Paris Titans drop first two games of season

Paris Titans Report

with George Le Gresley

For some reason, for as long as I have been involved with the PJHL, Paris has always opened their season playing the Norwich Merchants. The Merchants typically have a long opening ceremony, recognizing their executive, alumni, and sponsors with a red carpet, spotlights, and announcements. Any enthusiasm a visiting team has in their dressing room can be deflated when the puck drops. I can’t say that happened for sure, as I wasn’t there to witness it, but the Titans lost to the Merchants 7-1, with Brady McLaren being the lone scorer.

So last Saturday was the Titans' turn. It was a very modest opening night, with all the players, coaching, and hockey staff being introduced and then the puck dropping. Hespeler took a 1-0 lead late into the first period at the 17:42 mark. Then, with less than two minutes in the period, on a stoppage of play in Hespeler’s end, Tyler Ward, for some reason, shoots the puck to the other end and earns himself an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty, gifting the Shamrocks another power play, which resulted in a goal with one second on the clock!

In the second period, with the Titans down 2-0, a Hespeler was left unchecked in front of Titan goalie James Gall to make the score 3-0. Alex Foster scores for Paris to break the Shamrock’s goalie shutout bid with assists from Riley Panagapka and Luke Guagliano.

In the third period, Paris scored two goals early in the period, on goals by Spencer Edwards, who was assisted by Thomas Lonsdale and Seth Kirou, and scoring the second goal of the period was Riley Panagapka, with assists by Alex Foster and Brady McLaren. Hespeler scored three more times to make the final Shamrocks 6 Paris Titans 3.

In the end, goalie James Gall was steady in net, stopping 29 shots This year’s team shows promise and just needs to improve defensively, making sure that no opponent is left alone in front of the net. They also need to keep their emotions in check by taking penalties that hurt the team. On the positive end, the team shows promise offensively, as they are getting scoring chances with their fast skating and physical play.

The Titans played the Tavistock Braves last night, and tonight, at the Brant Sports Complex, they will welcome the Woodstock Navy Vets. Puck drop is 7:30 PM, as usual