The HPL Minor PeeWee team has had nothing come easy for them this season, so they knew if they wanted to advance to the Sweet Sixteen round out of the 24 teams in the Shanahan tournament in Toronto this past weekend they would need to dig deep and play solid hockey!
In game #1 for the Lakers they played the Amherst Knights from the Buffalo area. Starting out shorthanded early in the game the Lakers were able to capture a lose puck in the neutral zone and convert it into a shot on goal with the rebound being put in to put the Lakers up 1 – 0. Early in the 2nd period the Lakers went up 2 – 0 on a 4 on 4 play. After that the HPL Minor PeeWees started taking penalties and let Amherst into the game and at the end of the 2nd period the score was tied 4 – 4. Once again in the 3rd period the Lakers took penalties allowing Amherst to score 2 more goals on the power play. A game the Lakers should have won, but ended up losing 7 – 4.
In Game #2 the Lakers came out flying against a very good Gloucester Rangers team from the Ottawa area, but couldn’t score on a very good goalie, and which the Lakers goalie was every bit as good making some great saves. Late in the 3rd period the Rangers were credited for a goal which went in after the whistle had been blown, but they counted it anyways. As the Lakers went on a power play in the last 2 minutes of the game and with the Lakers goalie on the bench for an extra skater the Ranger player was able to steal a lose puck in his own end and send it the length of the ice into the empty net to record a 2 – 0 win over the Lakers.
In Game #3 it was a must win game to be able to advance to the Sweet Sixteen round for the Lakers. The HPL Minor PeeWees came out strong against the Flint Icelanders and went up 4 – 0 early in the game, but once again the Lakers gave up a goal while killing off a penalty letting Flint into the game. After the Lakers being ahead 5 – 2 at the end of the 1st period and 6 – 4 at the end of the 2nd period, Flint was able to tie the game 7 – 7 with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Just after the game being tied a Flint player took a tripping penalty giving the Lakers a power play and they were able to score on a direct shoot from the blue line from the Lakers defenseman to give the Lakers the 8 – 7 win. Their first win in the tournament and advancing them into the Sweet Sixteen round.
In Game #4 the HPL Minor Pee Wee’s were matched up against the New England Jr. Falcons which had gone undefeated until this point in the tournament. After trading goals in the 1st period and trailing 4 – 3 at the end of the 2nd period, the Lakers needed to dig deep in the 3rd if they wanted to continue playing in the tournament. The Lakers tied the game on a power play goal with 5 minutes remaining in the game and in the last minute of the game the Lakers scored on a tipped shot catching the Falcon goalie off guard. This put the Lakers into the quarter final on Sunday morning against Cleveland Lumberjacks.
In Game #5, the quarter final game, the Cleveland Lumberjacks went up 1 – 0 late in the first period. The Cleveland team played a great game by keeping the puck on the outside and, when the Lakers did have scoring chances, the Cleveland goalie was there to stop them. Late in the third the Lumberjacks scored an insurance goal which gave them a 2 – 0 win and put the Lakers out of the tournament.
Entering the Shanahan tournament the HPL Minor PeeWees had been playing under .500 hockey, so to finish in the top 8 teams out of 24 of some of the best AAA teams in North America and getting to play an extra game by advancing from the Sweet Sixteen round was a great accomplishment for this team at this point in the season.