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The ring's the thing for Falcons Dubois

By BILL POTRECZ, Standard Staff

All Ben Dubois wants to do is finish his junior hockey career with a championship.

The St. Catharines Falcons picked up the overage winger earlier this week after he was cut loose by the Ottawa 67's, but Dubois isn't looking at the move as a demotion.

On he contrary — the Belle River native was anxious to join the Falcons after doing some research and talking to a couple of players, including former Niagara IceDog Johnson Andrews.

Dubois made his Falcons debut Friday with a couple of assists as St. Catharines dominated the Fort Erie Meteors 8-0 in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game at Jack Gatecliff Arena.

"It's was a tough decision to come down, but St. Catharines has a great organization," Dubois said. "The coach (Frank Girhiny) was one of the first guys to call me, so obviously he's on the ball, and I did some research and saw they had a great team.

"It wasn't that tough of a decision to come here because I want to win a championship this year and I think this is the right team to come to."

Dubois had several options once he was let go, but the chance to win trumped everything else.

"I might have been able to go to Erie (Otters of the OHL), but I'm 20 years old and they're a last-place team," said Dubois, who had eight goals and 15 points in 40 games with the 67's. "Erie is so far away from home and all I want to do is win a championship and have a great time and finish my junior career off with a ring on my finger."

Dubois liked a lot of what he saw from his new teammates.

"I think we're good from the bottom right to the top," Dubois said. "Our captain (Kenny Bradford) played a great game and we have some strong forwards. When I played junior B when I was 16 years old, I don't think there is a team that can compare with this one."

Girhiny loves what Dubois brings to the table.

"Here's a player who could have went to probably 20 other Tier 2 teams in Ontario," Girhiny said. "He did his homework on our organization.

"He's here to win. He's not coming here to try and be something that he's not. He's a quality young man and he plays super hard."

The win improved St. Catharines' record to 31-4-2. Coupled with a 2-1 loss by Niagara Falls to the Port Colborne Pirates, the Falcons lead the Canucks by eight points for first with a game in hand.

Coming off a down week in which they lost three games, the Falcons turned in a solid performance from top to bottom, dominating the Meteors in every aspect, from start to finish.

"I thought we played real well," Girhiny said. "We did a lot of the little things well and capitalized on our opportunities."

St. Catharines led 1-0 after one, then potted four more in the second to lead 5-0 after two.

Michael Gallardi turned back 19 shots for the shutout.

Falcons facts: Johnson Andrews (suspension), Spencer DeWolfe and Dan MacEachern did not dress for the Falcons.… The Falcons are second in the league on the penalty kill at 88.7%. The Thorold Blackhawks are first at 90.4%.… Falcons defenceman Koddi Quick is the lone regular without a goal.… Falcons eye in the sky Tyler Bielby moved behind the bench in place of Graeme Flett, who was absent.

THE SCOOP

Falcons 8 Meteors 0

Standard Star of the Game: St. Catharines Falcons forward Riley Jakobschuk with two goals and an assist.

For the St. Catharines Falcons: Jakobschuk 2 (24, 25); Kenny Bradford 2 (8,9); Aaron Taylor 2 (11,12); Curtis Longland (21); Luke Karaim (19).

Multiple assists: Kyle Woodhouse 3; Ben Dubois 2; Broderick Kelly 2; Jimmy Sheehan 2.

For the Fort Erie Meteors: No scoring.

Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Connor Visca/Matt Stuart 44, by Fort Erie on Mike Gallardi 19; Power plays: St. Catharines 2-for-9, Fort Erie 0-for-4; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 8, Fort Erie 18.

Attendance: 337.

Up next: The Falcons are in Stoney Creek Saturday and Buffalo Tuesday. Niagara Falls visits Friday.

Golden Horseshoe Conference (Defensemen)                       Kenny Bradford

The St. Catharines Falcons have enjoyed a very success first half of their regular season thanks in large part to the awesome defensive play from their team Captain Kenny Bradford. The St. Catharines Native was the perfect selection for the GOJHL Golden Horseshoe Conference November Defensemen of the Month. Standing at 6'2 and weighing 195lbs this solid blue liner managed to score three goals and added 10 assists in just 8 games in November. The Falcons won seven of their eight match-ups and continued to hold down the top spot in the Golden Horseshoe Conference. Bradford's highlight game came on November 19th when his Falcons played and interlock game against the Strathroy Rockets. He netted two goals and added two assists in a 6-4 Falcons win.

GOLDEN HORSESHOE GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER

The St. Catharines Falcons have enjoyed plenty of success this season thanks in large part to the stellar goaltending that Brad Pope has given them. In October, Pope managed to win all six of the games he played in, making him the perfect selection for the Golden Horseshoe Conference October Goaltender of the Month. The 6'0, 185lbs Hamilton native uses his size, speed and reflexes to turn away the leagues top snipers on a nightly basis. He made an impressive 169 saves on the 183 shots he faced in October. Pope's highlight game of the month came on the 7th when he shut out the Welland Junior Canadians 3-0 to help his club increase their conference lead.

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