The Lakers Minor Bantams headed to Oshawa January 8-10 for their final tournament of the season.
Game 1 vs. Ottawa Jr. 67’s
The Lakers faced off against the Ottawa Jr. 67’s Friday morning after a tough drive into the city. The Lakers came out flying and generated several good chances in the first but were unable to find the back of the net.
As the period continued Ottawa would find their legs and the play would become very fast and end-to-end but neither team could score. The second period started with the Lakers getting in some penalty trouble, which became the story of the second. Goalie Kent Taylor turned away shot after shot as the Laker defense killed off 10 minutes of penalties during the period. The Lakers found some new energy after killing off the penalties and Quinten Haddock, Garrett James and Drew Gross mounted the only real Laker offence of the period getting 3 of the periods 5 Laker shots. As the third started Ottawa started to keep a player high and eventually sprang him on a breakaway. With no pressure he beat Taylor for the only goal of the game on a great deke. The Lakers best chance came with three minutes left when Drew Gross picked up a rebound in front of the empty net but fired the puck wide.
Final score 1-0 Ottawa, shots 28-20 in favor of Ottawa.
Game 2 vs. Chatham-Kent Cyclones
The Minor Bantams came out slow in this one and gave up an early breakaway to fall behind by a goal. The Lakers would respond immediately when Chatham took the first penalty of the game. The newly formed power play scored its’ first of the game when Jacob Middleton fed Bayley Boyes who fired a great wrist shot from the top of the circle. The Lakers would then take the lead on another power play when Alex Peters fed the puck to Jared Weishar, Weishar’s cross crease pad deflected off of a defender with two to go in the first. Chatham would bounce right back with two goals in the last minute to restore their lead. The Lakers came out looking more like themselves in the second and dominated the period allowing only five shots on goalie Daniel Dekoning while scoring two goals of their own on seventeen shots. The first goal of the second came on a nice play when Middleton fed a cross ice pass to McKenzie Carter. The rebound from Carters hard one-timer came straight out to Riley Roberts who made no mistakes in burying the puck. Garrett James would put the Lakers back in the lead when he picked up his own rebound to score an unassisted goal. Not ready to concede yet, Chatham sprang a player free to start the third and Dekoning was forced to make a great save on the breakaway to retain the lead. As is often the case a great save leads to a chance at the other end and Nathan Templeman made no mistakes as he streaked in all alone and beat the Chatham goalie with a perfect deke.
Final 5-3 Lakers, shots 46-17 in favor of the Lakers
Game 3 vs. Niagara Falls
The Lakers came out strong in this one but appeared to become impatient as they had trouble finding the back of the net. That impatience would become costly as a pinching defenseman allowed a breakaway ten minutes into the game to fall behind by a goal. As in the previous game it was a power play goal that got the Lakers back in the game when Alex Peters would put a cross ice feed to Garrett James. Garrett’s hard low point shot was perfect for the deflection and Carter Stewart didn’t let the opportunity pass as he expertly tipped it past the Niagara defender. Niagara wouldn’t wait long to regain the lead as the Lakers gave up another breakaway just two minutes later. The Lakers elevated their play at this point and as the second ended Roland Mckeown attempted to clear the puck only to have it hit the referee’s helmet. When the puck bounced right back to him he took it as a sign and carried it to the Niagara end and blew a low slap-shot by the surprised Niagara goaltender.
It looked like the Lakers would fall behind again as they gave up another breakaway at the start of the third but Taylor made a great save on the attempted deke. That was all the Lakers needed as they started pouring on the pressure and were rewarded when Drew Gross caught Niagara on a bad change. His long pass allowed Jacob Middleton to walk into the slot and fire a hard slap-shot to put the Lakers back in the lead. Niagara mounted another attack but some strong defensive play by Ryan Stulp and a couple of key saves by Taylor allowed the Lakers to clear the zone. With two minutes to go Peters would send a cross ice pass to Stewart whose hard shot forced a big rebound which was pounced on by Riley Roberts for the final goal of the game.
Final 4-2 Lakers, shots 35-14 for the Lakers
Game 4 vs. Henry Ford Hurricanes
Coming off of a couple of games where they had missed several scoring opportunities and given up many more breakaways than they should have, the Lakers returned to the dominate style of play they are known for. A high energy shift by Keegan Mclelland, Carter McKenzie and Derek Elliott had several good scoring chances as they kept the puck deep in the Hurricanes end and fed it out front several times but the Hurricanes goaltender was up to the task. The only goal of the first would come on an end to end rush by Mckeown who scored his first of four.
The second period started where the first ended with another high energy shift, although this time it was Bayley Boyes, Drew Gross and Nathan Templeman creating the chances. On the third attempt Templeman’s drive to the net caused a rebound which Boyes neatly tucked in for the second goal of the game. The Lakers scoring chances continued but it wouldn’t be until the clock had ticked down to 10 seconds that McKeown would pick up a loose puck in the Hurricanes end and deke the goalie to score his second.
The third would see the first real offence of the game for the Hurricanes as they had been limited to only one shot per period to this point. Daniel Dekoning’s focus was sharp though and he turned away a couple of quick shots. The Lakers extended their lead when Middleton fed the puck down low to Gross who immediately found McKeown in the slot for his third of the game. With Just three seconds left on the clock Mckeown would again get in behind the defense to end the game with a goal.
Final 5-0 Lakers, shots 36-6 in favor of the Lakers.
Unfortunately the Lakers were sent home as they missed the quarter finals by one point. The Ottawa 67’s would end up winning the tournament with a 7-1 win over the Red Wings.
Written by Jeff Taylor