Playoffs begin this Saturday against the Windsor Jr. Spitfires. The Spits were 9-15-6 with 24 pts on the season but can't be taken lightly in the playoffs. They finished the year with a strong 4-0-1 compared to the Lakers who finished 1-3-1.
The Minor Midgets have earned a bye into the second round of playoffs after finishing their season at the top of the East Division. Chris Stewart's skaters earned a very respectable record of 20-6-4 with 44 pts in league play, finishing third overall in the 13 team league behind the Chiefs and the Knights Gold. Including tournaments, the team's record is 34-16-6.
THE FINAL FOUR GAMES
Windsor Jr. Spitfires
Cian Patterson-March began this game with a difficult but very relaxed looking glove save. On a penalty kill Brady Wiffen helped out with the goaltending duties by taking a slap shot off the ankle and then blocked another moments later. Wiffen was also very effective offensively on the penalty kill, setting up Ryan Watson for a backhand deke that just missed and then taking a Watson pass and chipping a backhander just wide of the top right corner. In the second period, rugged Ty Bilcke did most of the work - but received none of the score sheet glory - digging the puck out of the corner for Brady Wiffen and Ray Huether to send back to Jake Ringuette. Ringuette's quick wrister made it 1-0. Huether and Ringuette were also instrumental in the Lakers 2-0 goal. In close, Huether passed the puck to Ringuette who could've shot but instead relayed it to Ryan Watson for one of the prettiest Laker goals of the season! Lakers would go on to outshoot the Spits 26-17 - but let them back into the game in the third period. Windsor scored twice for a 2-2 tie.
Waterloo Wolves
A game against the Wolves usually involves outshooting them badly and winning by one goal. The first period of this January 3 game started out evenly. The Wolves' first shot hit the post and Ray Huether narrowly missed with a hard wrister. A 4 on 4 situation didn't quite pay off but looked like a Lakers power play with Ryan Watson and Ray Huether controlling the puck at will. Goalie Drew Reinhardt did his part stopping a breakaway. Waterloo managed one first period goal and then, despite being outplayed by the Lakers, went up 2-0 in the second. In the third period Scott Coghlin's low wrister from the point found the back of the Wolves' net. On a penalty kill, Shawn Moore powered through a defender one on one but was denied. Two to one was as close as the Lakers would get, eventually losing the game by a score of 3-1. Lakers managed 39 shots to the Wolves' 20. The seventeen penalties were shared quite evenly with the Lakers taking 8. The difference in this game was use of man advantage. The Wolves scored three power play goals. The Lakers power play unit was shut down.
Cambridge Hawks
With tenacious Brandon Priestap out of the lineup, this January 9 game began with an interesting line taking the opening faceoff - Ray Huether centering Brady Wiffen and Shawn Moore. Before the game was a minute old, Jake Ringuette was rushing over the blue line and drew a penalty after being grabbed around the waist by a flatfooted defender. Shortly after that, Ringuette used his hand to pick a puck out of the air and found himself on the receiving end for an infraction which hasn't been called in the last 10 years - closing a hand on the puck. A harmless looking Cambridge turnover in the neutral zone paid off for the Lakers. Ray Huether caught the defense sleeping when he banked the puck hard off the sideboards. Colt Pickett anticipated the play, was rewarded with clear passage to the net, and made no mistake with the wrister. Ty Bilcke's cross ice pass to Scott Coghlin was a little too far ahead but resulted in Coghlin turning on the jets to pick up the carom off the side boards. The extra speed was too much for the Hawks d. when Coghlin went wide and cut in front to bury a backhander. The Hawks made it 2-1 twenty -two seconds into a power play when a hard slap shot found the top right corner of Drew Reinhardt's net.
A second period dump in to the right corner looked like a gift for Brady Wiffen when the puck changed direction and came in front of the vacated net but a Hawks defender recovered in time to deflect Wiffen's shot. On a Lakers' power play Liam Maaskant took advantage of a similar bounce with a slap shot toward the top right corner but unfortunately that was the goalie's glove side. On a one-on-one, Shawn Moore moved to the right when he spotted Ray Huether accelerating into the play. Huether took a nice chip pass but found the goalpost with his backhand deke. Ty Bilcke was effective on a penalty kill by anticipating a defenseman's every move. Jake Ringuette looked like he was taking a rest by controlling the puck at his own blue line but then snapped a surprise pass to Ray Huether who nearly broke in alone. Drew Reinhardt must've been in a sporting mood when he kicked a rebound out to the blue line for a free slap shot. With one minute left in the second period Colt Pickett took a Ray Huether centering pass on the fly and got off a low shot. The goalie's pad was on it but Shawn Moore was in perfect position - stick on the ice - to bury the rebound. The third period was uneventful scoring wise but there were plenty of individual contributions. Jeff McArdle beat several defenders on a smooth rush down the right side. On a penalty kill, Spencer Ball was a workhorse battling in the corner and behind the net to keep the puck out of danger. Drew Reinhardt made a number of pad saves look easy and forced several shooters to fire over the crossbar. The final shot count was 35-21 for the good guys. Final score.....3-1.
Brantford Battalion
As far as playoffs are concerned, this final league game was meaningless. In the early going, Brady Wiffen almost scored on a wraparound. The Battalion took advantage of this missed opportunity and made the best of their own chances, quickly digging a 2-0 hole for the Lakers. Jesse DeGroote made the defensive play of the game in the second period when he leveled a Brantford player who made the mistake of admiring his own dump-in. Despite efforts like this, the hole got deeper for the Lakers who found themselves down 4-0 by the end of the second period.
They tried to make a game of it in the third period, though. Parked at the right side of the net, David Sproat took a beauty pass from Colt Pickett and buried it low before the goalie could drop into position. Despite continued pressure and outshooting the Battalion 27-22, cutting the lead in half was the best we could do. Three Laker stalwarts combined for the final goal of the Lakers' regular season - Huether to Wiffen to Ringuette. Final score....4-2