The Huron Perth Lakers AAA Major Peewees traveled to Rochester New York on Thanksgiving weekend to play in the Rochester ’96 AAA Invitational 48 team tournament. This was a well ran tournament that allowed the Lakers to be challenged against some strong competition.
Game #1
The Lakers opened their tournament schedule against the Barrie Colts with Eric Ryan between the pipes. The Colts came out flying and netted the first goal 2 minutes into the game. Minutes later Ryan had to make a great save stopping a break away to keep the game close. The Lakers power play was sharp but could not finish around the net. At the five minute marker the Lakers were killing a penalty. Defenseman Garrett James pushed the puck up the wall and Roland McKeown chopped the puck out. Alertly, McKeown picked up the loose puck at centre ice and found his way to the net scoring the tying goal. With seconds remaining in the first period James displayed a quick burst of speed to force a good offensive attack.
The second period started with both teams running into penalty trouble. Three minutes into the period the Lakers were on the power play when James took the puck at centre and made a smart rush into the Colts zone. James dished the puck off to Bayley Boyes who quickly returned the disk to James. James head faked the goalie and scored upping the score to 2-1. Four minutes into the period Taylor Moir fed a nice pass to Alex Peters who fired a good low shot on net. Derek Elliott was on the door step to pull back the rebound and net the Lakers 3rd goal. With seconds ticking down Ryan made two key saves but the Colts found the net with 10 seconds to go making the score 3-2.
The third period started out with a very quick pace to the action. Elliott was streaking alone the blue line and let a shot go on net which fooled the Colt goalie giving the Lakers a 4-2 lead. Less than a minute later the Colts pulled to within one. The Lakers had to rely on some very good penalty killing in this period to hold off the Colts offensive push. At the nine minute marker Moir found McKeown at centre ice. McKeown let a shot go that was deflected by a Colt defender high into the air handcuffing the Colt goalie for a 5-3 lead. James continued to show his great speed and good puck decisions throughout the period. Ryan was called upon to shut the door on the Colts and made two fantastic back to back saves late in the game to keep the final score at 5-3 for the Lakers.
Game #2
Next up was the Providence Capitals…all scouting reports had them as a hard skating, good positional team…the reports were right. Goalie Cole Thomas was asked to tend the net against this high flying team; and that he did with excellence. Thomas started the game with a super glove hand save. The Capitals struck first 6 minutes and then again 10 minutes into the game. Thomas made a couple of more saves to keep the game close.
The second period saw the Lakers mount many good offensive rushes but simply could not finish around the net. Thomas made several acrobatic saves during the second period. With 13 seconds remaining in the period the Capitals jumped on a defensive give a way at our blue line to up their lead to 3-0.
Despite giving a good effort throughout the third period the Lakers could not buy an offensive break. Providence capitalized on a couple of break downs and were full marks for a 5-0 victory…despite the stellar play of Cole Thomas in goal.
Game #3
The Lakers third game had them matched up against the Amherst Knights. Eric Ryan was called upon to guard the Lakers net. Once again the Lakers started slowly with the Knights scoring two minutes into the game. The Knights goalie was sharp as the Lakers carried much of the play. The line of Nathan Templeman, Brody Tenpas and Gregory Swan applied great pressure but could not buy a goal.
The second period was full of end to end action with both goalies turning every shot aside. After a shot was directed to the net McKenzie Carter was upended but still managed to get a shot on net from his back. With two minutes remaining in the period Ryan showed good form stopping a tipped shot.
The third was much the same with the Lakers carrying the play but having little to show for their enthusiastic effort. Amherst netted a power play goal two minutes into the period to make the score 2-0. Seconds later, Carter Stewart quickly jumped into the zone and pushed the puck to McKenzie Carter. He chipped the puck to McKeown who found a wide open Moir who made the score 2-1. The Lakers continued to push ahead offensively but ran into a very hot goalie. With four minutes remaining Swan wrestled the puck from a Knights defender and found McKeown going to the net…McKeown directed a ‘sure’ goal shot at the net only to be robbed by the goalie. With Ryan pulled in favour of an extra attacker the Lakers come back was thwarted by the Knights who finished the game with an empty net goal making the final score 3-1.
Game #4
The Lakers fourth game had the New Jersey Avalanche standing in their way to move on to a fifth game. Coach Goetz gave Cole Thomas the start in the Lakers net. The Lakers came out skating in this game and forced the Avalanche to take an early penalty. While on the power play Tenpas fed a pass back to defenseman Ryan Stulp-Jacobson who loaded up a good low shot that caromed into the net. A couple of good body checks early by Swan and Templeman helped to set the tone of the game. With the Avalanche pushing ahead on a 2 on 1 break Andrew Bogdon hustled back and broke up the play stopping a scoring chance. With 45 seconds left in the opening period the Avalanche tied the score at one with a shot deflecting off a Lakers stick. The period ended with the Lakers carrying the play with only a tie to show for the efforts.
The second period started much like the first as the Lakers power play struck again. Taylor Moir and Garrett James teamed up to get the puck to Keigan Goetz who put the Lakers up 2-1. The Avalanche’s power play struck with 6 minutes left to play in the second making the score 2-2. Late in the period James made a good defensive play on a 2 on 1 and Thomas came up with a big save. The second period ended again with the Lakers carrying most of the play again but with only a tie to show for their efforts.
Three minutes into the third period the face off was deep in the Avalanche zone. A total collapse off the draw allowed the Avalanche winger to march all the way down the ice from their zone on a break away and he finished with a good high shot to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. The Lakers did not quit and continued to swarm the Avalanche goal area but simply could not buy a goal…a story that was played over and over this game and this weekend.
The scoreboard in the last two games did not reflect the fine effort put forth by the Lakers up and down their lineup. The Lakers carried the play in both of these games and created many good offensive opportunities. Sometimes you simply need to give credit to the opposing goalie(s) when they play a good game.