The Major Atom Lakers played at the Toronto Shanahan hockey tournament during the weekend of Nov. 11-13, 2011; winning the 1st game 5-0 against Michigan United and then losing the next 3; 8-3 to the Mississauga Rebels, 5-2 to Ajax-Pickering Raiders and 9-4 to Ottawa Silver Seven. If the Lakers played the entire 3 periods with the same drive shown for a period or two, their showing at the tournament would have been much better. The following weekend, the Lakers lost 5-1 to the Hamilton Reps, in Hamilton on Saturday Nov. 19, 2011, even though they outshot the Reps; and then defeated the Brantford 99ers 5-2 in Brantford on Sunday Nov. 20, 2011.
At the Shanahan, the Lakers defeated Michigan United in the 1st game 5-0 with goalie Bobby McLachlan getting the shutout. Joshua Zelek opened the scoring by roofing a goal after being sent in along the wing by Kyle Stanbury.
Zach Dow added to the scoring in the 1st on a goal mouth scramble from Tanner Reid. In the 2nd period, Shaun Barnett picked off the top corner from a blue line wrister, assisted by Ethan Roche and Jake Weston. Braeden Burdett extended the lead, assisted by Reid and Carter McLlwain. Stanbury finished the scoring in the 3rd, hitting the top corner after being assisted by Zelek and Reid Campbell.
At the Shanahan 2nd game, the Lakers were tied with the Rebels 3-3 with 6 minutes left in the 2nd period before letting the Mississaugua Rebels open the floodgates and finish with a 8-3 victory. Goal scorers for the Lakers included Sam Dupuis (from Stanbury), McLlwain (from Robert McNiven), and Burdett.
At the Shanahan 3rd game, the Lakers fell behind 5-0 in the 2nd period before scoring 2 goals in the 3rd, with the Ajax-Pickering Raiders winning 5-2. Laker goal scorers included Burdett and Zelek (from Stanbury and Campbell).
At the Shanahan 4th game, the Lakers were only losing 5-4 with 7 minutes to play before the floodgates opened, falling 9-4 to the Ottawa Silver Seven. Laker goal scorers included Reid (from Roche and Dow), Dupuis (from Matthew Schmidt), Campbell (from Zelek), and Dupuis.
In Hamilton, the Lakers held the Reps off the score sheet in the 1st and for most of the 3rd except for the 1st minute. Penalty trouble, allowed the Reps to score and build a lead in the 2nd period. The only goal scored was from Dupuis, banging the rebound off the initial shot by McLlwain (Roche also assisted). The Reps ran into penalty trouble in the 3rd but the Lakers could not beat the goalie and had difficulty hitting the net on other occasions. A Laker goal was called back and a Rep goal was kicked in; the officiating was difficult to applaud but the Lakers inability to bury it when it counted cost them the game. The Lakers outshot the Reps 19-17 but defensive lapses and bad luck allowed the Reps to build their lead.
In Brantford, the Lakers raced to a 5-0 lead by the 1st couple of minutes of the 2nd period, before defeating the 99ers 5-2. In the 1st period, Dupuis opened the scoring from Roche. McLlwain scored a powerplay goal from the top of the circle making it 2-0 (assists to Barnett and Stanbury). Dupuis’ powerplay marker made it 3-0 (from Campbell and Reid). Zelek made it 4-0 on an end to end rush. Early in the 2nd, Stanbury made it 5-0 (from Burdett and Zelek), another goal on the powerplay. The Lakers did give up 2 shorthanded goals. The Lakers dominated play, outshooting the 99ers 29-13. Goalie Owen Hahn came up with big saves when needed.
The Lakers appear to be headed in the right direction after some soul searching and difficult games. There is much promise to build upon and hopefully this is taken advantage of. Go Lakers!