The HPL Minor Bantams headed into this past weekend set to play both the East and West Division leading teams, the Waterloo Wolves and the Windsor Spitfires respectively. With the season at the ¼ pole, the coaches planned to use the matches as a way of gauging progress in what can best be described as a year of transition for the team.
On Saturday, the team headed to RIM Park to play the East leading and as yet undefeated Waterloo Wolves. After a fairly tight 1st period, the teams headed into the 2nd frame with the Lakers down 1-0, after giving up a power-play goal mid-way through the frame. Fortunes turned quickly for the Lakers with the team on the power-play as Jayden Landry knotted the score at 1 by tipping a low, hard point shot from Braydon Blight between the Wolves goaltender’s legs. Landry picked up his second goal of the game less than 2 minutes later, burying a shot off nice assists from Greg Williams and Greg Orr.
The Lakers’ lead was short lived, with Waterloo scoring 2 quick goals, both off down-low pressure that the 5 Lakers skaters could not handle. The 3rd period was fast-paced, with only 1 puck finding the back of the net – Waterloo’s 4th goal, with Lakers goalie Joe Metzger pulled for the extra attacker.
On Sunday, the Lakers welcomed the West Division leading, and also as yet undefeated, Windsor Spitfires, to St. Marys for a mid-afternoon match. Both teams had good, early scoring opportunities, with Windsor breaking the ice less than 2 minutes in while on the power-play. The Lakers responded quickly on a power-play of their own, with Williams evening the score off nice down-low cycling by Jared Zufelt and Landry. Mitchell Amante from the Spitfires gave his team the lead off a good individual effort less than a minute after the Lakers tied the score. Good end-to-end action defined the rest of the 1st period, with the Lakers heading into the 2nd in a very good position.
The 2nd period started with the Lakers killing off the remainder of a 1st period penalty, only to see Windsor go back on the power-play 6 seconds later. Windsor scored their 2nd power-play goal of the game shortly thereafter, setting in motion a somewhat surreal period that saw Windsor score 4 unanswered goals. Zufelt cashed in a rebound off a Mackinley O’Keefe point shot late in the period with the Lakers on the power-play, resulting in the teams heading to their respective dressing rooms after the 2nd period with Windsor up 6-2.
While the Lakers came out of the dressing room hard, they could not capitalize on any of their 3rd period chances and had to watch as Windsor potted 3 more goals, resulting in a 9-2 Laker loss.
On the surface, finding positives in a 9-2 loss would appear to be difficult!!!! That said, the Lakers mustered 24 shots against the Windsor goalie and had a number of golden opportunities that on any other day would have found the twine!! Their down-low defensive zone coverage was strong and the players are clearly beginning to buy into the “1st pass” philosophy preached by the coaches. Forwards are beginning to cycle the puck with more confidence while in the offensive zone and all 5 skaters are engaging in the offense.
Lessons were also learned, the hard way, on Sunday. 6 of Windsor’s 9 goals were scored by the aforementioned Amante. As his confidence grew, the Lakers’ confidence seemed to diminish, resulting in the team moving from playing a system to playing as individuals when he was on the ice. The team was also “soft” in its coverage of the high slot, resulting in a number of un-challenged scoring opportunities, many of which were converted to goals.
The team looks ahead to a week that includes 3 practices and a Sunday game against the Lambton Jr. Sting. The team will then finish preparations for the Nike-Bauer AAA International Invite Tournament, to be held in Chicago from October 30th through November 2nd. The Lakers preliminary round games will be against the Madison (WI) Capitols, the Winnipeg Sharks and the Indianapolis Racers.