Three days and six games later the Huron Perth Lakers Minor Peewees topped off a memorable weekend with a tournament win as they defeated the host Central Ontario Wolves squad 6-2 in the final.
Friday, the Lakers played their textbook style as they dominated with speed and intensity and just plain wanted the puck more. Facing the team that they would eventually meet in the final, the Lakers cruised to a 5-1 victory.
Game two on Friday was a carbon copy of the first as the Lakers marched over the Richmond Hill Stars 6-2. Seven different scorers factored in on the 11 friday goals.
The HPL Minor Peewees took a different approach to accommodations as the team stayed at Pigeon Lake in cabins and enjoyed a team spaghetti dinner (parents included) all provided and prepared by Coach Peters!
The Lakers perhaps had a little two much fun Friday night as a tired looking squad showed up for Saturday morning's game against the Peterborough Petes. The Lakers dropped the game 4-1 with a pretty unimpassioned effort.
Reality set in and the Lakers realized they needed to win to advance. A stronger effort was required and delivered and the result was a 3-2 win over the North Central Predators. A game in which the score did not reflect the effort with the shots being tilted 35-5 in the Lakers favour.
The Semi-final game on Sunday against Kitchener proved to be one of the best experiences of the year, strong play from two eager teams wanting to advance resulted in a 1-1 tie late in the game. Penalty kills on both sides late in regulation and during the overtimes provided very exciting hockey. The first overtime was 5 on 5 for 5 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of 3 on 3. Scoreless in the overtimes, a sudden death shootout was to determine the game. The first team to score when the other didn't would advance. First two shooters both scored, second two were both stymied by stellar goaltending and the Lakers proved victorious on the third with a strong save and a great shootout move.
The final game proved to be anti climatic as the Lakers squad walked over the host Wolves in a 6-2 win.
Many of the Lakers will have these memories for the rest of their lives as all of the players wanted to stay another week at the cabins and continue to play the game they love. The tournament win was a compilation of great team play by a very balanced team. Terrific goaltending, tough defense, forwards that love to score, a little luck and a team that continues to pull for each other provided the right mix to come away victorious this weekend. The Lakers ended up the weekend with 5 wins out of 6 games, a yearly total of 40 wins, 12 losses and 6 ties; all of which showcases the achievement of this terrific squad as they head into playoffs.