Glens hand Casselman its first loss of the season

Two of the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League's (EOJHL) best teams took to the ice in Alexandria on Saturday, December 18, when the hometown Glens faced off against the undefeated Casselman Vikings.

Casselman was seated comfortably atop the rest of the St-Lawrence Division with a record of 26-0-1-0, followed by the second-place Glens, who held a record of 20-6-0-2 prior to their Saturday night meeting at the Glengarry Sports Palace.

The early stages of the game were filled with a seemingly-endless array of penalties, with both teams falling short on numerous power play opportunities in the opening frame.

Tempers flared before the end of the first period as a flurry of fights broke out, which led to the ejection of two Alexandria players - handing Casselman a seven-minute power play to start the second period.

It didn't take long for the Vikings to take full advantage of the extra attacker as Brandon Dolegowski found the back of the net 3:52 into the period.

Alexandria's Steve Knapp would even the score with just over four minutes remaining in the middle frame, sending the hometown crowd into a frenzy.

Knapp notched his second marker of the game shortly thereafter, giving the Glens a 2-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes.

The Alexandria squad came out strong in the third period, offering up an impenetrable defensive attack, the likes of which Casselman had never seen.

With 1:15 left in the final frame, Glens leading scorer Jean-Francois Dubois broke through the Vikings defense and scored a breakaway goal, giving his team a 3-1 lead and all but securing the victory for the home team.

Knapp drew an assist on the goal, giving him points on all three of the Glens goals.

While Alexandria dominated almost every aspect of the game, the most notable statistic was in the shots on goal column, as the Glens outshot their opponents by a final margin of 50-20.

With this being their final home game of 2010, the Glens made sure to send their fans home with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts. After ending Casselman's 26-game winning streak, Alexandria's favourite boys are well on their way to making 2011 'the year of the Glens.'