PeeWees Again Making Headlines, News, Major PeeWee, 2007-08 (Huron Perth Lakers)

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Jan 11, 2008 | awilliams | 1012 views
PeeWees Again Making Headlines
Since we last met…….0-2; 0-5; 2-7; 1-3; 2-6; 1-2; 2-1; 1-4; 3-4; 1-5; 2-1. And now, for the rest of the story…..

Due to an un-explained absence, reporting on the exploits of the HP Peewees has been Spartan to say the least!!  In an effort to get back on track however, today’s article briefly summarizes a busy few weeks for the team.

After hitting a season low point against the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs, the team improved their effort significantly in their first match of the season against the London Jr. Knights.  Despite a 2-0 loss, the team showed signs of stronger play, with Joe Metzger leading the way with a very strong appearance between the pipes.

The team then closed out its regular season series with the Windsor Jr. Spitfires, the team that our regular readers will remember was responsible for the season’s earlier game “that shall not be named.”  Although the final score was 5-0, the Lakers stayed with the Spitfires through the end of the 2nd period, closing out the second frame down 1-0.  A number of mental errors in the 3rd unfortunately made the score appear more lopsided than the game actually was.

Between Christmas and New Year’s, the team participated in the Burlington tournament, playing the North York Rangers (7-2 loss); the Mississauga Reps (3-1 loss); the Central Ontario Wolves (6-2 loss); the Chicago Blues (2-1 loss); and, the Hamilton Reps (2-1 win). Continuing to play without Carter Strachan, the team was also without the services of Greg Williams, who missed the tournament for personal reasons. Fortunately, affiliate player Nick Castell was able to suit up for the first 4 games.

The tournament saw a mixture of play from the team, with some periods being extremely strong while others required improvement.  Although the teams’ record was 1 win and 4 losses, 1 or 2 other wins were certainly within the team’s grasp.  Picking up points during the tournament included: Travis Bender: 1G, 1A; Cole Ciccone: 3A; Nick Castell: 1G, 1A; PJ Conlon: 1G, 1A; Connor Johnson: 1G, 1A; Jayden Landry: 1G, 1A; Austin Chaffe: 1G; Tyler McNaughton: 1G; Greg Scott: 1G; Iain Donnelly: 1A; Ben Kirwin: 1A; and, Matthew McCracken: 1A.

The team returned to regular season play on January 2nd in Palmerston against the Waterloo Wolves, losing 4-1.  The game was close into the 3rd period, with Waterloo only putting it away with under 4 minutes to play.  Donnelly scored a pretty unassisted goal for the Lakers. A return trip to Waterloo on January 5th again saw the Lakers lose, this time 5-3.  Not unlike the game earlier in the week, this one remained close until the end, with Waterloo putting it away, again on the power-play, with under 3 minutes remaining. Scoring for the Lakers were Chaffe (Bender, Johnson), Bender (Johnson, Scott), and Landry (Williams, Conlon).

On January 6th, the team traveled, in the fog, to Sarnia to play their 2nd game of the year against the Lambton Jr. Sting. The Sting took 2-0 and 3-1 leads into the 2nd and 3rd periods respectively. The Lakers kept it close but, as with earlier games gave up 2 power-play goals in the 3rd period, eventually losing 5-1. Scoring for the Lakers was Donnelly (Williams, Landry). Ben Errington played a strong game in net.

On January 8th the team picked up a hard-fought win, 2-1 against the Kitchener Jr. Rangers. While the Lakers carried a good part of the play and out-shot the Rangers over the course of the game, it took a last minute power-play goal by Landry (Donnelly, Conlon), to break a 1-1 tie and give the team the win. The game’s first goal was scored by the Rangers with the team down a player early in 2nd period.  Williams (Landry, Donnelly) tied the game before the end of the period with a high wrist shot from the slot.

Overall, the team’s play is picking up, with break-outs cleaner, and fore-checking more sustained.  Penalty trouble does continue to remain troublesome, with the team giving up 7 of 15 goals on the power play since the Christmas break.

The team's next action is this weekend against Hamilton and Cambridge.