Major PeeWees started out strong in the Kitchener Blueline Tournament this past weekend, but couldn’t make it to the Finals.
In game # 1 of round robin play the HPL Major PeeWees would face-off against the home town Kitchener Jr. Rangers in what ended up being a great two way game. Kitchener went on the scoreboard first midway through the 1st period when the Kitchener forward was left all alone in front of the Lakers net for an easy goal. Three minutes into the 2nd period the Rangers went ahead 2 – 0. At this point the Lakers knew they had to get stronger in the defensive end of the rink.
Kenny Huether put the Lakers on the scoreboard one minute after the 2nd Kitchener goal when
Evan Chaffe came up with the loose puck in the Lakers' end, passed to
Haydn Favacho coming out of the corner deep and fed Kenny Huether a rink-wide pass before Huether finished the play with the goal.
Mykal Hodges tied the game when the Lakers were making a good line change, where
Jamie Huber controlled the puck down low cycling it to
Ted Nichol coming off the bench, then Nichol found Hodges coming off the bench into the slot feeding him a great pass for a quick shot and the goal. In the last minute of the 2nd period the Lakers went ahead 3 – 2 with a goal from Ted Nichol when he scored with a bad angle shot from the goal line, assists went to Chaffe and Hodges. Kitchener came right back and scored ten seconds later to once again tie the game at 3 – 3 going into the 3rd period. The Lakers forecheck was excellent in the 3rd period and finally with one minute remaining in the game Kitchener gave up control of the puck in their own end allowing Huether to score his 2nd goal of the game, assists going to
Cullen Mercer and Huber. Final score: Lakers 4, Kitchener 3.
Ben Larder had the win in goal and MVP for the game was Ted Nichol.
Game # 2 vs. Grey-Bruce Highlanders proved to be a tougher game than what it should have been. After a scoreless 1st the Highlanders scored a shorthanded goal in the first minute of the 2nd period. That seemed to be a wake up call for the Lakers as
Mykal Hodges set-up
Evan Chaffe on a 2 on 1 rush to tie the game. Fourteen seconds later
Nathan Smith set-up
Josh Higgins for a tip in on a 2 on 1 rush,
Eric MacPhee picked up the other assist. Grey-Bruce didn’t quit as they tied the game at 2 a piece before Higgins scored his 2nd of the game with assists going to
Carson Brookshaw and
Ted Nichol. Early in the 3rd, Ted Nichol added an insurance goal from
Jamie Huber and
Zach Jacobs.
Blake Nichol rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal from Smith.
Owen Chapman had the win in goal and Josh Higgins picked up the MVP of the game.
Game # 3 saw the Lakers taking on the Niagara Falls Canucks, with the Lakers controlling the game from start to finish.
Eric MacPee scored the first Lakers goal with a good hard slap shot from the point with assists going to
Josh Higgins and
Carson Brookshaw.
Jamie Huber put the Lakers up 2 – 0 late in the 1st period with assists going to
Ted Nichol and
Zach Jacobs. Huber scored once again in the 2nd period with
Evan Chaffe picking up the assist. Huber completed his hat trick in the 3rd with
Cullen Mercer picking up the lone assist.
Ben Larder had the shutout and the win in goal while Jamie Huber was the game MVP.
Game # 4 was when things start falling apart on the Lakers as they took on the Toronto Red Wings. The game started out slow and before the Lakers could get their skates moving Toronto was ahead 1 – 0.
Nathan Smith tied the game early in the 2nd on a breakaway. Toronto came right back scoring the next three against the Lakers.
Haydn Favacho would give the Lakers some life when he scored on a good hard slap shot from the point, but that was all the offence the Lakers could find in this game. Final score: Toronto 5 Lakers 2, but even with this loss the Lakers had enough wins to put them into the semi-finals.
The semi-final game saw the Lakers matched up against the Oshawa Generals with the same 3 – 1 record as the Lakers. The Lakers had a few chances early in the game to get on the scoreboard but couldn’t finish at the net. Oshawa didn’t make any mistakes as they scored three goals in 3 minutes in the 1st period before the Lakers made a goalie change. That seemed to spark the Lakers as
Nathan Smith scored from
Tristan Connolly to cut the Oshawa lead to 2 goals.
Zach Jacobs then scored from the point on a great set-up from
Cullen Mercer and cut Oshawa’s led to 3 – 2. Oshawa scored early in the 3rd, but the Lakers came right back when
Blake Nichol did a good job of keeping the puck in at the Oshawa blueline and getting it to
Evan Chaffe who scored to cut the Oshawa led to one goal again. With four minutes remaining in the game Oshawa scored and that seemed to kill the Lakers' momentum. The game ended 5 - 3 for the Oshawa Generals, putting them in the finals against the Toronto Red Wings. The Red Wings ended up winning the tournament, the only team to defeat the Lakers in round robin play.