WALKERTON – The Wingham Ironmen kicked off the long-awaited 2021-22 Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) season with a pair of wins over the Walkerton Hawks and the Goderich Flyers.
The season began for the Ironmen on Oct. 1 at the Walkerton Community Centre.
Kyle Stanbury took control of the first period putting Wingham on the scoreboard first and earning a hat-trick before the end of the period.
Wingham was the first on the scoreboard with a goal by Kyle Stanbury, assisted by Matt Tolton. Walkerton answered minutes later to tie the game in the first, however, the Ironmen took control of the remainder of the period scoring three more goals by Kyle Smeltzer, assisted by David Kozak and Dawson Fahrer; and back to back Stanbury goals, assisted by Jonah Burley, Coleson Fischer, and Nate Bloemberg.
In the second period, Wingham kept Walkerton’s advances at bay, while adding two to the scoreboard. Second-period goals scored by Hayden Robinson, assisted by Stanbury, and Burley; and Tolton assisted by Stanbury and Fahrer.
In the third, the Hawks had the last word scoring with four minutes on the clock, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap on the scoreboard. The Ironmen scored three more goals to end the game with a score of 9-2. Goals scored by Bloemberg, assisted by Chris Adlys; Kozak, assisted by Jett Tokiwa, Jacob Rausen; and Tokiwa, assisted by Tolton and Adlys.
Saturday
For the second game of the season, the Wingham Ironmen travelled south to face off against the Goderich Flyers on Oct. 2.
Goderich opened the game with a goal five minutes in, but Wingham answered with two goals of their own scored by Kozak, assisted by Tokiwa and Taytt Bramhill; and Burley, assisted by Stanbury and Fahrer. The Flyers closed the period with a second goal with just shy of 40 seconds on the clock.
The Ironmen owned the second period, scoring two more goals to break the tie. Goals scored by Robinson, assisted by Bramhill; and Bloemberg, assisted by Stanbury, and Burley.
The Flyers fought to take the lead but the Ironmen held them off until the last seconds of the match. Although Goderich scored with 35 seconds left in the game, Wingham wrapped up their first weekend of the season with another win with a final score of 4-3.
The Wingham Ironmen will play two more away games on Oct. 8 in Hanover against the Barons, and Oct. 10 Mitchell against the Hawks before making their hometown debut on Oct. 15 in Wingham.
