(pictured - with a pair of OT-winners, Burlington Cougars defenceman Matt Watson was Ron's choice as West Division Player of the Week - photo credit: Hark Nijjar/OJHL Images)

First the results from the Showcase held Monday through Wednesday in Trenton...

MONDAY- Two West Division clubs at opposite ends of the Divisional spectrum clashed first with the result being a predictable 10-1 win for the Raiders over the IceHawks. Two goals each for Jake Payette, Colin Rigney, Matt McJannet and Jordan Anderson plus singletons to Jack Jacome and Matt Thom. 68 shots on goal by Georgetown. Derek McVey had the Milton marker. The Raiders scored six unanswered in the second period. Orangeville fought back from a 3-1 deficit against St. Michael's by scoring two early in the third only to have the Buzzers score three more for the 6-3 victory. Evan Stull, Rocco Andreacchi and Zack Lyons had the goals for the Flyers. Burlington's Matt Watson became the first blueliner to reach the 20 goal mark this season and it was a big one in overtime as the Cougars beat their QEW rivals- the Oakville Blades 3-2. Austin Bottrell and Max Balinson staked Burlington to a 2-0 lead before the Blades' captain Jackson Bales got one shorthanded and another on the powerplay to send the game into extra time.

TUESDAY- A goal by former Oakville Blade Oliver Benwell meant that the Flyers got just the single point in their 4-3 double overtime loss to the Patriots. Andreacchi again, Liam Winslow and Nick Stuckless had the Orangeville scores. Burlington ran into penalty problems in their match with the Sabres and they gave up their 3-1 lead after two periods en route to a 5-3 triumph for Buffalo. Cougars' captain Chris Cobham and Matt Buchbinder exchanged first period goals then Matt Kenney (number 24 for him) and Tyler Riter found the net in the second frame. Matt Stanek, with his first, Adam Tretowicz, Ryan Cox (the winner) and Erik Urbank into the empty Cougar cage scored the other goals for the Junior Sabres. Just like Sunday in Milton the IceHawks found themselves 6-1 down to the Mississauga Chargers but this time there would be no miracle comeback with the club going down 8-2. Justin Paul and Aryan Jusenowski had the Milton markers.

WEDNESDAY- The Junior Sabres got behind 3-0 to North York and could not recover, losing 5-2. Jared Murray (his first) and Erik Urbank (number 17) had their goals. The run of 11 straight wins came to an end for Georgetown with the Blades' Tyler Hilderbrandt scoring in the final frame in the 3-2 game. Oakville took a 2-0 lead in the first, there was no scoring in the second but Josh Dickinson and Keegan Blasby got the Raiders even early in the third..but no further.

and now for the rest of the story (week)...

The GEORGETOWN RAIDERS were looking to start another win streak Friday night in Burlington. What a game this was, played in front of the biggest crowd of the season at the Appleby arena. The Cougars Mario Cavaliere made 37 saves and the Raiders' Josh Astorino 34 in the 0-0 regulation. Two top teams putting their best skates forward made this an exciting contest from start to finish, both teams deserved the single point in this onebut in the overtime it would be the Matt Watson show as the fleet-footed defenseman had three chances to end it. On the first one he hit the goalpost, on his second he ended up in the Georgetown net, but not the puck and on the third he put a wrist shot home high for the winner. Saturday night at the Alcott Nick Latinovich saved 34 Orangeville shots for his third clean sheet in seven games as the Raiders topped the Flyers 5-0. The home side fired 62 at the visiting 'keeper Nathan Torchia. Jack Jacome got things rolling with his 25th. just a minute and a half into this one, Jake Payette made it 2-0 with 25 seconds left in the first frame. Jon Hampton, Matthew Thom and Colin Rigney also found the back of the net for the winners. Just one game upcoming this week for the Division leaders and it's a trip to Port Credit to play the Chargers.

The BURLINGTON COUGARS hosted the West Division game of the week against the Raiders (see recap above). Despite their great season they trail the first-place club by seventeen points. It looks almost certain they they will finish as the third seed in the South/West Conference. No home game this week for the Cougars but they have a couple on the road in Whitby Friday and the Patriots on Saturday. The last two weeks of the regular season see them playing six home games.

The BUFFALO JUNIOR SABRES were in Milton Friday night and were all out to gain a 4-3 extra time win. They took a 1-0 lead on Aaron Reinig's goal. After the IceHawks had taken a 2-1 lead in the second Cameron Radziwon could not convert a penalty shot and they fell behind by two in the third before Erik Urbank's eighteenth tally of the season made it a one goal game and Adam Tretowicz's 17th. sent the contest into overtime where Anthony Hora's powerplay goal from Urbank and Tretowicz gave the Juniors the hard-fought win. Sunday evening they hosted the Panthers of Pickering an it looked like they would rack up a large score with three in the second in under a minute and a half from Tretowicz, Radziwon and in his second game from Matt Barbolini but they would be all their scoring as the visitors got two late in the game. In the upcoming week just one Buffalo contest away to the North York Rangers.

The ORANGEVILLE FLYERS were in tough at the Alcott Saturday night really needing a couple of points to have any hopes of staying in the South/West Conference playoff race but they could not cope with the Raiders losing 5-0. Three games this week upcoming in Mississauga Friday, at home to Milton Saturday and then at the J.C's Sunday.

The MILTON ICEHAWKS just playing out the string were back 'out East' Thursday night at the Invista Centre in Kingston. With only 12 skaters dressed they put up a plucky performance but in the end it was a 7-3 game in favour of the home side. Nick Leshuk, Justin Paul and Aryan Jusenowski were on target. At home to the Sabres in the 4-3 OT defeat they had scores from Thomas Maia and Jusenowski in the second and Brett McInall in the third. Both of the IceHawks goals Sunday afternoon came with the team playing shorthanded- Paul and Maia. Final 7-2 Buzzers. Three more this week at home to the Patriots Friday, In Orangeville Saturday and in St. Michael's for the rematch Sunday.

Player of the week is the Cougars' defenseman MATT WATSON who had two overtime winners against two top teams and added a pair of assists. Mark leads all blueliners with 21 goals and is third overall with 42 points. Second star is shared by goalies MARIO CAVALIERE of the Cougars and the Raiders' JOSH ASTORINO who combined for 71 saves, many of the really difficult variety in Friday night's contest in Burlington. The focus on goalkeepers remains with the third star Georgetown's 'keeper NICHOLAS LATINOVICH who recorded his third shutout this season. Honourable mention goes to the Buffalo rookie ERIK URBANK who posted three goals and two assists and has become a real leader on this team.

The West Division Week-in-Review is written by longtime Hamilton Junior hockey supporter and OJHL website contributor Ron Valentine. Follow Ron on twitter - @ronandlynda