The Huron Perth Lakers AAA Major Peewees enjoyed a good Christmas break then took to the road traveling to Burlington to take part in the 41st Golden Horseshoe Tournament beginning on December 27th. With a five game guarantee the Lakers were looking to notch a few wins this weekend - and that is exactly what the team accomplished!
Game 1…Brantford 3 – Lakers 2
The first game had the Lakers matched up against league rivals the Brantford 99’ers. The Lakers came out flying and dominated the game early and often. At the seven minute mark,
Derek Elliott found
Brody Tenpas all alone at the side of the net.
Tenpas banked a shot into the net giving the Lakers a 1-0 lead. With five minutes left in the period, goalie
Cole Thomas made a nice save going left to right on a two on one Brantford attack. The second period had both teams competing hard. With only 18 seconds remaining in the period, Brantford scored the tying goal – a goal which seemed to energize the 99’ers. Three minutes into the third, the 99’ers had the Lakers back on their heals and pushed in the go ahead goal. The Lakers continued to battle and carried the majority of the play. Forward
Taylor Moir was a one man penalty killing unit mid way through the period as he out worked several Brantford defenders to kill off most of the Lakers' penalty. Defenseman
Garrett James had a couple of bone crunching body checks in the period. With three minutes to play, the line of
Moir,
Elliott and
Tenpas clicked again with
Tenpas jamming in a loose puck to make the score 2-2. With the seconds ticking down, the 99’ers scored the winning goal to make the final score 3-2.
Game 2…Lakers 7 – Toronto Nationals 1
The first period of this game had both teams going end to end with long spans of time without a whistle.
Thomas had to be sharp on a wrap around part way through the period to keep the game scoreless. The Lakers turned up the energy level one notch to begin the second period. Five minutes into the period,
Garrett James let go a booming shot from the blue line which
Bayley Boyes tipped into the net for the first goal. On the same shift,
Boyes banked the puck to
Nathan Templeman who deked the defender out and slid a perfect backhander into the net making the score 2-0. At the six minute marker,
Keigan Goetz and
Moir teamed up to get the puck to
Roland McKeown sneaking in from the blue line who scored the third goal. Seconds later,
Carter Stewart loaded up a big shot on net and
Elliott jammed home the rebound for the Lakers' fourth goal. The third period was much the same as the Nationals players, coaches and fans became very upset. The Nationals got their only break early in the period to score one. Defenseman
Frasier Lewis played a two on one perfectly, breaking up the Nationals rush. The Lakers stopped any thought of a come back as
Alex Peters and
Tenpas played tic-tac-toe with the puck; then
Peters fired a shot on net.
Moir was in perfect position to score the fifth goal. Mid way through the period,
McKenzie Carter chipped the puck ahead with winger
Andrew Bogdon giving chase. Linemate
Gregory Swan picked up the loose puck and buried the goal giving the Lakers a 6-1 lead. With time winding down, defenseman
Ryan Stulp-Jacobson joined the rush getting away a good shot on net.
Boyes found the rebound and scored making the final score 7-1.
Game 3…Lakers 9 – Burlington Eagles 0
Next up were the Burlington Eagles, a team that had squeaked out a win against the Lakers a few weeks ago – but today would be a totally different story. Early in the game,
Thomas was called upon to make a good glove save to keep the game scoreless.
Stulp-Jacobson set the tone physically in this game with a couple of fine body checks. With three minutes to play in the opening period
Peters jumped up to read the play perfectly forcing the Eagles defender to hurry his play.
Swan blocked the clearing attempt at the Eagles blue line and went in all alone burying the first Lakers goal. One minute later,
Swan and
Bogdon combined to set up
Carter for the second goal. Five minutes into the second period,
McKeown went blazing down the right side and cut sharply to the left across the goal crease shooting on net.
Swan cruised in to find the rebound upping the score to 3-0. With a minute to play in the second,
Goetz fed the puck back to
McKeown who fired a shot off balance and
Templeman jammed home the rebound for the Lakers' fourth goal. The Lakers simply broke the game wide open in the third with their quickness, accurate passing and smart puck cycling. Two minutes into the period,
Goetz fired a cross ice pass to
Moir who went end to end deking the goalie making the score 5-0. Next up was
Stulp-Jacobson and
Peters controlling the puck at centre ice giving the puck to
Boyes going down the wing. He fed the puck to
Templeman who chipped a back hand past the goalie. Seconds later,
McKeown managed to get a shot through to the net where
Moir was ready to fire in the rebound making the score 7-0. With five minutes to play,
Swan chipped the puck up the wall to
Stulp-Jacobson who led the rush up ice. He directed a nice pass to
Templeman who fired a low shot into the corner of the net for the hat trick. Moments later,
Carter and
Swan teamed up to get the puck to the net and
Bogdon knocked the rebound in making the final score 9-0.
Cole Thomas was sharp in net recording the shut out.
Game 4…Lakers 8 – Mississauga Reps 1
The Lakers were well aware of their task…they needed to win to keep their tournament playoff chances alive. The game started off fairly even with both teams gaining their share of the ice. At the midway point,
Swan and
Bogdon were working the puck down low moving the puck back to
Roland McKeown who launched a laser into the net making the score 1-0. The Lakers came out flying in the second period and hemmed the Reps in their end zone for long periods of time. Five minutes into the period,
Elliott scored his first of three from
Goetz and
Moir. Five minutes later, it was
Tenpas and
Moir setting up
Elliott to make the score 3-0. Seconds later,
Thomas made a huge glove save to keep the momentum going for the Lakers. With two minutes remaining in the period, it was
Bogdon getting the puck back to
Stulp-Jacobson who slid a pass to
Stewart who fired a good low shot through the screen into the net upping the score to 4-0. Seconds later, the Reps got on the scoreboard for their lone goal of the game. As they have done in most recent games, the Lakers immediately answered this goal with one of their own.
Moir and
Tenpas again were busy setting up
Elliott for the Lakers' fifth goal. The third period was more of the same with the Lakers skating hard and playing a good team passing game. At the ten minute marker,
Boyes won the draw and
Goetz directed a shot on net where
Templeman was ready to draw the rebound back and roof the puck into the net. Minutes later,
Carter moved the puck back to
Stewart who fired another good shot towards the net.
Swan, stationed in front, re-directed the puck past the goalie into the net. A couple of minutes later, the Lakers put their stamp on this game with
Carter and
Bogdon setting up
Swan who fired the puck into the net making the final score 8-1.
Game 5…Lakers 5 – Amherst Knights 2
Both of these teams were competing for first place in their pool along with two other teams with identical records. The Lakers held the advantage using a tie breaking formula but were looking to move on another way…with one more victory in the win column. The Lakers dominated the first five minutes of the game but could not drive home a goal. Amherst capitalized on a power play to take the lead. With 2 minutes remaining in the first,
McKeown tied the game with good shot. Seconds into the second period,
Moir was awarded a penalty shot. He just missed as the goalie covered the left side of the net to perfection. Still within the first minute of the period,
Thomas had to make a great left pad save as the Lakers were now killing off a penalty. Amherst kept the pressure on and finally notched their second power play goal of the game. At the eight minute marker,
Stulp-Jacobson carried the puck down low and put a pass right on
Swan’s stick who quickly shot the puck on net. The rebound went right to
Templeman who fired the tying goal into the net. Late in the period,
Alex Peters made a tremendous defensive play to break up a Knights' rush. After a flood, both teams headed back to work knowing a possible first place bye was at stake. The Lakers came out flying owning the puck and ice surface during the first five minutes of the period. Amherst did manage an offensive rush at the mid way marker but
Thomas was up to the challenge. With 3½ minutes to play,
Templeman and
Goetz out worked the defenders and got the puck to
Boyes in front of the net.
Boyes roofed a shot high into the net that the goalie had no chance on to give the Lakers their first lead of the game 3-2. With two minutes to go,
McKeown gained the red line and fired a long shot on net which dipped under the goalies pad into the net upping the score to 4-2. The Knights pulled their goalie and were forcing the play when
Thomas again closed the door with a fine blocker save. With Amherst pushing and shoving after the play
Stulp-Jacobson rightfully calmed the play down removing a couple of the Knights. With a few seconds to play,
Moir out skated the defenders and directed the puck into the empty net making the final score 5-2…and the right to move onto a semi final match against Central Ontario Wolves.
Game 6…Lakers 4 – Central Ontario Wolves 3
Comments like ‘game of the tournament’ – ‘that was a great hockey game’ – 'wow, they are two good teams' were overheard being stated after this game…no doubt the game of the tournament. The comments stemmed from a game that needed 4 overtime periods to decide a winner. The Wolves struck first early in the game taking a 1-0 lead. They came down right off the face off on a 2 on 1 but
Thomas made a save that kept the Lakers in the game. Five minutes into the game,
Peters blocked a clearing pass and re-directed the puck to
Moir.
Moir went wide and feathered a perfect cross ice pass onto the stick of
Brody Tenpas who pushed the tying goal into the net. The Lakers carried the play during the second period but the Wolves struck late in the period to take a 2-1 lead. With 20 seconds to play in the period,
Thomas robbed a Wolves attacker stopping a break away. After the break, the Lakers came out buzzing all over the Wolves end zone. At the ten minute marker,
McKeown flew down the right side and circled the Wolves net. He directed a shot towards the net then
Swan batted the rebound out of mid air into the net tying the game at 2 each. The Wolves struck again to take a one goal lead. Less then one minute later, it was the Lakers turn to tie the game.
Stewart made a great read down the left wall to keep the puck in and pushed it down low.
Elliott picked up the puck and quickly did a backhand wrap around into the net. At the end of regulation time, the score was tied 3-3…the on ice officials notified each team that the game would continue using 5 skaters plus the goalie until the game is decided…little did the Referee know that this would take 3 and ½ more overtime periods to record the winning goal. The first OT period was end to end with many scoring chances. The second OT period was more the same exciting hockey.
Thomas made two super saves at the six minute marker. Right after these back to back saves,
Carter Stewart went end to end just sliding the puck past the goal. The third OT period was even more action packed with the Lakers firing on all cylinders. With four minutes to play,
McKeown let fly a laser which tipped off the goalies glove and landed on top of the net….Oh, so close. The Lakers parents were loudly cheering on their team…as you could hear ‘GO LAKERS GO’ throughout the arena. Six minutes into the 4th overtime period,
James kept the puck in the Wolves end zone chipping a pass to
Moir in the corner.
Moir directed a shot towards the net where
Elliott and
Tenpas were parked causing havoc.
Elliott found the rebound and jammed home the winner. The Lakers bench erupted with the players flying over the boards to pile onto the winning team celebration. The Lakers certainly deserved to win this game but acknowledge how hard the Wolves competed and the good sportsmanship shown by both teams and coaching staff’s...
during the game of the tournament. Next up was a short two hour break and then a match against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Game 7…FINALS…Hamilton Bulldogs 8 – Lakers 3
After a very professional player pre-game introduction the puck was ready to be dropped on the Lakers 50th game of the year. The Hamilton team had a real jump in their stride and struck often and early catching the Lakers off balance (perhaps tired!) early in this game. The first period ended with the Bulldogs leading 5-0. The coaching staff and players are to be commended as they could have simply quit, being exhausted and down…but again this team does not quit. To the Lakers credit, they tied the high flying Bulldog team the rest of the way. Goalie
Cole Thomas made a few great saves in the second period staying sharp with the game going against the Lakers. The Lakers broke Hamilton’s bid for a shut-out four minutes into the period as
Templeman and
Stulp-Jacobson got the puck to
Peters who blasted a shot high into the net. One minute later,
Boyes and
Elliott set up
Tenpas for the second goal. Later in the period,
McKeown got the puck to
Templeman who scored making the final score 8-3. Many fans wondered how the game would have played out if the Lakers had only played one game in the semis not the two that were needed to move on.
The Huron Perth Lakers AAA Major Peewees and coaching staff can be very proud of the high quality hockey they played during this well ran tournament. The Lakers out scored their opposition 38-18. The players and staff were great ambassadors for the Lakers association during the entire tournament…congratulations team! Next up…some rest…two games this weekend…in Hamilton on Jan. 3rd and hosting Chatham in Goderich on Jan. 4th.