Admirals come up short in first two regular season games

Admirals’ forward Cooper Woodman attempts to get the puck past Dresden goalie Blake Verberne in Saturday’s season opener. Dresden won the Sept. 12 game by a 6-4 final score.

It was a tough start to the Provincial Junior Hockey League (Junior C) season for the Amherstburg Admirals as they lost back-to-back games including a 5-2 defeat to the host Blenheim Blades last Sunday night.

Against the Blades, Liam Tiessen and Alex Schneider scored for the Admirals, who will travel to Lakeshore on Friday for a 7 p.m. start and on Sunday back at home, will host the Mooretown Flags with puck drop at 4 p.m.

In front of a large boisterous home crowd at the Libro Centre last Saturday night (Sept. 12), the Admirals battled back but came up just a little short, 6-4 to the Dresden Kings. 

After the Kings went up 2-0, rookie Parker Janisse, who was named the game’s third star, took a beauty of a centering pass from Cooper Woodman which saw a lot of hard work from the other newcomer trio line, Schneider.

“Those guys are just going to get better as the season goes on and that’s a big plus for us,” said Admirals head coach Paul Bortignon.

Midway through the second, defenceman Cameron Robinet snuck in from the blueline and slipped it past Kings’ goalie Blake Verberne. The two sides exchanged goals and it was Carter Maxey tieing it 3-3 for the Admirals.

Amherstburg took the lead when captain Cale Marontate crashed the net. The veteran centre missed the first few minutes of the game as he was competing for the St. Clair College golf team at a tournament at Sutton Creek. 

Early in the third period, the Kings scored twice in just 21 seconds for the win with the teams playing four aside. 

“I thought the first 40 minutes was really good but it kind of comes down to that 4-on-4 when they scored two goals,” noted Bortignon.

The head coach added that while the team once again showed a strong work ethic, it was a lack of communication and defensive zone miscues that accounted for the loss.

“There was a lot of positives tonight but the final result was not one of them.”

With the 2026-27 42-game regular season just underway, the Admirals continue to tinker with its roster.

Added late last week were a couple of familiar faces, overagers Braeden Armstrong and Lukas Boudreau. Armstrong played in Wheatley two seasons ago and Boudreau, who can play both forward and defence came over in a trade that sent blueliner Jake Gourdreault to Lakeshore.

Missing from Saturday’s opener were several players that Bortignon hopes to be regular contributors as the year goes on.

“A lot of  guys who are still out of the lineup, those are guys who will affect games.”

SLAPSHOTS… There were a few special guests at the opener Saturday night including last year’s captain Drew Booker who dropped the ceremonial puck. Also, Brooke Campbell who played at the University of Connecticut for four years and is hoping for a spot on the new PWHL team in Hamilton. Flag bearers for the game were the sons of former pro Matt McCready.

Admirals come up short in first two regular season games

By Fred Groves