Waterloo Gold Puck, Tournaments, Major Bantam, 2009-10 (Huron-Perth Lakers AAA Minor Hockey Association)

 

Waterloo Gold Puck Tournament
Waterloo, Ontario
December 11-13, 2009

 

Friday
Game 1: vs. North Bay Blades
The Lakers opened their involvement in the tournament with an early afternoon game against the North Bay Blades. The Lakers scored early in the first after Matthew McCracken (an AP from the Listowel Bantam Rep team) passed across to Mac MacSorley on the far side of the net who fired the puck into the open side, second assist to Greg Williams (see video below).

The Lakers added to their tally a minute later when Michael Siddall sprung Braydon Blight who drove down the wing and fired a shot on net. The rebound came out front to Kyle Sippel who chipped the puck in to make the score 2-0 (see video below).

The second period saw the Lakers continue to control the play and outshoot the Blades. However, the Blades would score a power play goal in the dying seconds of the period to reduce the Lakers’ lead to just a goal.

The third period started with the Lakers continuing to play hard and pressure the Blades. The Lakers were rewarded in the first 30 seconds of the period as G. Williams fed Brett Stacey at the point. Stacey moved across to open ice and then fired a shot that proved too hot for the goalie to handle, the other assist went to McCracken (see video below).

The Blades scored another power play goal later in the period to make the score close at just 3-2 for the Lakers but the Lakers were just too strong for the Blades and the final score of 3-2 saw the Lakers opening the tournament with a win.

Game 2: vs. Waterloo Wolves
Next up for the Lakers was a game against their league rival and tournament host Waterloo Wolves. The Wolves popped in a couple goals midway through the period before the Lakers responded with a goal of their own on a breakaway by Nick Castell, assists from Riley McCabe and PJ Conlon (see video below).

The Wolves scored again before the period ended to go up 3-1.

The Wolves proved to be too much for the Lakers to handle this game as they scored twice in both the second and third periods en route to handing the Lakers a 7-1 loss.

Saturday
Game 3: vs. Grey-Bruce Highlanders
The loss to the Wolves the previous day had put the Lakers in a tight spot that meant they had to win their game against the Grey-Bruce Highlanders to keep their hopes of advancing to play on Sunday alive. As well, the Lakers had played the Highlanders in two exhibition games at the beginning of the season and been defeated soundly – the Lakers were looking for redemption. With a couple injured players, the Lakers tapped the Lakers Minor Bantam team for some of their talent and called up Roland McKeown and Jacob Middleton to bolster the squad.

The Lakers got off to a great start in this game by scoring in the first couple minutes. Iain Donnelly fed Devin Williams who was cruising in to the front of the net. Williams put the puck upstairs to give the Lakers the 1-0 lead, assist by Michael Siddall (see video below).

Roland McKeown made his presence known just over halfway through the period when he took a pass from Donnelly, “turned on the jets” and wheeled down the ice and into the Highlanders' zone. McKeown drew the Highlanders’ defenders to him and then slid a pass across to Braydon Blight who was all alone on the far side of the net. Blight made no mistake in recording the power play goal (see video below).

The second period saw the Highlanders get a power play goal of their own halfway through the period to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

With just a one goal lead going into the third period, the next goal would be huge in determining the outcome of this game. The Lakers got that goal just a couple minutes in on a play that started with Kyle Sippel passing the puck to Jacob Middleton in the high slot. Seeing the crowd of bodies in front of the net, Middleton opted to fire a hot pass to Riley McCabe just off to the side of the net. McCabe executed a spin-a-rama move and blasted the puck into the net to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead (see video below).

It was a goal that sent the Highlanders reeling and before they could recover the Lakers had added another goal on the next shift. This goal came when Nick Castell took the puck deep into the Highlanders’ end, through the corner and then passed the puck through traffic out front to Greg Williams in front of the net who made the score 4-1 (see video below).

The Highlanders got a goal in the last couple minutes but it wouldn’t be enough as the Lakers took a 4-2 win.

Game 4: vs. Timmins Eagles
The Lakers final game was against the Timmins Eagles who had suffered a 12-0 loss to Waterloo earlier in the day. A Lakers win would ensure the Major Bantams would advance to the semi-final game on Sunday.

The Lakers again had a great start as they scored just 8 seconds in after a turnover gave PJ Conlon the chance for a shot on net and he made no mistake (see video below).

The goal had happened so fast that the Lakers’ fans hadn’t even realized it happened.

The fans made up for their missed cheer on the first goal by cheering loudly on the second goal midway through the second period. This goal came on the power play after Michael Siddall passed the puck back to Brett Stacey at the point and Stacey’s shot was redirected by Greg Williams past the Timmins’ netminder (see video below).

The Lakers then followed this up with another goal a minute or so later to go up 3-0. It was G. Williams scoring again and this time he tipped a Carter Simpson shot (see video below).

Timmins finally got on the scoreboard with a few minutes to go in the period to make the score 3-1 for the Lakers.

Timmins scored early in the third period on the power play to make the score 3-2 and the game a lot more interesting. Just seconds after scoring their second goal the Eagles almost scored again but had the goal waved off due to a high stick. This seemed to wake the Lakers up as they had been slow moving at the start of the period. The Lakers then scored a power play goal to increase their lead to 4-2. Mac MacSorley scored this goal by splitting the Eagles’ defencemen and then shooting the puck between the legs of the Eagles’ goalie (see video below).

That would be it for scoring for this game although it did get a little rough in the final two minutes when a couple Timmins players went looking for trouble (something I’m sure they regretted after the scuffles were over).

With the win the Lakers finished second in their pool and would play the Soo Thunder who were first in their pool.

Sunday
Semi-final Game: vs Soo Thunder
It was a depleted Lakers squad that took to the ice on Sunday morning as two players were serving suspensions from the previous game, one player was still injured, and two were playing hurt. The Lakers were committed to giving it their all, nonetheless.

Things didn’t start well for the Lakers as they found themselves behind 1-0 a couple minutes into the game. The boys keep working though and managed to get a power play goal early in the second period to tie things up. Iain Donnelly scored this goal after Michael Siddall passed to him from the far side of the net (see video below).

With almost two periods in the books and just two minutes to go it looked like the Lakers would get to their break between periods while the ice was flooded with the game tied. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be as the Thunder popped in two quick goals to put the Lakers down 3-1 at the end of the second. The Lakers depleted ranks and injuries were taking their toll.

The two goal deficit was just too much for the Lakers to come back from as tired legs just wouldn’t move as fast as the players wanted. The Thunder added another goal in the third to defeat the Lakers 4-1. The Thunder went on to face the Waterloo Wolves in the final where the Wolves won 4-0.

All in all, the Lakers had a successful tournament and reached their goal of at least advancing beyond the round robin portion of the tournament.

The Gold Puck is Waterloo's Showcase tournament. The tournament will feature the top teams in North America
competing for the Gold Puck Championships in three different divisions. AAA only teams will be accepted and seeded based on record. Space is limited.

• Guaranteed four (4) games
• Teams will be seeded
• Player of the game awards
• All Championship games on Sunday
• Bantam (1995) - 2 divisions of 4 = 8 Teams 

Arenas
• Manulife Financial Sportsplex - RIM Park (three ice pads)
• Albert McCormick Arena (twin pads)

• Manulife Financial Sportsplex - RIM Park (three ice pads) • Albert McCormick Arena (twin pads)

GAME LENGTHS

Bantam Division Round Robin
• 10 - 15 - 15 minute stop time periods

Semi-finals and FINALS (All Divisions)
• 3 x 15 minute stop time periods

Ice will be resurfaced at the end of every two periods of play.
All Championship games will start on newly resurfaced ice.

Scheduled game start times are approximate. Teams must be ready to play 15 minutes prior to the scheduled game time. There is a mercy rule, PLUS extra time built into the schedule so you must be ready to play 15 minutes prior to the scheduled game time or run the risk of forfeiture. Teams that are not ready to start their games on time or within the 15-minute window may forfeit such games at the discretion of the arena coordinator. Due to the nature of our scheduling, time restrictions will be enforced.
 

MERCY RULE
If the goal differential is seven goals at any time during the second period or five goals in the third period, the clock shall change to running time. If subsequently the margin is reduced to less than seven goals or five goals respectively, the clock will NOT revert back to stop time. During running time, minor penalties will be 3:00 minutes and major penalties, 7:30 minutes. The mercy rule is in effect for all games including round robin, elimination (if applicable), semi-finals and finals.

OVERTIME
Elinimation (if applicable), semi-final and final games shall be sudden victory. Teams may freely substitute during the overtime.  Overtime periods in finals will be 10 minutes - 4 on 4; second overtime will be 10 minutes - 3 on 3; followed by a shoot-out. The first team to score in an equal amount of shots will be declared the winner.  No player may shoot twice until all players, excluding goalies, have participated in the shootout. 

TIME-OUTS
There will be no time-outs in round robin play. One 30 second time-out per team per game will be permitted in elimination (if applicable), semi-final and final games.

PLAYOFF SEEDING - 2009
Bantam Division – 1st and 2nd place teams in each division advance

Play-off seeding will be based on points but the Tournament Committee will adjust the playoff game match-ups in an effort to ensure teams do not meet twice before the finals.
 

ADMINISTRATION, RULES and POLICIES

Admission - NO GATE FEE
 

Eligibility
Only teams with approved Hockey Canada (HC) or Hockey USA rosters/cards will be permitted to play.

A maximum of 19 players may participate in any one game. However, a total of 21 players may be registered (three (3) of which may be goalies) and substituted from game to game.

There shall be a maximum of six (6) team officials registered to any team. Only five (5) may go on the bench.
Affiliated players may participate only if listed on an approved Affiliated Players List.

Travel Permit
All teams must present a travel permit with their player registration to the tournament office prior to their first game. There is a tournament office in every arena.

General
Teams will play a minimum of four (4) games. Please check your schedule to ensure its accuracy. You are guaranteed four games against different opponents. In the event of a conflict, please notify the Registrar as soon as possible.

ALLIANCE Hockey playing rules shall govern.

Teams may be required to provide a person to operate the penalty gate.

No one, other than players, coaches and trainers are allowed in the dressing rooms or the hallway leading to the dressing rooms before and after games.

Any player/coach receiving a second major penalty MAY be immediately suspended from further play in the tournament.

Alliance rules require suspensions to be served in the next scheduled game. Therefore a player or coach receiving a suspendable penalty must serve it during the tournament regardless of their league's additional requirements. It is the responsibility of the team's coaching staff to confirm player/coach eligibility after any suspendable penalty.

Due to variations in League rules, any player or coach under suspension entering the tournament is ineligible to participate in the tournament unless first cleared by the Tournament Committee. Either of the above violations will cause the offending team to forfeit the game(s) in which the above were used. The game will be shown as a 9-0 score for the non-offending team.

A Tournament Committee will hear protests. No protest will be heard regarding a referee's decision. A $200 deposit, that will be returned if your protest is successful, must accompany all protests. A protest may only be heard if it is brought to the attention of the tournament chairperson or their delegate within thirty (30) minutes of completion of the game in question. A formal written submission can follow the initial notification. A hearing and ruling will be completed prior to the team's next scheduled game. All decisions made by the Tournament Committee are final.

Tie-Breaking Formula

Tie-breaking and the determination of the wild card teams in round robin standings will be based, in order, on:
The head to head result involving the teams tied (two way ties only).
The best ratio of "Goals For/(Goals For + Goals Against)" in all round robin games.
The team with the least goals against would advance.
The team with the most goals scored.
The team that scored the first goal in the head-to-head game.
The team with the lowest number of penalty minutes.
A toss of a coin by the tournament chairman.

Release from Liability
Acceptance of a team's entry releases the tournament committee and officials, the arena management and everyone connected with the tournament from all liability for injury or accident which may be incurred by a player, team official or spectator while attending or participating in the tournament.