The Picton Pirates sailed into Port Hope Friday to kick off the 2024-25 Provincial Junior Hockey League. It was a night of firsts for the local squad.

First off, the Pirates won, spoiling the Panthers’ home opener 5-3. Picton gave up an early goal but bounced back at the midway point of the first and scored twice in a span of 91 seconds to gain a lead they would never relinquish.

Second, three Pirates scored their first goals as Picton Patcheyes. Trevor Brooks and Nolan Rosebush scored their first PJHL goals while freshman defender Will Potts wasted little time getting his first as a Pirate. The Tweed native joined Picton after 26 games last season with the Napanee Raiders.

Finally, it was the first junior hockey win for both Picton bench boss Jamie Lane and General Manager Allan Etmanski.

The first period at Jack Burger Sports Complex could have been described as acts of brotherly love. Port Hope’s Andrew Eriksson set up big brother Spencer Eriksson at 3:20 to put the Cats ahead early.

But at the 10:30 mark, Trevor Brooks banged home a Cole Lavender feed to square the affair at 1-1. Also assisting on Picton’s first goal of the season was big brother and Pirates Captain Zack Brooks.

At 12:02, Mr. Potts converted a Rheydan McCoy pass to put Picton ahead to stay at 2-1.

In the second, Cole Lavender got his first, blasting a power play goal at 1:50 to make it a 3-1 lead. Luc Amat and Owen Findlay picked up assists on the man advantage marker.

The Pirates were going full steam ahead in the second and had a number of chances to extend their lead but Brayden Freidrich foiled the Picton shooters.

Nearing the end of the second, Oz Paziuk would fire home a goal from the blue line to get the hosts back into the contest.

But in the third, the Pirates pushed on.

Mr. Findlay cashed in his first of the year thanks to helpers from Gerrit Kempers and Kaleb Baldwin at 11:08.

But the Panthers pushed back on the next shift and Dailen Fousek beat Pirates starter Nolan Lane at 11:49 to bring Port Hope to within a goal.

With Mr. Freidrich pulled for an extra attacker, Mr. Rosebush would find a home in the yawning Panthers cage to salt the game away for Picton and make it a 5-3 final. In his first PJHL action since Game 5 of the Tod Semi Finals in the 2022 Playoffs, Mr Lane made 40 stops for the Pirates.

The game was delayed for quite some time as a Port Hope Panther suffered a significant injury in the first minute of play.

“It was an unconventional start, but I thought the guys handled the nerves and the delay well. Nolan Lane was great. He gave us some huge stops in the second period and some of the younger guys really made the most of the opportunities they got,” said Mr. Etmanski.

Picton travels to Napanee on Friday night for a game against the Raider and then chart a course north on Saturday to the hills of Apsely and a contest against the North Kawartha Knights.

Both the Knights and the Lakefield Chiefs have relocated to the Tod Division this season in a PJHL realignment aimed at balancing the number of teams per division.

ON BOARD WITH THE PIRATES: Both Zack Brooks and Mr. Amat nursed injuries through the preseason but were fit to make their debut on Friday…Picton went with Aiden Treverton, Zack Brooks, Parker Mattis, Cole Lavender and Nic McGrayne as their overage players…The PJHL is allowing teams to sign one player with Jr. A or Major Junior experience as one of their overage selections. The Aliston Hornets made a big splash, signing Jacob Holmes who has five years of OHL experience and was drafted by Dallas in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL entry draft.