Bears gain win over Colts, trade Milley to Lumber Kings
Posted Jan 14, 2010 By Ryland Coyne
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EMC Sports - With just 20 games remaining in this regular season, the Bears are starting to peek ahead to next year.
Dianne Pinder-Moss, Smiths Falls EMC
Bears forward Mike McNamee (right) makes a strong move around Brockville Braves' Nathan Slack during CJHL hockey action at the Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre Sunday, Jan. 10. McNamee, the team's leading scorer, picked up an assist on the Bears' lone goal in a 6-1 loss.
The struggling CJHL club traded their top scorer, Jonathan Milley, to the Pembroke Lumber Kings at the trade deadline Sunday. In return, the Bears get big right winger Andrew Smith, a 1994 card (for a 16 year-old) for next year as well as future considerations.
Smith, 6'6" forward from Corner Brook, Nfld., had one goal and five assists in 32 games with the talent-laden Lumber Kings.
Milley, a 6'4" winger from Ottawa, was in his third season with the Bears and led the club with 13 goals and 29 assists in just 31 games. He was a physical presence whenever he was on the ice, but made regular appearances in coach Bill Bowker's dog house by making steady treks to the penalty box. He was third on the Bears in penalty minutes with 78.
A trade to the Kings appeared to be in jeopardy last week after Milley suffered a break in a shoulder bone during the 'Battle of Ontario' all-star game in Pembroke. But the prognosis was encouraging enough that the Lumber Kings were still willing to make a deal.
"We have rented him to Pembroke," Bowker said Monday, noting the Lumber Kings must return Milley to the Bears at season's end according to the terms of the trade.
Meanwhile, the club did pick up a valuable win, 2-1 over the Cornwall Colts at home on Friday, but suffered a pair of losses as well last week 5-3 in Ottawa on Jan. 6 and 6-1 at home to Brockville on Sunday.
The week that was leaves the Bears (14-26-0-3) well entrenched in 10th place overall in the 12-team Central Junior Hockey League standings. At 31 points, they remain eight points back of the Kemptville 73's (18-21-0-3) who hold down the eighth and final playoff spot. The Carleton Place Canadians sit in between in ninth with 35 points.
Things don't get any easier when the Bears plays host to the Lumber Kings this Friday (7:30 p.m.) at the Memorial Community Centre. Their weekend wraps up with a road game against the Hawks in Hawkesbury Sunday afternoon.
Friday, Mike McNamee scored on the team's lone shot of the third period and goalie Matt Jenkins made 34 stops as the Bears upset Cornwall 2-1 at the Memorial Community Centre Friday night.
McNamee, who takes over the team lead in goals (15) and points (37) with Milley's departure, also assisted on Greg Magalhaes' second period tally that tied the game after Guy Leboeuf had opened the scoring for the Colts on the power play in the first period.
Jenkins was outstanding, particularly in the third period when the Bears took a trio of minor penalties and handed the talented Colts, second in the Robinson Division, great chances to come back. But the penalty kill, backed by Jenkins' 13 saves in the third, kept the visitors at bay and allowed the Bears to emerge with the two points.
The Bears swept the three stars with McNamee, Jenkins and Magalhaes one-two-three.
On Sunday, the Bears played the Braves even through the first period. Magalhaes scored on the power play from McNamee and Dustin Darou at 15:33, wiping out an early 1-0 Braves lead on a goal from Scott Arnold, assisted by Mike Skakum and newly-acquired all-star defenceman Scott Dawson.
The Braves, who are now riding a 25-game winning streak and are ranked in the top 10 in the latest national poll, started to pull away in the second with a pair of unanswered goals, then added another three in the third period. Arnold added a second, James Keane added a pair and Zak Zaremba and Shayne Thompson had singles.
Goalie George Grammenopoulos started the game but was pulled in the second period after allowing a pair of goals on 17 shots, a total that included a first-period penalty shot. Matt Jenkins closed things out the rest of the way.
Bowker was pleased with his young team's effort in both contests.
"Our youth has got energy that most teams don't," he said, noting the Bears gave two of the league's elite teams all they could handle.
The week started on a disappointing note last Wednesday with a two-goal loss in Ottawa.
Rookie Ryan VanStralen's power play goal with 3:08 left in regulation brought the Bears back to 4-3 but an empty-net power play goal by the Sens' Matt White sealed the deal in the final minute.
Simon Johns had scored back-to-back goals earlier in the third (at 9:09 and 13:44) to turn what had been a dominant 3-0 Ottawa lead into a suddenly tight battle. Newcomer Tanner Benton assisted on both and McNamee added a helper on the second.
Jeff Carroll restored a two-goal advantage for the Sens at 15:01 before VanStralen closed the gap again.
Grammenopoulos was solid between the pipes, making 38 stops on 42 Senators shots. The Bears fired 33 shots at Sens goalie Niels-Erik Ravn including 16 in the third period.
OVERTIME:
- The Braves may be riding a 25 game win streak, but the Lumber Kings have made it clear they won't be surrendering their crown without a fight. After Brockville acquired talented but disgruntled defenceman Scott Dawson from the Nepean Raiders (in exchange for two first-round picks), the Kings not only picked up Milley from Smiths Falls but added more depth with the acquisition of Amhed Mahfouz from Nepean and Mitch Gallant from Cumberland.
- The fallout of Nepean head coach Garry Galley's resignation from the Raiders (he stepped aside over a dispute with ownership over ice time for certain players, according to published reports), and the resulting player discontent appears to be complete. Galley's son Wyatt, who beat the Bears 4-2 before Christmas, is now tending nets out west. Two other star players were traded at deadline for draft picks and cash, others were released and two others, including a goalie, were brought in from other leagues. Quite the situation for new coach Peter Goulet, former assistant with the Kingston Voyageurs.
