The weekend of December 11th the Minor Midgets were in Waterloo for the Gold Puck tournament.
Wolves Sent Packing
In Friday's morning game against Waterloo,
Ty Bilcke set the tone with some solid body checks.
Brandon Priestap's aggressive fore checking caused a defenseman to cough up the puck just as he carried it behind the net. The puck ended up on
Ray Huether's stick out in front. Huether didn't have much time or angle but the uber-sniper made the best of it snapping the puck into the top right hand corner. In the second period, David Sproat
won a checking battle before backhanding the puck toward the net where Jerry Ennett was in position to bury it. Ryan Watson almost provided a cushion during a penalty kill, but was denied after a deke to the left. The Wolves got one back in the third, on a nicely executed 2 on 1 and kept pressing to even the score. With 5:49 left in the third
Drew Reinhardt foiled a wraparound attempt and continued to keep the puck out of the net during the ensuing commotion. Moments later, another goalmouth scramble saw the puck sitting on the goal line but again luck and skill kept it from crossing the line. With 37 seconds left Waterloo pulled their goalie but never earned a quality scoring opportunity despite the extra attacker. Final score.....2-1.
Hurricanes a Breeze
On a first period power play,
Ray Huether made it 1-0 with a harmless looking pass toward the front of the net. Good goal scorers always find a way and this time the puck ricocheted up off a defender and over the goalie's shoulder. The already short staffed Hurricanes lost another player after he was ejected for a cheap hit from behind on
Scott Coghlin - the tough defender was rattled on the play but had returned to form a few shifts later. On the power play,
Jake Ringuette faked his way from the blue line past one player, looked once and snapped a 'howie' under the crossbar....2-0. A shorthanded Hurricane breakaway dashed
Cian Patterson-March’s shutout bid and made the score 2-1. In the second period Halton almost tied it, with March on his knees at the mercy of shooter, but the reliable net minder wiggled and squirmed to maintain the necessary angle until help arrived. In the third period, a Halton defender was standing on his own blue line trying to control a short-hop pass. Instead of charging the defenseman, Ray Huether guessed he'd 'Buckner' the puck and skated to where the puck would end up. He guessed right, took control of the puck and roared in for the backhand deke to make it 3-1. Parked on the doorstep,
Ty Bilcke completed the scoring with a tap in. Final score 4-1.
Calgary.....Blackhawks???
After dropping the Saturday morning game to Ottawa by a score of 4-1, the Lakers met up with the improbably named Blackhawks at 7:30pm.The first two minutes of play was all Huron-Perth but then, as so often happens in hockey, Calgary made their way down the ice and scored on their first try.
Cian Patterson-March made a great glove save in the first period which was matched by an equally good glove save by the Calgary goalie -
Ray Huether's quick shot had eyes for the top right corner but met leather instead.
Jake Ringuette dashed coast to coast on an exciting rush but was left cutting in from a poor angle. On a first period power play, Ringuette simplified things by lobbing the puck on net. A couple of Lakers had a crack at the rebound but Ray Huether was the lucky one who made it 1-1. Down a man with 10 seconds left to play in the first period a knuckler beat Patterson-March. In the second period,
Ryan Watson made one of the nicest passes you'll ever see. After beating a defenseman, Watson was cruising in on net but had no angle and no pass. Instead of wasting the possession, the clever winger controlled the puck in a way that took the goalie out of position while giving
Ty Bilcke time to get into position - quick pass and it's 2-2. As the second period wound down, Watson, Bilcke and Huether were applying pressure when luck went Calgary's way again, this time in the form of a breakaway. Down 3-2 now but on the power play,
Brandon Priestap set up off the right post like John Tavares and calmly redirected a smooth Ray Huether pass. The third period was well played with both teams unable to score. Final score 3-3. With a record of 2-1-1 the team's status for Sunday was left to the mathematicians.
Elgin-Middlesex
Whether in the final or the semi-final, a championship in this tournament would necessitate beating the Chiefs. As Saturday night's games played out it became apparent that the Chiefs would be the semi-final opponent for 8:00 Sunday morning. A minute in, goalie
Drew Reinhardt made a huge save on a clear-cut breakaway. Three minutes in, a screen shot beat Reinhardt. Shortly thereafter Laker penalties began taking their toll. Penalties can be costly and the Chiefs potent power play resulted in two quick goals to make it 3-0. Blame it on the early start or the Rogers TV cameras, but this wouldn't be the Lakers' finest effort. Final score 7-1. The Chiefs went on to win the tournament.
Article by: Paul Sproat