Series Recap: Pickering vs Stouffville (Round 2)

The Pickering Panthers and Stouffville Spirit met in round 2 of the Buckland Cup Playoffs.

Pickering jumped out to end early series lead but it ended up being a tightly contested series between the 2 teams.

Game 6:

Stouffville Spirit 2 at Pickering Panthers 4 - Status: Final
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 - Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex

Stouffville 2 0 0 - 2
Pickering 0 0 4 - 4

1st Period-1, Stouffville, Martineau 4 (Armstrong, Corte), 1:14 (PP). 2, Stouffville, Windle 2 (Saroglou), 2:08. Penalties-Ferroni Pic ((minor) hooking), 1:06; Radley Sto ((minor) holding), 6:18; Armstrong Sto ((minor) roughing), 12:58.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-served by Windle Sto ((minor) delay of game), 2:59; Radley Sto ((minor) interference), 9:59; Boyle Sto ((minor) tripping), 11:44; Ferroni Pic ((minor) hooking), 15:28.

3rd Period-3, Pickering, Protopapas 3 (Indovina, Ciarallo), 5:04. 4, Pickering, Key 3 (Dean), 7:24. 5, Pickering, Ciarallo 2 (Indovina, Secko), 19:28. 6, Pickering, Key 4   19:31 (EN). Penalties-Secko Pic ((minor) slashing), 2:34; Breckles Sto ((minor) slashing), 9:06; Kavc Pic ((minor) slashing), 9:06; Demiglio Sto ((minor) interference), 9:41; Dean Pic ((minor) boarding), 11:33; Saroglou Sto ((minor) illegal equipment), 14:22; McKee Sto (inciting an opponent), 19:31; Armstrong Sto ((game misc.) disrespectful and abusive behavior), 19:34; Smith Sto (inciting an opponent), 19:34; Street Sto ((minor + gm, (major + gm) fighting) instigator/aggressor, (major + gm) fighting), 19:34; Kavc Pic ((major + gm) fighting), 19:34.

Shots on Goal-Stouffville 7-8-13-28. Pickering 18-10-14-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Stouffville 1 / 4; Pickering 0 / 8.
Goalies-Stouffville, Sabourin (41 shots-38 saves). Pickering, Sciere (28 shots-26 saves).
A-276
Referees-Andrew Thompson, Steve Sidey.
Linesmen-Mitchell Pulla, -.

Transcript

Thomas West 0:24

Well, fresh off a sweep over the Wellington Dukes, the Pickering Panthers came in with all the momentum in the world in this series against the Stowville Spirit. And it was a little bit of a different format in this series. Game one was in Stowville, and then two games at home for the Pickering Panthers. So after they came away with a 3-1 victory in the first game of the series, it gave the Panthers a big advantage in this matchup. Just about set for puck drop between the Pickering Panthers and Stoville Spirit game two. The Pickering Panthers leading the series one to nothing. The Stoville Spirit, the higher speed, although just got the one game at home and then two games here in Pickering and the Panthers winning game one on the road. Jack Dean saying before the game, that was a boost in momentum for them. Buck comes back to the point now. Marco Castante run over there by Jacob Martino. Individa takes the buck back. The Panthers gone gold collected amongst the chaos and late three-nothing. And that will do it. And Anthony Cherry knocks the net down and gets the shutout. A four-nothing victory. Sherry was excellent. The Pickering Panthers as a team rock solid, and they take a 2-0 serious lead in this best of seven over Stoville. Well, welcome to Pickering, Ontario. Thomas West here. Tonight it's the well, I shouldn't say today, it's the Pickering Panthers in Stoville Spirit, a 3-30 puck drop between these two teams for game three of the series. Pickering leading the series two to nothing and looking to take a stranglehold on this series, go up 3-0 against the Stoville Spirit before they play two home games in Stoville for game four and game five. So, the turning point in this series might have been game one. So we had general manager Sean Myers on the show, and I asked him what was kind of the turning point in round one against the Wellington Dukes for Pickering. And he said, he thought about it a little bit, but said maybe winning the first game on the road. Well, that happened to be game one for the Pickering Panthers, and they won it. And you could see that the pressure of game two may have got to the Stoville Spirit just a little bit, knowing that they have to play two consecutive games on the road. But now if you're Stoville, I mean you have nothing to lose, I guess, except the series. 2-0 series lead for the Panthers. And I just feel that there's kind of a growing sentiment around the Stoville Spirit right now that is they're not playing their best hockey. Stoville was playing their best hockey early in the season. Like Stoville kind of dominated this matchup in the regular season between these two teams. Just hasn't been the case so far in the first two games. And you know, I almost just wonder if it comes down to what happened in that series against the St. Mike's Buzzers. So Stoville did end up winning that series, but they won in six games. They were the much higher seed. It was a two versus seven seed. And they kind of had to pull a rabbit out of their hat just to win in game six, right? They got that late goal in the third period and then a really late goal with just over 30 seconds to go to win the hockey game. I mean, that game six could have gone another way, and they might have had to play game seven. So I just feel like Stowville thinks that they're not playing their best game. But if they were playing the way they played the Pickering Panthers in the regular season, I think Pickering would have a lot more trouble. But last game, Pickering was just kind of able to operate, and you know, they they stayed in their structure in their defensive zone. They were once again really good on the four check. And you know, I don't remember thinking that Pickering was going to be able to have so much success on the four check. Like when you look back to the beginning of this series and how much better the Stoville Spirit are on paper than the Wellington Dukes, wouldn't have predicted that this is the way that this series would go. Um, Anthony Sherry, excellent once again between the pipes. Uh that was his shutout that he picked up. He's done that twice now in the playoffs and that that 4-0 winning game, too. Uh they got a first goal from Tyler Bruce. It was just a beautiful toe drag. Uh the game was pretty much over at that point. The Panthers, uh, that was the fourth goal, and the Panthers end up winning the hockey game 4-0. So this is, to say the least, a crucial game for the Stoville Spirit. Last game was big because they wanted to get some redemption for losing the first game at home. This game is critical. I think this series is over if the Pickering Panthers end up winning this game today. But you better believe the Stowville Spirit know that, and they will need to win this game three in Pickering tonight before heading back home to Stowville. Alright, joined now by Tyler Bruce. Tyler, uh 2-0 lead in the series for you guys. Obviously, that's a critical game. Just what do you guys need to do tonight and maybe keep doing to take that 3-0 seriously?

SPEAKER_06 5:41

Yeah, I mean it would be obviously it'd be very good to put them on a toe bolt here. Um I think we just stick to what we've been doing. Uh sticking to the little thing, getting fucked deep. Uh winning the walls, then uh we should be good here.

Thomas West 5:52

Tyler, you know, I look at a player like you, so young, you still got your whole career in front of you. Do you ever like take a step back and think how valuable playoff experience like this could be to you in the future?

SPEAKER_06 6:02

Yeah, it is. It's super special. Um, it's been so fun so far, and uh I just can't wait to keep playing.

Thomas West 6:10

That was the voice of the Panthers forward Tyler Bruce, who ended up putting away the 4-0 goal to seal the deal for the Pickering Panthers back in game two. So, how about this? The Panthers, being the lower seed, have taken a 2-0 series lead. One game in Stowville, one game in Pickering. And then they come into game three. And this, I will say, was probably the strangest game that these two teams played this series. And you'll find out why. First period, no scoring. Second period, no scoring, but the Panthers started a trend that they didn't really like going forward in this series, where they took a ton of penalties in that second period, but they were able to kill it off every single time. Panthers captain Charlie Key weighed in on that. He was a big part of that penalty kill. Alright, joined now by Charlie Key. Charlie, man, a lot happened in that second period. The penalty kill was great. You guys took a lot of penalties. Just what do you make of that second period? Yeah, uh obviously you said a lot was going on. Um we just need to keep our composure and we'll be alright. Uh the penalty kill, I know that's something that you've been a big part of for the last couple of seasons. Do you guys take pride in just being able to kill off penalties so much in a game?

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Yeah, I mean, Brazilian group we have like blocking shots, and killing ponies is such a hard thing to do, and for us to be so good at it, it's it's special and we do so much work on it in video and stuff like that. So for it to work out there, it's really good to see.

Thomas West 7:38

As the leader of this team, when you have a game that's so chaotic with so few goals, you know, what's your message to your team when you go back in the locker room here?

SPEAKER_04 7:46

Yeah, uh, like I said, just keep your composure. Um don't get too high, don't get too low, and and and and do the right things, and we'll uh we'll come out with this one. All right, thanks, Charlie. Good luck in the third. Thank you.

Thomas West 7:57

So tied, nothing nothing, going into the third period, and then with five minutes to go, the Stoville Spirit struck first. Logan Stitlani has the puck now, just over five minutes to go in the third period. Long pass ahead. That finds Hudson. I'm sure he's got D'Amilio driving right to the goal. He's gone. Lucas D'Amilio gets the opening goal of the hockey game with five minutes to go in the third. That's the second breakaway of the third game for D'Amilio who's got the block of the editor. Lotta believe. They've done it up a play. And they have one more chance. The cross bar. And Stoville gets a tell the ice and misses that three seconds. I think that hit the crossbar behind Hayden Soberin. Back to Castante who spins and doesn't have a chance to let it fly. And the game will end. The Stoville Spirit have got one game back at the Pickering Recreation Complex. They win a tightly contested hockey game with lots of drama on either side. One to nothing. So a bizarre 1-0 loss for the Panthers and the Stouville Spirit have life. So this series heads back to Stowville for game four with the Panthers leading the series two to one. And Pickering could really use a win to try and take the momentum back. At this point, they were expecting to win this series with how they saw their team play in the first couple games against Stowville. And there was one player on the Pickering Panthers that I thought was just a little bit snake-bitten, but seemed to really deserve a goal. Or maybe two. That was Angelo Proto-Pappas. So Proto-Pappas was one of the guys that hadn't found the score sheet on the goal scoring side of things yet, but was doing the little things well. Take you back to round one when Evan Elliott had this to say about his teammate.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yeah, he's playing amazing, he's working hard, he's doing the little things right. Um he's definitely a key key factor and player on this team, but um all the players together working hard will do great.

Thomas West 10:21

And eventually the little things paid off. And this is what Angelo Protopapas did in game four.

SPEAKER_09 10:29

Face off in Stoville territory on the draw. So the visitors go up two to one at the 535 mark.

Thomas West 11:30

And the Panthers would go on to win the game on the back of the two Angelo Proto-Papas goals. So they have the Stowville Spirit on the brink of elimination, leading the series three to one. So I think this would be a good time to mention that both teams have a lot of overagers on their roster. Players that are born in 2005. And for any of these overagers, losing this series would mean the end of their junior hockey career. So, on the side of the Stoville Spirit, there's one particular overager that hadn't played in this series. In fact, Zach Corte was injured in a game on February 22nd of this year and had not suited up for the Stoville Spirit since. Who knows if he was really ready to come back or if the Stoville Spirit were not on the brink of elimination if today would have been the day that he came back. But Zach Corte, the Stoville Spirit captain, re-entered the lineup in this game. And it did not look like the Stoville Spirit overagers wanted to be eliminated today.

SPEAKER_09 12:36

Points entered rinkwhite. Sitlani dodges one check over on the far side. Chavez back to Sitlani. Over for Armstrong, quick shot through traffic, hooked up against the Jacob Martin.

SPEAKER_08 13:39

Well, I talked to Zach before we went to war, they went to warm-up. I said, How you feeling? You got some goals in that stick? And he goes, Oh, you know it.

Thomas West 13:45

So that's kind of a nice story on the side of a Stoville spirit. Zach Cortez's goal in his first game back since February 22nd ends up being the game winner. And if you're the Pickering Panthers, you're okay with this situation. You're going back home with two chances to win the series, either game six or game seven back in Stowville. But obviously the focus will be on game six and pickering. Well, you would have been okay with that if what happened in the final 13 seconds of the game were reversed. This was the worst possible way game five could have ended for Pickering.

SPEAKER_09 14:24

In Stowville territory, they bump and bang there. Puck comes free, they can't get it out. Puck now out to center ice, and key goes back. 15 seconds left. Now we get one of the Pickering players knocked down in front. Is that oh boy? He gets uh Coscati reaching for his knee in Stovville territory. And oh boy, you don't like to see that.

SPEAKER_08 14:52

He's not any kind of comfort. No, he's in a great deal of pain right now. It's just they got tied up as the breakout was happening, and I don't know, his knee got twisted up, and that's that's never good.

Thomas West 15:06

That was something that was really tough to watch for the Pickering Panthers. And remember, losing the game ends your junior career. Getting injured at this stage of the playoffs pretty severely also ends your junior career. So right now, everyone is hoping that Marco Castante can get back as soon as possible, and the Panthers can keep winning so that Marco Castante can play another game in his junior career. Maybe something the Pickering Panthers can rally behind going forward. But from a personnel standpoint, this was the last person that the Pickering Panthers wanted to have out of the lineup. Already missing Michael Levine and Hayden Shaw, two big defensemen, the Panthers did not need any more injuries on the defensive side of things. Now they were down to Kyle Secko, Devin Ferroni, Sam Etier, and Irvin Lang as the only regular defensemen still in the lineup for game six. So Pickering was gonna need to use two APs just to fill out their lineup for the sixth game of this series. This is a game of the best of seven series. They would end up three seed, and they would have a three two series lead on the store and around you. They would take that. This is the opportunity to win the series tonight. The Pickering Panthers do not want to see this game. So this on an afternoon in Pickering, Ontario, at thir at 330 pop drop is going to be probably the biggest game of the series for both the Pickering Panthers and the Stoville spirit here today. Alright, joined now by Coach Connor Armor. Coach uh I just want to kind of start with the positives maybe of this series. If I told you at the beginning of the season that you're gonna be here in game six for the 3-2 series lead against Stoville, like would that be a situation that you guys would be happy with?

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Yeah, absolutely. We've talked about that as a group. Uh it's a lot about perspective, and uh, you know, we're still in a good spot and uh just have to look after business today and then and get to our game right away and stay on top of them and not give some time and space. Um but going back to your point, yeah, we we would have signed up for that all day long.

Thomas West 19:44

Okay, just just on Marco Costante, you know, I know he's out of the lineup tonight, a guy that was playing really big minutes for you guys. Like, what's kind of the impact of not having him in the lineup space?

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Yeah, those those are obviously big shoes to fill. Uh obviously he's like a lot of minutes here, but uh we're confident in uh in our uh depth on the back end and up front in the net as well, so um it just allows more ice time for someone else. And obviously, we got a couple APs in lineup tonight that we're expecting to jump into some big roles, so um, it's an opportunity for guys that you know maybe want it more throughout the regular season of playoffs here to take advantage of it and run with it. Um but like I said, obviously he's uh he's a big piece, and uh you know we're we're playing this one for him.

Thomas West 20:26

You guys gotta win one of the next two games to win this series. How much do you see tonight as the game that that you gotta win to win this series?

SPEAKER_03 20:34

I mean, I mean, obviously it'd be nice, like that's that's the ideal situation, obviously if you want to do that, but they make these uh series seven games first. So uh obviously we're gonna try and do it tonight, and uh we gotta take care of our game and play the right way, but at the same hand, it's we knew coming into this this wasn't gonna be uh four or five game series, it was gonna be uh 91 credit to Solval. They played extremely well, and obviously them getting uh Corte back in the lineup is a big addition, so uh we knew this thing was gonna go the distance.

Thomas West 21:05

Uh just on last game, you guys end up losing two one. I mean, you got the late goal. I thought you guys played well late, but maybe just your assessment of that game as a whole in game five.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

Yeah, it was kind of similar to sort of game three where uh we took some penalties that was, you know, we should have taken and uh they scored two goals on the power play in the first, and after that we were trying to chase them and it's a tough team to they're they're they're pretty stingy as well, so it's a tough team to create a lot of offense. So um, you know, I think looking at this series we've given up maybe one five on five goals from our mistake, and so we talked about as a group we stay out of the box. Uh you know, I like our chances, but we have to be disciplined. Um just make sure that we're not taking uh unnecessary chances.

Thomas West 21:51

Was there a game this series that you like the best? And is there a certain level that you think your team needs to play at to to win this choice?

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Yes, I say game four. I thought it was one of our better games. I think this is some some different games. I think ultimately when you look at our teams, we're on top of playing a bossbox and we we're getting to our four check right away. That's when we're at our best. So it's about finding that for a lengthy amount of time. We're never gonna have it for 60 minutes. Uh but you hope that you can string together uh some really good segments of hockey and and build on it and and not let momentum swing too far the other way.

Thomas West 22:34

Alright, Connor, thanks for this. Good luck tonight.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Yeah, thank you.

Thomas West 22:39

Alright, joined up by Madden Diving and Madden. Just gotta start with one of your overage colleagues, obviously having Marco gets done today.

SPEAKER_06 22:53

Well, we lose a lot of uh veteran experience. I mean, really good guy, really good guy in the room.

Thomas West 22:58

And it's uh we need we see him in that phenomenality with your stuff being over injured and so many other players in the middle of the team's gonna working through instead of rattling through injury is that kind of something that you feel like the team can rally with.

SPEAKER_06 23:13

Yeah, I mean everybody's gonna deal with uh with stuff, we're dealing with stuff, they're dealing with stuff, everybody's something that everybody goes through, so you just have to learn how to play through it.

Thomas West 23:21

I think about the goal that you scored late last game, I thought you guys had a really good third period. Is there any kind of momentum that you feel like you can take from that third period last game and apply it into the game that I didn't try to end the series?

SPEAKER_06 23:33

Yeah, I mean when it's gone for the first two periods, I thought our third was a lot better than what we uh what we played like in the first kind of two games of this series, so we have momentum on our side, we know what we need to do, and we're gonna do it tonight. Alright, Matt, thanks so much for this good luck today. Thank you.

Thomas West 23:50

And if I'm being honest with you, the Pickering Panthers did not get off to a good start in this one. Just over two minutes into the game, they were down 2-0 to the Stoville spirit, and it felt like the injuries on the Pickering Panther defense were starting to show just a little bit. But then they held them down for the rest of the first period, they held them down for an entire second period, and heading into the third, this game was 2-0 Stoville. Pickering's defense, solid. Anthony Sherry, fantastic in this game. And with the injuries on the Pickering Panther side of things and Stoville looking like they had all the momentum, it did start to feel a little bit like if the Pickering Panthers lost this game, they weren't gonna win the series. So Coach Connor Armour comes into the locker room before the third period, gives a speech to the Pickering Panthers, which I imagine the message was let's win this right now. And Pickering came out with a whole nother level in this third period.

SPEAKER_10 24:53

Indovina chases a spirit defender in Daniel Chen, forces the turnover. Proto-Papus goes five on the soul and chen the trap to the nice.

Thomas West 25:20

And just like that, we have a 2-2 hockey game. So earlier we talked about overagers. On that goal by Angelo Proto-Papas, Matt Indivina, and Gabe Chirello, two overagers, assisted on the goal. Then Charlie Key, the Panthers captain, gets his third of the playoffs. He's an overager as well. All players who have the ultimate motivation to win. Let's take you to 30 seconds left in the game. And another overager, Gabe Chirello, finds himself in a scramble in front of the net.

SPEAKER_10 25:57

Picking it off at the blue line. A chance here for Smith. Smith drops it back. That's Chirello. Now it's Zecko. Zeko with space. Zecco takes a shot. Zabrin with the stop rebounds there for Indovino.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Where is it? They score! Down to nothing. I don't know where the puck was, but it was laying in the blue paint. And I believe Gabriel Trello is going to be the one to credit it and get it home.

Thomas West 26:18

That's not just the goal that won the Pickering Panthers the game in the series, but a goal that Trello would later describe as the biggest goal he's ever scored in his junior career. And then right off the ensuing face-off at center ice with the Stoville Spirit net empty, Charlie Key with a crafty face-off play to shoot the puck down into the gaping cage, and that would seal the deal. 4-2-Tanthers rattle off four unanswered goals in the third period and win the game against the Stowville Spirit. And one could only wonder what would have happened if this series had turned back to game seven in Stowville. Here's the guy who got the game-winning goal, Gabe Chirello and Panthers captain Charlie Key, the guy who scored the game tying and empty net goal for the Pickering Panthers with some post-game reaction.

SPEAKER_05 27:19

Something's gonna push through. And it did.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Penalty shot followed by a uh a penalty against Stoville. That's something I've never seen before. And of course, uh Anthony comes up big to make sure that there's uh no drama there in the last few minutes with them having to lead.

SPEAKER_05 27:34

Yeah, you know, Tony's been solid this whole series, you know. I honestly think he's probably one of the best goalies in this league. You know, he kept us in it so many, so many times. You know, I had no doubt, you know, that he was gonna make that stop. And again, you know, I haven't seen anything like that, but I mean, you know, I'm glad he made that stop and we came in on top. Felt pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Biggest goal you've ever scored in junior?

SPEAKER_05 27:51

That's probably my biggest goal I've scored in junior, yes. So far. Yeah, so far. Yeah, hopefully more to come.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

Alright, so this uh this game, this series had uh so much emotion in it. For 40 minutes, they were kind of keeping you at bay. You just needed that one goal to get back into it, and after that, there was just no stopping this Panthers team.

SPEAKER_04 28:07

Yeah, I mean we obviously we came off to a slow start, letting two goals in, but but this group we uh we never let go. We had so much belief. And and to get the first one pretty early in that third period, we had so much momentum on the bench, and then we got a couple more, and it was just the storytells itself, we just win the series, so it's it's so exciting to see.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

There had been moments throughout this series where it looks like the opposite of the regular season, the first series has been true. Those tight opportunities enclosed were not going for many periods until this third. What really seemed to sort of change it around, and now you're moving on because of it.

SPEAKER_04 28:39

Yeah, like I said, we just stuck with it. Um obviously we knew we were pressuring them and and they got a good goalie down there, so he was making some big saves, and and we got to keep traffic on him all night, and lucky enough. The bounces started going our way when we needed it the most. Yeah, um, he's been unbelievable for us all playoffs. Um best goaltender in the league, without a doubt. Um, and and for him to make that save with five minutes left on a penalty shot, it just shows the kind of character and goaltender he is. And and we we have his back, and we know that he has ours, so just to make that save, it gave us so much momentum. Uh yeah, so I was actually on the bench, and and we kind of saw it was a shot from the point that that turned into a scramble. Um, and the whole bench, no one was saying a word, and then when that puck finally scored it in, it was it was all hell broke loose on the bench, and I know the fans were going insane, and just the guys on the ice, it was so happy and had never been a part of a bench like that.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Final thing for me, even if you had dropped this one, you knew that there was going to be a game seven, but the emotion that you showed after wrapping this one up and kind of doing uh towards their bench and just letting them have it, uh something maybe just came over you think, you know what, my junior career is not ending.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

Yeah, um obviously that I've I've never been this deep in playoffs, so to win that series, it's it's so special to me, and it's so special to these guys, and to be able to lead them into the next round. Um, we have so much belief that we can we can go keep going farther and farther, so we're not gonna settle for that.

Thomas West 29:54

So it's funny how things work out in hockey. And I feel like things always seem to find a way to happen differently than you think they might happen. It certainly would have been easy to think that the Pickering Panthers would lose this game, if not the series, with their top defensemen out of the lineup and only four regular defensemen uninjured and playing in the Panthers lineup. But they still found a way to do it. Well, all of that, especially after they're down 2-0 going into the third period. But Pickering rattles off four goals in the third, and they find a way to get it done. Unbelievable. On the back of some great effort by their overrangers as well, late in that game. So that does it for this series recap between the Pickering Panthers and Stoville Spirit. The Panthers take it on home ice in game six with a 4-2 series win. Next up for the Pickering Panthers, they take on the Newmarket Hurricanes, a team that relocated that used to be the Toronto Junior Canadiens. And if you've listened to this podcast, you know that JRC has a bit of significance when it comes to the Pickering Panthers after they defeated them in their Buckland Cup win back in 2022. But now this New Market Hurricanes team found their way past the one seed in the Trenton Goldenhawks. So just like that, the Pickering Panthers now are the higher seed, and we'll start with home ice advantage in round three of the playoffs. Thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next time.