By: Daniel Vazzoler
For those who have been around the Carleton Place Canadians for a long time, Friday’s 4-0 win against the Pembroke Lumber Kings was an emotional night.
Friday marked the return of Alex Vala to the Jr. A line-up as he was called up to the team to help fill in the roster after being away from the organization for three years.
“I was definitely surprised and humbled I got to play with (Geoff) Kitt and (Peyton) Francis, they’re great role models so I just tried to keep up with them,” Vala said. “I really enjoy being back on the ice and being back in the room with the guys and back with the dynamics of the Carleton Place Canadians.”
It was a long journey back for him, Vala was drafted by the Canadians and played in nine games with the team as a 17-year-old before an injury kept him out of hockey for over a year. He returned to hockey last season, playing for the Perth Blue Wings, and earlier this season the Carleton Place Jr. Canadians of CCHL2 acquired him and he was then affiliated to the Jr. A team.
“He’ll play a lot of playoff games for us down the stretch as an AP player in Jr A,” coach Jason Clarke said. “It was really special to see him, for what he’s gone through, and he’s just a great kid who comes from a great family. It was a really great story, we presented him with the game puck with his game-winning goal and it was a real special moment for us.”
It didn’t take long for Vala to get that goal as he converted on a Lumber King turnover just 11:21 into the first period. Joshua Gagne came in from his spot on the blue-line and stole the puck along the boards and tried to slip it to Vala in the slot. A diving Jacob Kamps deflected the puck, but not enough to get it away from Vala who beat Jake Smith with a wrist shot high and tight over the goalie’s shoulder.
“It was like a monkey off my back, it had been three years since I was on the ice (with this team), definitely some ups-and-downs and just to be able to come out, get the first goal, it was definitely a relief and I was just so happy,” Vala said.
Sam Knoblauch added to the Canadians lead with a power play goal in the second period – finishing off a lovely passing play that left Smith sprawling about in his crease – before a pair of defencemen struck in the third period.
Noah Tooke beat Smith with a wrist shot that eluded the Lumber Kings goaltender and Aidan Girduckis added another power play goal two minutes later as he squeezed his shot between the body and the arm of Smith for the 4-0 lead.
“We played really well, it was the first full 60 minutes we’ve played since the Christmas break,” Clarke said of his team’s performance. “It was also good to see our Tier 2 call-ups played really well and contributed to the win. Just goes to show our club system is working and it was good to see those kids play well.”
Along with Vala, Reece Bolton, James Lister and Cameron Patton were also inserted into Friday’s line-up.
Meanwhile, in the Canadians net, Jeremie Forget picked up his league-leading fifth shut-out of the season with a 20-save performance.
“Jeremie had a little bit of an off-game last game (on Sunday) but we know he’s going to come back strong,” Canadians captain Geoff Kitt said. “He’s the best goalie in the league by far, so we trust him every night – and we trust (Michael) Leach every night – and that’s a big part of defence. It was really nice to see him bounce back and it was good defence too by the boys tonight.”
Carleton Place resumes action on Sunday when it hosts the Cornwall Colts for an afternoon meeting. The Canadians have 11 games remaining on the schedule and are closing in on a fifth consecutive regular season title. They currently have a seven-point lead over the Ottawa Jr. Senators who also have 11 games left to play.
