Sep 24, 2007 | lhrudka | 645 views
Minor Atoms Becoming a Team
The Minor Atom Lakers consider this past weekend’s London Early Bird Tournament a success. All the players have been working hard and committing themselves to their team, which has shown steady improvement. Taking 17 players from home-town centers and asking them to play with strangers, is a difficult task for anyone, let alone nine year olds. Starting as individuals, they are however, accepting the challenge and working toward a well bonded team.
Our first opponent of the tournament was Barrie. The Lakers started out quite sluggish, with “travel legs” very evident. The Colts controlled most of the 1st & 2nd period play, allowing them to get the early lead. If not for strong Laker goaltending, this game would have gotten out of hand in the early stages. The Lakers were able to come on in the 3rd, but couldn’t capitalize, and ended up with a 4-1 loss.
In game #2, the Lakers faced Richmond Hill as their opponent. This game saw the Lakers control the majority of the play throughout all 3 periods, but the Richmond Hill goalie continuously kept them in the game. The Stars scored late in the 3rd to break a 2-2 tie, and held on to win the game. The entire Laker team knew they had out played the Richmond Hill team. Yet with the loss, this was a turning point. The mood in the dressing room showed this group was upset; they cared deeply that they were denied something they had worked hard for. As it turns out, this was our first “real building block” of the season.
In game #3 we were up against a feisty team from Cambridge. The Lakers controlled most of the play in the 1st & 2nd periods, allowing for a 2-0 lead. The Hawks came out hard in the 3rd and managed to tie things 2-2, within a 3-4 minute span. However, the Laker team responded with a harder desire to win, and potted 5 goals, to take the game by a 7-2 final.
Our final round robin game was against Waterloo, with no opportunity for either team to make it through to the playoff round. We were however attempting to build on our last two games efforts. The final outcome was a 2-2 draw, with both (Laker & Wolves) goalies playing very solid games.
Many positives were taken from this past weekend, with shared goal scoring, continuously improving defensive play, and solid goaltending.We are all moving forward with great confidence, into our home opener against Sun County in Zurich this Saturday, September 29th.
Corey McKee