four goals, Nicholas Bell, Mateo Mongeon (1G), Liam Kelleher, and Matthew Nolet (1G,
1A). Other Jr. Canadians finding the scoresheet were Reid Greer (3A), Joshua Weekes
(1A), Daniel Kyte (1A), Luke Going (1A), and Logan McLeod (1A).
In the net was Noah Paddock who stopped 38 of 41 shots to get the win. Mike
Fournier (1G, 1A) for Char-Lan took home the third star. It was Nicholas Bell
taking the second star and the first star of the game was Liam Kelleher.
The second game, on Sunday, was similar to the first in that it was a 1-1 tie
heading into the second. It was Mateo Mongeon (1G) who scored the lone goal in the
first frame. It wouldn’t be tied for long in the second period as a red-hot Nicholas Bell
(1G) would score the first of six in the frame for the Jr. Canadians just over two minutes
in. He was followed by Liam Kelleher (2G), Daniel Kyte (1G), Jack Chiarello (1G), and
Joshua Weekes (1G). Char-Lan switched goalies just over halfway through the second
period. Taking a 7-1 lead into the third period was too much for the Rebels to come back
from with a blank scoresheet for the final frame. Other Jr. Canadians to hit the
scoresheet were Tyler Smith (1A), Coen Quinn (2A), Alex Lemieux (1A), Reid Greer
(2A), Logan McLeod (1A), and Conor Contois (1A).
Between the pipes was Noah Paddock once again earning the win stopping 18 of
19 shots. Nolan MacMillan (1G) took home the third star getting the lone goal for Char-
Lan on Sunday. Coen Quinn snagged the second star of the game on the back of his
two assists but it was the Captain sweeping the first stars on the weekend after scoring
two goals in back-to-back games.
The Ottawa Jr. Canadians (2-0) look to go for the sweep at the Earl Armstrong
Arena on Tuesday night at 7:20 against the Char-Lan Rebels (0-2). Char-Lan will surely
bring their A-Game to try and avoid elimination but the Jr. Canadians are red-hot and
ready to play.
OJC Media | Kaghlen Roberts
Photo & Graphic | Tyler Cyr
