BACK IN FIRST

The GFW Cataracts moved back into first place in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League after picking up 3 out of a possible 4 points ovre the weekend.  Friday night saw the Cataracts drop a disappointing 5-4 decision to the visiting Mount Pearl Blades in a shootout. The Cataracts held a 4-2 lead in the 3rd period before the Blades came back with two late goals to force the shoot-out.  Scoring for the Cataracts were Brandon Nicholas, Andre Gill, Cody Roach and Matt Quinn.  Mark Roebothan had 2 goals and 2 assists for the visiting team with Andrew Pearcey and Chris Morrison adding singles.

Saturday night saw a much feistier Cataracts squad bounce back with a 5-2 win over the Eastlink Ceebee Stars in a rematch of last season’s Herder Final.  The home side got goals from Wes Welcher, Coady Roach, Martin Lapointe, who also had 2 assists, Andrew Brennan and Steve Pearson.  Scoring for the Ceebee Stars were Mattew Thomey and Mark Tobin.

The three point weekend gives the Cataracts 14 points one ahead of the 2nd place Clarenville Caribous. All teams have now played 8 games. The Cataracts next action will be this weekend Dec 3&4 in Corner Brook against the Royals.

CATARACTS TAKE SOLE POSSESSION OF FIRST PLACE

The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts moved into first place in the NSHL after taking 3 out of a possible 4 points against the visiting Clarenville Caribous over the weekend. The two teams were tied for first place with 8 points apeice after starting the season with identical 4-0 records. On Saturday night the teams were tied 3-3 after regulation before the Caribous picked up the extra point by winning the shoot-out. The visiting team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Steve Yetman and Andrew Sweetland. The Cataracts responded with goals from Andrew Brennan and Wes Welcher to pull even. The teams traded third period goals, Brennan getting his second for the Cats and Chris Hulit for Clarenville setting the stage for the shoot-out. Hulit and Dale Sullivan scored for the Caribous in the shoot-out with Martin Lapointe getting the lone marker for the Cats.

Sunday was a much different affair with the home team bouncing back with a convincing 6-1 win over the visitors. The two points for the regulation time victory moved the Cataracts back in first place, one point ahead of Clarenville. Wes Welcher got things started for the home side in the 1st period with a power-play goal. Martin Lapointe got his first goal of the season before the period was over, also on a power-play. Andre Gill and Brandon Nicholas added goals for the Cats in the second giving the team a 4-0 cushion heading to the third. Steve Yetman got the Caribous within three mid-way through the third but Steve Pearson but the game away with an empty net goal. Chris Thorne finshed the scoring with a last minute goal for the Cats.  Martin Lapointe had a productive game for the home side with three assists to go along with his first period goal.  Hometown goaltender A.J. Whiffen had a strong outing in his first start in Senior Hockey stopping 38 of 39 shots, many in spectacular fashion.

The Cataracts are off this weekend and return to action on Friday Nov 25th against the Mt. Pearl Blades and Saturday Nov 26th against the Conception Bay Ceebee Stars. Both these games will be played at the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium.

Cataracts Off to A Great Start

The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts continued their recent winning ways with a pair of victories over the Corner Brook Royals during a visit to the West Coast city this past weekend. Combined with their opening weekend sweep of the Mt. Pearl Blades (10-2  & 6-4) at home the Cataracts are now a perfect 4-0 to start the season. The Cataracts took the opener in Corner Brook Saturday night by a score of 4-0. Mitch Oake opened the scoring for the Cats in the 1st period. Tyler Whitehead got the first of his two goals on the night in the 2nd. Brandon Nicholas put the game away in the 3rd before Whitehead finished things off with an empty net goal.  Mark Yetman was outstanding in picking up his first shutout of the year making a number of difficult saves to keep the Royals off the scoreboard.

Sunday afternoon’s game proved to be a much closer, back and forth affiar that wasn’t decided until the dying seconds. Scott Doody started things off for the Royals with a shorthanded goal in the 1st before the Cats responded with a shorthanded marker of their own on a terrific solo effort by Matt Quinn. The Royals re-took the lead thanks to a goal by Justin Barbour before goals by Cody Roach and Wes Welcher put the Cats out in front. The Royals tied things up late on a power-play goal by newcomer Jordan Bonneville and the game seemed headed for a shoot-out until Cataract defencman Mike Brent ended things in dramatic fashion with just 4.4 seconds remaining on the clock giving the Cataracts a hard fought fought 4-3 victory.

The Cataracts next action will be at home on Saturday Nov 12 & Sunday Nov 13 when they host the also 4-0 Clarenville Caribous. Any remaining tickets for those games can be purchased at Grants Sports Excellence, Brides Snack Bar or the Cataracts Ticket Table in the Exploits Valley Mall.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING TICKET SALES

Important information about holding seats.

We realize there may be some getting used to picking up your tickets early this year however ticket sales .
Please note that anyone who would like to purchase their tickets for the remainder of the season can do so by contacting
the stadium box office or recreation department at 489-0450. We would like to inform you our valued fans the importance of picking up tickets at the designated holding seat times for the remainder of the season. Starting NEXT MONDAY and continuing for the remainder of the season, any Holding Seat tickets not purchased at the designated times  will  be available to the General Public at Grant’s Sports Excellence, Brides Snack Bar and at the Cataracts Christmas ticket table in the Exploits Valley Mall.

NOTE: THE STADIUM BOX OFFICE WILL BE OPEN AT THE USUAL TIME TONIGHT (THURS, NOV 3RD) FROM 7-9PM FOR THIS WEEK ONLY

Thank you
Cataracts Management

CATARACTS SIGN TWO MORE

The Cataracts hockey club has announced that two more players have signed with the team . Local junior age defencman Scott Cantwell has joined the senior squad this year. Scott got his first taste of senior action with the Cats last year doing a great job filling in when the team was shorthanded for a few games.  Also officially signing with the team for this season is former Mt. Pearl Blade, Cory Blackmore. Cory attended the Cataracts pre-season training camp and impressed the coaching staff with his work ethic combined with plenty of talent. Both players are expected to make the trip to Corner Brook this weekend.

DSI MARK YETMAN MASK CONTEST

Congratulations to Tyler Whiffen and Kaitlyn Dwyer the winners of the DSI Mark Yetman Mask Design Contest. Here is the final product.

TWO RECENT ADDITIONS

The Cataracts Hockey Club is pleased to announce the addition of Grand
Falls-Windsor native A.J. Whiffen to the roster for the 2011-12 season.
Although unavailable opening weekend, A.J. will travel to Corner Brook with the
team next weekend to take on the Royals.  The Cataracts have also signed former
Mount Pearl Blade forward Steven Pearson.

OPENING WEEKEND LINE-UP

The following players are scheduled to dress for the Cataracts during this weekend’s two game home stand against the visiting Mount Pearl Blades. The team is excited to have it’s core of players back from last year’s championship squad along with the addition of newcomers Chris Peach and Chris Thorne and the return of former Cataract Mitch Oake.  Matt Vaters, from Grand Falls-Windsor, will back up Mark Yetman in goal for this weekend. Matt Quinn will be unavailable this weekend due to prior work commitments. Quinn will join the team in Corner Brook next weekend.

CATARACTS PRE-SEASON ROSTER

The following is a list of players on the GFW Cataracts pre-season roster. These are the players who will be attending camp this weekend with the exception of those with prior commitments and are marked with an asterisk.

GOALIES:

Greg Bursey , Mark Yetman

DEFENCE:

Mike Brent, Scott Cantwell, Tim Greene, Greg Hoffe, Sam Hounsell,  Martin Lapointe,  Brad Lewis, Brad Rice, Nick Theriault*

CENTRES:

Cory Blackmore, Mitch Oake*, Steve Pearson, Matt Quinn, Wes Welcher, Tyler Whitehead

LEFT WING:

Andrew Brennan, Jeremy Bishop, Nathan Mitchell, Brandon Nicholas, Cody Roach, Chris Thorne*

RIGHT WING:

Chad Earle, Andre Gill, Chris Peach, Mason Reid, Mike Roberts, Mike Sibley

OPENING WEEKEND TICKET SALES

Ticket sales for fans with Holding Seats will go on sale this Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 18/19 at the Joe Byrne Box Office from 7-9 each evening. Any unsold tickets will be available to the General Public on Thursday, Oct 20th from 7-9pm. Tickets are $14 each. Don’t miss out on all the excitement of the Opening Weekend. Proir to Saturday night’s game, the Cataracts will hold a special ceremony to unveil their Herder Banner from last season.