The 99 Minor Peewee Lakers are unbeaten in their past 5 League games. Building on the 3 points collected in Windsor and Sun County, the 99 Lakers faced the Lambton Sting, Cambridge Hawks and Waterloo Wolves in the past 2 weekends.
Thanksgiving Day, Lakers Sting Lambton 3-1
In a fast paced game with plenty of successful PKs the Lakers controlled their opponent with a strong fore-check and a consistent two way game. Despite this, Lambton opened the scoring late in the second period. Down a digit the 99 Laker players from front to back battled hard to finish the second and continued their determined effort well into the third period until they were rewarded with a well deserved Power Play goal by rookie Laker Blair Butchart. Blair’s first Lakers goal was assisted by Noah Kuno and Ben Derrough. With the game tied at one the boys were focused on getting the go ahead goal. Throughout the third period our 5D Man team of Derrough, Denny, Landry, Moorhead and Collinson protected our zone with confidence giving way to a hardworking go ahead goal by Laker Captain Jacob Rooke with assists by Laker Rookies Butchart and Mitchel Deelstra of Gowanstown. With the game in hand and Lambton's goalie pulled veteran forward Tanner Hertel with a buck two left on the clock sent it 175 ft. into the middle of the empty Lambton net to cap the game 3-1. Hertel’s empty netter was assisted by Ashton Stockie and Rooke. Brock Baier faced 20 shots and made key saves throughout the entire game and denied Lambton of any comeback attempt.
Laker Day, Lakers Prey on Cambridge Hawks 6-1
This past weekend the Lakers hosted the Cambridge Hawks in Goderich on Laker Day. In front of their home crowd the Minor Peewees put on a offensive and defensive show to the spectators' delight. In a total team assault the game ended in a 6-1 decisive victory for the Lakers. Lakers opened the scoring with Dillon Weinheimer’s one timer net front goal assisted by Will Thibeault. With Cambridge in the penalty box for the better part of the second period, the Lakers took advantage with Kuno scoring from Kade Landry. Shortly after that Carter Collinson scored from Kuno and Brett Denny to notch another power play goal. With no response from Cambridge the Lakers pressed for a fourth goal in the third from a drive to the net by Stockie assisted by Thibeault. Again in the third, Deelstra scored an unassisted shorthanded goal to make five. Still not satisfied Kuno notched another shorty assisted by Deelstra to seal the victory. Bailey Paquette played ready hockey and was very strong in net on Laker Day and made some great pad saves. The Lakers outshot their opponents 32 to 15.
Lakers Comeback Stuns Waterloo
In the seventh league game of the year the 99 Lakers faced the very tough and hard hitting 6th Ontario Ranked Waterloo Wolves team. In this highly anticipated game the Lakers came out and dominated the play for much of the first but for a few short minutes. Late in the first small errors were magnified by 3 quick back to back Waterloo goals. Despite this all players battled on and remained focused on the game plan... defeat was not an option and they responded hard in every way. Strong physical play was endured for the remaining 30 minutes of play; no other goals were scored until the third period with a power play goal on a smooth pass from Kuno across to Collinson for the tap in to make it 3-1 with 12:58 on the clock remaining. The action continued and the penalties piled high on both sides with each team taking turns on the PP and PK. Goalie Brock Baier closed the door on the Wolves in the first period and never gave the key back. With end to end action the Lakers closed the gap 18 seconds later. A quick neutral zone regroup attack quarterbacked by Moorehead and Stockie sent Thibeault up the middle who found his way to the net and scored. With only a one goal differential and the momentum on the Lakers side and Waterloo looking disorientated, Brett Denny blasted a one timer at Waterloo's net minder who gave up a juicy rebound only to find Kuno there to bang home the tying goal. With the score 3-3, Baier continued to make saves in the dying minutes of the game to solidify the tie. Lakers faced 17 shots to Waterloo's 18. With a total team effort and solid response to Waterloo’s early goals, the Lakers stepped it up and proved they can contend with the big hitting Waterloo Squad. All players deserved the well-earned point and STAR as they improved their season record to 7-4-3.
The entire coaching staff believes strong team play and player respect on and off the ice is the corner stone of any truly successful team. We contribute much of our success of late to our players empowering this philosophy. This message has been highlighted and repeated over and over again since August by the staff and we are now starting to see the transformation. They believe in themselves and each other and they stick to the game plan regardless of the score.
They are learning how to win.
Lakers head west Nov. 23 and 24th to Chatham and Elgin Middlesex this weekend looking to build on their recent success.