St. John’s Junior Caps Sweep Junior Warriors in St.John's Junior Hockey League Playoff Action
- James Tarrant
- Feb 28
- 3 min read
The St. John’s Junior Caps swept the Paradise Junior Warriors with three hard-fought but decisive wins in St.John’s Junior Hockey League action at the Mary Brown’s Centre on February 25th
In the opening game of the best-of-five series, February 22nd, the Junior Caps special teams set the tone with three powerplay markers. Zachary Hawco scored one and added two more goals to secure a hat-trick for the Junior Caps, while team captain Jordan Winter scored the other two power-play goals in the 5-3 win.
St.John’s Junior Caps coach Steve Callahan said Hawco stepped up his game big time by being that reliable player a coach can count on to muck it up in the dirty parts of the ice.
“We changed our power play a little bit. We needed some old-school power play work and some presence in front of the net. We were getting too pretty on the perimeter. Zach, who knows how to play the old-school game, went to the front of the net and got rewarded. It was an incredible game by him.”
Callahan also credits the Warriors' strong effort despite the series result, especially goaltender Ethan Kelly's play, which saved 60 Caps shots in game two.
“They're a character hockey team, well coached, and, in my opinion, they got one of the best goaltenders in the league in Ethan Kelly. He can steal a game. And he almost did.”
The Junior Caps produced another well-balanced effort in their second game on February 23rd. Winter scored two, Hawko scored one to lead the scoring again, and sniper Andy Knight's beautiful Michigan-style overtime goal topped off the game nicely. The win allowed the Junior Caps to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series, but they were not done there.
In game three, Nolan Avery’s two unassisted markers led the scoring, followed by Luke Power’s game-winning single marker, which led to the Junior Caps' 3-1 victory and series win.
“Luke Power came out and got the game-winning goal on a nice shot on a play from the corner of the ice. He is working hard in practice and moving his feet. We had balanced scoring in this series, which speaks to our depth on this team.”
The Junior Caps also rotated three goaltenders in the series, which Callahan said gave everyone a chance to be involved in the game. The Junior Caps rookie goaltender Jack Barrington played in game one, seasoned Nathan Hurley played in game two, and newcomer Scott Kirby played in game three.
Finishing their series early means the Junior Caps will have to wait to see who they will face in the second round tonight.
The Junior Caps are more likely to play the winner of the Mount Pearl Southern Shore series next, but Callahan said he wouldn't count the Celtics out.
The Celtics have a lot of character and could give CBS a lot of trouble. If they can improve their game this weekend, we could see a big shift in that series.
Callahan also said the Junior Caps will use their downtime wisely between series.
“We will work hard, prepare ourselves, and make sure we're practicing good habits so we're ready for who we play next because the semifinals is always an incredible series.”
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