Admirals lose fourth straight but slowly improving

Wheatley goalie Ethan Davis makes a third period save on Amherstburg’s Brody Gillis. Wheatley won last Saturday night’s game 4-1 at the Libro Centre.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Amherstburg Admirals but the good news is, they have started to turn things around.

The Admirals were blanked by the host Lakeshore Canadiens 7-0 last Friday night, and the next night at the Libro Centre, came up short again, this time 4-1 to the visiting Wheatley Sharks.

With four straight losses, the Admirals sit at 3-5-0-0 in the West Stobbs Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League (Junior C).

Against the Sharks, Amherstburg trailed 1-0 after the first and 2-1 after two periods but came out flying with a lot of energy to start the third.

“It’s our fourth loss in a row but that was our best effort. We had a lot of chances but we couldn’t bear down and put the puck in the net,” said Admirals’ head coach Zack Gervais.

Amherstburg gave up a shorthanded goal early but led by Stefan Djordjevic who had the lone Admirals goal, seemed to turn things around mid-way through the game. Although he and veteran Brady Drouillard left the game with injuries, the Admirals seem to have gotten their game back on track.

“We had a good talk after Lakeshore because the effort was abysmal. I think the effort was good tonight,” said Gervais.

With Drouillard and Djordjevic out and an early ejection to rookie Jackson Blair for checking-from-behind, the Admirals had to shuffle their lines and were shorthanded up front. That meant the reuniting of last year’s top offensive trio, captain Drew Booker, Brett Jones and Rory Sandison who came very close to scoring a couple of times late in the game.

“We’ve been trying different combinations over the streak. We know the amount of success they had last year. It was our best line tonight,” said Gervais.

The Admirals were 0-for-6 on the powerplay and with 4:27 left to go, pulled goalie Bennett Horrocks but could not cash in on a 6-on-4 opportunity and saw the Sharks score into the empty net.

Horrocks was just signed a couple of days earlier, coming over from Essex. He had a 3-1 record, 1.73 GAA and .922 save percentage with the 73’s. The Admirals for now will have three netminders with Horrocks, Landon Dimitroff and Jack Thomas. 

“He’s solid, he’s a quiet kid. He does his job and is a good addition to our team,” said Gervais.

A couple of roster moves recently saw Madden Drouillard released. Veteran Dallas Kelly was traded to Lakeshore for Jack Lewis but Lewis declined to report to Amherstburg so he was dealt to Essex for Horrocks.

Next up for the Admirals, they host Mooretown in Harrow Thursday night and the Walpole Island Wild come to Amherstburg next Saturday night.

Defenceman Jake Goudreault is now an assistant captain. Forward Allan Djordjevic was recently given a two-game suspension and is scheduled to be back for the game in Harrow.

SLAPSHOTS… The Admirals welcomed guest singer Matt Saddler on Saturday who sings the National Anthem all over the province. He was greeted by a lot of fans, received swag and dropped the puck to start the game… Former Admirals goalie Russell Vaughan made 39 saves last week to lead the Blenheim Blades to a 3-0 win over Lakeshore.

Admirals lose fourth straight but slowly improving

By Fred Groves