The U12 Huron Perth Lakers travelled to the sunny shores of
south Florida to open the new year and compete in the Paradise Puck in Ft.
Lauderdale Florida. The team would
compete in the 2014 Elite division with 4 of the top 10 teams in the United
States.
Similar to the International Silverstick earlier in the
season, there would be no easy games in this event and they would need to be
sharp from the word go if they wanted to compete for a championship. With 5 teams in the tournament, the top team
would get a bye, 2nd and 3rd would play in a semi final
to play for the title while the 4th and 5th teams would
play for the consolation.
Game 1 would see the boys from Ontario face off with the Mid
Fairfield Rangers (Connecticut), #8 in the nation. A week without hitting the ice and some
relaxation time turned out to be just what the boys needed as they would jump
out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period.
The Rangers would cut the lead in half early in the 2nd but
would never get any closer as HPL would add four third period goals on route to
a convincing 6-1 victory.
Game 2’s opponent would be the Boston Top Gun, ranked #11
in the country. The Lakers would come
out of the gates slow in this one perhaps not having their legs after a week of
sun and sand. Through two periods HP
would hold an edge in shots at 22 to 12 it was Top Gun that found the twine
twice on route to a 2-0 lead heading to the final frame. An early goal would cut the lead in half but
Top Gun would respond to restore the 2 goal lead. With 3 minutes to play it didn’t look good
for the boys in Maroon and Black but 2 power play goals less than 30 seconds
apart would see them tie the game at 3!
With momentum on their side it seemed inevitable they would push through
as they always seem to and get the go ahead goal. It was not meant to be this time however as
the Lakers would ring one off the cross bar only to see Boston go the length of
the ice and score with 30 seconds left.
After Thursday, Huron Perth sat in a tie for 2nd
with 2 points and holding their own fate to get into the coveted top 3
spots. In a strange turn, the boys would
get a day off Friday, they would put it to good use heading for some rounds of
mini golf at the Tiger Woods Pop Stroke in Del Ray Beach. While the Lakers spent some fun times on the
links, two games were underway in the Elite division. At the end of Friday the division would see
Boston, Florida and South Shore all at 2 wins and 1 loss, Huron Perth at 1 win
and 1 loss and Mid Fairfield with no wins and 3 losses. Two wins by the Lakers would guarantee them a
top 2 spot in the round robin and a chance to play for the championship on
Sunday. Some help in the other games
would see them with a chance to claim the top seed and a bye right to the
final!
Game 3 on Saturday would see the Lakers face a familiar foe
in the #4 team in the USA, the high scoring Florida Alliance. These two teams needed overtime in the
Silverstick with the Lakers coming out on top.
Through 3 games Florida had scored 21 goals and given up 16
against. The Lakers hard nosed brand of
defensive hockey was going to be put to the test. The first period would see 4 goals in the
last four minutes of play, 3 of which scored by Huron Perth on route to a 3-1
lead through 15 minutes. Penalties by
both teams would prove costly in the second period with Florida capitalizing
twice and the Lakers once to see the score sit at 4-3 after two periods. The final frame would be relatively calm
after a somewhat wild 30 minutes, the Lakers would add an insurance marker and
take the game by a margin of 5-3.
This now meant that first place was up for grabs between
HPL, South Shore Kings and Boston Top Gun.
A win by Boston over Mid Fairfield would eliminate Florida Alliance and
see South Shore and Huron Perth play for the two seed. A win by Mid Fairfield would allow the Lakers
a chance to grab the top seed and a bye into the championship final on
Sunday. With the teams all being so
close in the is tournament it shouldn’t have come as a shock when the Rangers
did in fact beat Top Gun by a score of 5-2.
This meant the South Shore and Huron Perth game would see the winner
advance directly to the final and the loser’s fate decided by a tiebreaker,
elimination a possibility.
On Thursday when the Lakers played two games in one day they
didn’t seem to have the same jump in the late game. It would not be the case this time as they
would jump all over the Kings in the first period outshooting them 10-4 but
coming up empty. They would blow it open
in the second period putting 4 past the goalie on 26 more shots. With a four goal lead heading to the third a
Laker penalty would prove costly with the Kings getting a power play goal
cutting the lead to 4-1. Another goal
late in the 3rd would make things interesting before HP notched a
final tally to secure a 5-3 win and give the Lakers top spot in the round robin
and the coveted bye to the final on Sunday.
At the end of round robin play the Lakers would sit in top
spot at 6 points and a +9 goal differential.
Three teams were tied with 2 points, goal differential would decide who
would be eliminated from championship play.
Florida sat at +6, Top Gun at even and South Shore at -6 meaning the
Kings would play in the consolation and it would be Boston Top Gun vs Florida
Alliance in the championship semi final at 8am on Sunday morning. In a crazy back and forth battle the boys
from the Sunshine state would come out on top in a 9-6 final setting a rematch
with the boys from the great white north.
If the tournament dreamed up the final game of the
tournament I’m not sure it could have been any better than what actually
transpired. Two teams very equally
matched, one with an explosive offence and the other with a stifling defensive
system. The first period would see the
host Florida Alliance get most of the dangerous offensive chances eventually
converting to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.
One thing we know about this team from Ontario is they don’t quit, this
game would be no different as they would go to work in the middle frame
outshooting their opponent 15-4 and eventually beating the goalie to cut the
lead in half. Florida would respond on
the first shot of the 3 period on a fortunate bounce to restore the 2 goal
advantage. HPL would respond 19 seconds
later and would add two more to take the lead with 6 minutes left in the game,
outshooting Florida again in the 3rd period. Another unfortunate bounce would go the way
of the Alliance, the puck finding it’s way into the Laker net and tying the
game up at 4. Again they would respond
scoring with less than 3 minutes left to take their second lead of the
game. With the goalie pulled and the
extra attacker on, Florida would push and eventually break through with the
tying goal sending the game to overtime.
The format was 3 on 3 until somebody scored, no shoot outs would happen
on this day! After such a thrilling game
it was a shame to see one team go away sad but somebody had to win, Florida
would find the twine mid way through the extra frame sending the home crowd
into a frenzy. A fitting end to a great
event, the best game of the tournament in the 2014 Elite division was the
final, you couldn’t have asked for more from these boys.
It was an amazing trip with a group of boys and families
that genuinely love spending time with each other. Whether it was on the ice going to battle for
each other, the endless ping pong tournaments, an excursion to the Florida
Everglades, rounds of mini golf, filling the hot tub well past capacity,
celebrating the warm evenings well into the night, seeing who could get stung
by jellyfish the most or just lounging by the pool or on the beach trying to
perfect that tan, we really couldn’t have asked for a better time away
together. We’ll all remember this trip
for the rest of our lives and the fact that the boys played so well is just the
cherry on top!!
Congratulations to the 2013 team that also played in the
event, also losing in a nailbiter in the final vs the Dallas Jr Stars, well
done boys!!!! Your families and fans
everywhere couldn’t be prouder of you for how you play and also how you conduct
yourselves as a team. You continue to
build the Huron Perth Laker brand that the great teams and players before you
started!!
Next up for the boys is the Great Lakes Cup in Stratford and
playing out the rest of the regular season before the playoffs begin.