Port Dover Sailors building for the future
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The Port Dover Sailors faced a familiar rival Sunday at home in a rebuilding PJHL hockey season.
“We were an older team last year, and (Grimsby) beat us out in the second round (after Port Dover swept Dunnville in four first-round games). It was the first time that Dover had won a second-round playoff game since 1990-91,” said Sailors Coach/GM Mike Walker, recalling an exciting 5-2 victory in Game 2. “We were saying, ‘Let’s make history’ last year.
“So we knew this year coming in there might be a slight rebuild to it.”
Port Dover went with a younger Junior C roster for 2023-24 that would grow together, each season getting more competitive with the goal of getting back to where they were in 2022-23.
“A lot of it is rebuilding the team atmosphere – a ‘we’re one’ type team – so we want to keep this team tight-knit. Growing up, I’ve always been taught, right from novice, defence wins championships. So I’m trying to do a lot of X’s and O’s towards our end, and the offence will come.”
Playing in the 61-team, eight-division Provincial Junior Hockey League, Port Dover is currently seventh in the Bloomfield Division, on pace with teams like Aylmer in the Yeck, and Paris in the Doherty, with three games left to play.
“There’s been a few games where we get beat bad, and there’s been a few games where just a post or a missed pass and we lose 3-2. Today, we had two goals called back,” noted Walker. “And we had a post and a cross-bar.”
The Sailors (7-31-1) hosted division-leading Grimsby Peach Kings (29-7-3) Sunday afternoon in Port Dover, which Grimsby won 4-1. The visitors led 2-0 early in the second period on a pair of power-play goals. Grimsby added a late second-period marker, then made it 4-0 short-handed in the third.
“Grimsby has always been a team that’s about special teams and capitalizing on mistakes.”
Brady Siebert scored late on a Port Dover power-play, assisted by David Harvey and Trevor Nunn, with 3:44 remaining. Siebert cut left to the top of the faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot that caught the right corner to beat Grimsby goalie Nolan Verardo glove-side, who stopped 36 of Port Dover’s 37 shots.
Port Dover had a strong push in the final three minutes, but time ran out.
Sailors’ 6’5” goalie Travis Jansen had an equally impressive game stopping 38 of 42 shots.
“Last year he (Jansen) won the PJHL Schmalz Cup with Wellesley,” Walker noted.
Hagerville doubled the Sailors 4-2 on Saturday. Port Dover’s Mike Vanacker, from Langton, scored both goals.
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