Cassels-73's shutout county rivals, 5-0
ESSEX - The Essex 73's turned in one of their best efforts on the season, out-shooting the Lakeshore Canadiens, 40-27, and shutting them out, 5-0, in front of 614 at the Essex Centre Sports Complex Tuesday night.
Birk Cassels was solid in the net all night for Essex, earning the shutout.
Essex took advantage of Lakeshore's undisciplined play, and scored four times on the powerplay, a powerplay that looks to be creating a lot of quality chances over the past several games.
Noah Mathieson paced the 73's with a goal and three assists. Connor Hunt, Luke Sherk, Jaxen Fortier-Smith and Marcus Levesque had the other 73's goals.
Boe Piroski played well in goal for Lakeshore, but took the loss.
On the game sheet, Lakeshore took 59 minutes in penalties on 17 infractions while Essex was whistled 11 times for a total of 38 minutes in penalties.
The 73's will travel to Amherstburg Saturday night to take on the Admirals.
Fortier-Smith lifts 73's to 4-3 overtimre win in Mooretown
MOORETOWN - The Essex 73's traveled to Mooretown Saturday night to lock horns with the Mooretown Flags.
The 73's were rolling along and had built a 3-0 lead heading into the third period when things went a little awry. Mooretown scored three goals in less than four minutes early into the period to tie the game, and put the 73's on their heels temporarily.
Andrew Baker had a pair of goals, and Gabe Barrette added another to build the 73's the 3-0 lead, outshooting the hometown Flags, 32-12, along the way.
As usual, Flags' netminder, John Chartrand, was solid in the pipes and when he is, he always gives Mooretown a chance no matter what the score.
Carson Crawford got things going for Mooretown at the 2:20 mark, and then, 1:21 later, Mitchell Stack found the back of the net to pull the Flags to within a goal.
To add to the 73's sudden uncertainty, Austin Guevremont was called for a head contact penalty, putting the Flags on the always dangerous powerplay.
Flag's leading scorer, Dylan Dupuis, would make no mistake and scored on the powerplay to tie the game at 3-3 with still 13:43 left in regulation.
Neither team could resolve anything in the regular play so off to overtime they went, and at 2:32, captain Jaxen Fortier-Smith scored to earn the 73's what ended up being a hard-fought victory.
Essex moved to 19-3-1-0 on the season and remain in first place in the Stobbs Division, 6 points up on the Lakeshore Canadiens whom they will face Tuesday night in Essex.
Mooretown falls to 12-8-1-0.
Final shots had Essex on top, 48-21.
Essex makes it 10-straight wins
ESSEX - Jack Lewis scored a pair of goals, and assisted on another, to lead the Essex 73's to a convincing 6-1 win over the traveling Wheatley Sharks Tuesday night.
The win was the 10th in a row for Essex who last lost to the Blenheim Blades in overtime back on October 19th.
It's been quite the streak for the 73's who have scored 62 goals over that timeframe, an average of over six goals scored per game. They have only allowed 19 goals for an average of 1.90.
Jaxen Fortier-Smith, Cael McCabe, Travis Rivest and Ethan O'Neil had the other Essex goals, while Kyle Bleau replied late in the game for the Sharks, spoliing rookie AP, Michael Sampson's, bid for a shutout in his first junior start.
Essex out shot Wheatley, 33-16. Goaltender Ethan Davis kept this game closer than it really was. He was brilliant throughout the night.
Essex wins in wild fashion over Dresden, 8-5
DRESDEN - Essex made it nine in a row Friday night with an 8-5 win over the Dresden Kings at the Lambton-Kent Memorial Centre.
With the win the 73's now hold a six-point lead over Blenheim and Lakeshore in the Stobbs Division with each team holding a game in hand over the 73's.
Essex (17-3-1-0) got two goals from Andrew Baker, and solo goals off the sticks of Joey Gaudet, Cael McCabe, Carter Dembinski, Marcus Lesvesque, Connor Hunt and Jack Lewis.
Dresden got a pair of goals from Colton Graham to go along with singles by Evan Reeve, Kurtis Smith and Dustin Sweeney.
With the loss, Dresden falls to 8-10-3-0 on the season.
Essex led 2-1 after one period, and the game was tied, 3-3, heading into the third period.
Dresden took the lead just :19 seconds into the third period but the 73's responded with three of their own to go out front, 6-4.
With a little under five minutes in the game, Dresden would make it a one-goal game and again, Eseex responded with two more of their own en route to the 8-5 win.
Essex out shot Dresden on the night, 51-25.
73's add 3 more to Wall of Honour
The Class of 2025 Wall of Honour induction ceremony took place Saturday, Nov. 15th at the Essex Recreation Complex.
The night included dinner, comedy and music, enjoyed by 200 in attendance.
This year's honourees were Dave Moore, Jamie McDermott and Adam Gaiarin. Moore and McDermott were inducted in the Staff Category, while Gaiarin was the only player inducted this year.
In all, the Wall of Honour consists of 47 members as of this year.
Dave Prpich presents Dave Moore to the WOH Class of 2025
Tony Piroski presents Jamie McDermott to the WOH Class of 2025
Scott Miller presents Adam Gaiarin to the WOH Class of 2025
Leading Scorer award named in honour of the late, Don Chittle
Earlier this year, the Essex 73’s lost one of its most popular players of all-time, Don Chittle.
Donny grew up on a farm in Maidstone, Ontario along with brothers Bob, Paul and Jim. He played minor hockey in Essex and played for the Essex 73’s in the mid 1970’s – considered by many to be the Golden years of the Essex 73’s. He was a loving husband and best friend to Kim, sharing 32 beautiful years of marriage.
A devoted and cherished father to Amy, and a proud “grandpa” to his beloved fur grand-dog, Caesar.
Known for his boundless energy and warm heart, Don was truly the life of the party. His selflessness, kindness, and ability to uplift those around him made him a treasured friend to many. He had an incredible gift for making people laugh and feel welcomed, leaving a lasting impression wherever he went.
On the ice, Don was the most prolific goal scorer in 73’s history. His 136 goals in just 3 years playing for the 73’s still stands as the 73’s record for most career goals. In 1977-78,
Donny set a then league record for goals and points in a season, scoring 62 goals and 130 points. He ranks third on the 73’s all-time career points list. Donnie ws inducted to the Essex 73’s Wall of Honour in its inaugural year, 2022.
For all the reasons above, and more, the Essex 73’s organization have acknowledged Don’s achievements as a player, and have renamed the 73’s Leading Scorer trophy in honour of him. From this day forward, the leading scorer trophy will be called the Don Chittle Memorial Trophy.