News

MARKHAM, ON - OCT 27, 2017: Ontario Junior Hockey League game between the Markham Royals and the Stouffville Spirit, Zach Sheedy #19 of the Markham Royals skates after the puck during the first period.

Written By: Rino Mattucci      Photo by Andy Corneau / OJHL Images

MARKHAM, ON: After a win and loss in their back-to-back weekend against Stouffville and Toronto, the Markham Royals (10-6-1-1) return to their home ice for a pair of games this weekend when they host the Newmarket Hurricanes (10-5-3-0) on Friday night and the St. Michaels Buzzers (8-12-2-0) on Sunday afternoon.

The Royals are coming off a tough 8-5 loss at the hands of a very good Patriots team, who hold the best record in the OJHL, and now get to take on a Hurricanes squad that has a similar record to the Royals and is in contention for the top spot in the North Division. In their last meeting on Oct 22, the Royals were in the midst of a 7-game unbeaten streak defeating the Canes 4-2 in Newmarket. Bain Cunningham and Braedyn Aubin each had three points in the game, extending their point streaks which for Aubin has now reached 8 games (3 goals, 14 points).

Newmarket enters Friday night’s game with a one point advantage over the Royals for top spot in the Division, both teams with 18 games played, they’ve have struggled to score, but their lack of production has been masked by their defensive play which has allowed just 38 goals against, the lowest total in the entire OJHL. By contrast, the Royals have scored almost twice as many goals, but have given up almost twice as much.

For St. Michaels, it’s been an up and down season with a very young squad that finds themselves in a very difficult South Division, after starting the season 6-4-2-0, the Buzzers have gone 2-8-0-0 in their last 10 games. They’re lead by Markham native Cameron Searles, who is in his 4th season with the Buzzers and leads the team in scoring with 23 points in 22 games.

Game time on Friday night is 7:30pm and Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm, both at the Markham Centennial Community Centre.

Player Watch
Royals - #19 Zach Sheedy - another member of the Royals who has been collecting points on the regular, Sheedy has been registered on the score sheet in 5 straight games, and in 9 of his last 10 games (4 goals and 13 points).

Past Results
VS Newmarket - 10/22/17    Markham 4 at Newmarket 2

This is the first and only meeting of the season between St. Michaels and Markham.

By the Numbers

Record
Markham - 10-6-1-1
Newmarket - 10-5-3-0
St. Michaels - 8-12-2-0

Goals For / Goals Against
Markham - 77 / 68
Newmarket - 48 / 38
St. Michaels - 54 / 81

Special Teams (PP / PK)
Markham - 11 for 79 (13.9%) / 15 for 81 (81.5%)
Newmarket - 14 for 79 (17.7%) / 7 for 61 (88.5%)
St. Michaels - 15 for 107 (14.0%) / 18 for 76 (76.3%)