GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, NL – The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts had no trouble finding the back of the net during a weekend sweep of the Kelly Ford Gander Flyers over the weekend, scoring 15 times over the two games.
Steve Yetman scored twice in a 6-3 win in Gander on Saturday night to open the series and went on to pot a hat trick on Sunday afternoon in Grand Falls-Windsor in a wild 9-6 affair. Andre Gill (1G 4A) and Danny Wicks (5A) recorded five points each on Sunday.
Mitch Oake, Brandon Hynes and Andrew Ryan scored singles for the Flyers on Saturday night, while Ryan, Hynes, Jordan Escott, Brad Power, Brett Shute and Nick Fitzgerald scored on Sunday.
“There was a lot of offence out there, a lot of goals,” said Cataracts’ head coach Patrick Yetman after his team’s win on Sunday.
Yetman isn’t the type of coach who’ll put restraints on his players. He wants to see them put on a show for the fans by scoring goals.
Fans at the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium were treated with a 15-goal outburst on Sunday, and although Yetman likes to let his offensively gifted players do their thing on the ice, even he thought there was a little too much offence.
“I don’t mind…but 9-6 is a little up there,” said Yetman with a chuckle. “I’m not here for a boring game and I want them to play and I want them to go.
“There was a lot of offence and a lot of speed in Gander on Saturday night, and as a fan, it was a great game to watch. There were a few more goals today, the shots were up there, both teams got a lot of chances and the goalies made a lot of great saves.”
Although his team lost both games, Flyers’ head coach Rick Sheppard was feeling optimistic after Sunday’s game.
The Flyers came back from a 2-0 deficit in Gander on Saturday night, but proved just how resilient they are on Sunday.
Down 7-3 late in the second period, the Flyers exploded with three goals in just under to minutes to cut the lead to 7-6.
Although the Cataracts hung on, Sheppard said he loved the no-quit attitude of his team.
“That’s one thing I’ve seen from this team this year that I like. There is no quit in this team,” said Sheppard. “I think we have a really good team, a good skilled team. I think we’re rock solid from the goaltender out.
“The team is responding to what I want to do and what I say, and we’re going to keep improving and keep moving forward.”
The Flyers remain in first place in the Central West Senior Hockey League with 15 points, and thanks to their four-point weekend, the Cataracts moved into a second-place tie with the Clarenville Caribous with 12 points.
Moving forward into this weekend’s set of games against the Caribous, the Cataracts will keep a close on eye on the status of starting goalie AJ Whiffen, who left the ice in the second period of Sunday’s game with an apparent lower body injury.
He was in obvious pain when leaving the ice and never returned to the game. Jason Stone of Duncan, BC replaced Whiffen and finished the game.
“We’re not exactly sure what the diagnosis is or how long he’s going to be out,” said Yetman. “We’re going to take a look at it and we don’t want to make it any worst. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he’s healthy when he goes in again.”
The Cataracts host the Caribous this weekend at the Joe, while the Flyers are off.
