The 99 Major Atom Lakers traveled to Toronto for the Shanahan International Hockey Tournament featuring a forty team field and most of the top teams in the province. The Lakers played four hard fought games against high quality opposition resulting in a 2-2 record and valuable experience as they continue the season and their hockey journey.
The Lakers had their hands full in a game one matchup as they got acquainted with the powerful Halton Hurricanes for the third time the season. The Lakers not only battled Halton but also the officials as the quickly found themselves playing shorthanded most of the first period including a long stretch down by two men. The boys battled hard but the Hurricanes, officiating and some bad luck around the net conspired against them resulting in a 4-1 loss. Carter Collinson scored the lone Lakers goal from Hunter James and Tanner Hertel. Bradley Kraemer and Brett Denny were strong defensively while Brock Baier was outstanding in goal as he repeatedly turned aside the Hurricane attacks.
The second game was almost a carbon copy of the first, with the highly ranked Syracuse Nationals as the opposition, Lakers players in the penalty box and a disappointing 4-0 loss. Kade Landry and Denny had strong outings while Baily Paquette was great in goal for the Lakers as the dangerous Nationals outshot the boys by a large margin.
After a tough start to the tournament the boys showed their mettle and responded with two solid performances resulting in wins over the Ottawa Sting and the Toronto Titans. Day two started with a 5:30AM wake up call for an early morning match up against the Sting. Although sleepy and not having their “A” game the Lakers dug deep and were rewarded with 3-2 victory in a back and forth affair. Will Thibeault, Landry and Collinson scored for the Lakers. Ben Derrough had two assists while Hertel Ashton Stockie and Landry had one each. Baier had another excellent performance in goal.
Having some time to kill in between games, many of the boys found themselves at a local go-cart track and brought their competitive nature to the asphalt. While no definitive winner could be declared, there was plenty of trash talk, high speed collisions and an appearance by coach Hertel as he donned a racing helmet to challenge the boys in races that were reminiscent of the best Talladega could offer. Much fun was had by all and the lightened mood carried over to the ice for the second game of the day against Toronto. The Lakers came out flying and overmatched the Titans in a chippy affair that resulted in a 7-1 victory. Thibeault notched the hattrick, Hertel had two goals with Jacob Rooke and Justin Beuermann notching singles. Hertel, Beuermann and James had two assists with singles going to Thibeault, Derrough, Stockie, Dillon Weinheimer, Mitchell Newson and Evan Moorehead. Baily Paquette was solid throughout the whole game stopping all but 1 of the 21 shots he faced from the tenacious Titans Team.
The Lakers continue their season this weekend with games against Chatham and Hamilton.
written by Mike Weinheimer