Flyers on the road to securing a playoff spot

Jan 15, 2009

The Frontenac Flyers clinched a 3-1 win against the Colborne Cobras in their Sunday home game at the Frontenac Arena in Piccadilly. The team came back with a win after being beaten 4-1 the day before by Colborne.

Sunday's win was an important one for the Flyers since it helps to secure their goal of a 3rd place standing in the division and a spot in the playoffs.

Before Sunday’s game the team was feeling the pressure of the teams just behind them, especially Picton and Colborne, who’ve both been playing very well as of late.

Before his team took to the ice, coach Rob Lalonde spelled it out: “I think the key thing is consistency: becoming consistent, game in and game out. We have played some good games and we’ve played games where we were capable of playing better than we did.”

He admitted that Saturday’s loss “was one of those games. We’re a very disciplined team but we need to become a little more physical.”

Flyers’ captain # 20 Jeff Tobin, was well aware of what needed to be done in Sunday’s game. He said, “We’re hoping to win and get the two points to put a little bit more space between us and the 4th and 5th place teams.”

The Flyers did just that on Sunday. While the Cobras were hard hitting throughout the game and took the lead in the first period, the Flyers came back strong in the second and led 2-1 with goals by # 9 Jeff Carroll and # 79 Pierre-Olivier Jean. In the 3rd # 28 Connor Dorey increased the Flyers’ lead to the final 3-1 with just under 6 minutes left.

With Sunday’s win the Flyers are currently positioned in third place with 26 points. Picton is close on their heels with 22 points in 4th and Colborne not far off with 21 points in 5th.

January 10 was the trading deadline for the Ontario Hockey Association and the Flyers’ team management signed on a number of new faces that are making waves. On Friday the Flyers signed a new forward from the Cobourg Junior A division, #13 Jake Doseger, who made two assists in Sunday's game.

Also new to the team are Clark Steacy, defenseman Andy Gutoskie, and #22 centre Tomas Devlin from the Brockville Tikis’ Junior B team. Staff is confident they will add to the team’s momentum.

Unfortunately defenseman Mike Deveau is out with a low body injury and will be out for the rest of the season.

Released from the team were Jeff Lamb from Alymer and Michael Casey from Kingston.

Paul Tohill commented, “At this point every game is important and especially now that we are getting down to the nitty gritty.”

After Sunday’s game coach Lalonde said, “It was an important win. Going into the playoffs we need to start peaking, start climbing and we want to hit the playoffs on a roll. The talent is there and we still need to work hard every single game left.”

With 10 games left until the playoffs the Flyers are continuing to show that they are serious contenders.