Dec 09, 2011 | jzelek | 1467 views
Major Atom Lakers go 3-2 @ Bulldog tournament
The Major Atom Lakers finished 2nd in their division and advanced to the quarter-finals at the Hamilton Bulldog tournament on Dec. 2-4, 2011. In the 1st game, the Lakers were caught napping and were quickly down by 2 goals to the Kanata Blazers, losing eventually 5-2 to the tournament finalist. The Lakers won the next 3 games easily, beating Elgin Middlesex Chiefs 3-1, Markham Majors 8-0 and Michigan United 6-0. In the quarter-final game, the Lakers were down 3-2 with 5 minutes to go but ended up falling 5-2 to the Toronto Jr. Canadians. The eventual tournament winners were the Waterloo Wolves, who were beaten by the Lakers the previous week 2-1 in league play. There were a lot of positives from the tournament for the Lakers to build upon.
The Lakers had the opportunity to tour the Hamilton arena scene, as every game was at a different arena. In the 1st game, the Kanata Blazers jumped to a 2-0 lead before the game was 2 minutes old. The Lakers were able to get 2 power play goals in the third but ended up falling 5-2 to the Blazers. Goal scorers for the Lakers were Kyle Stanbury (from Joshua Zelek and Braeden Burdett) and Burdett (from Stanbury and Zelek).
The boys were pumped for the 2nd game as they wanted to get back at the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs for a loss the week before in league play. The Lakers easily controlled the possession game and could have run up the score if not for the strong defensive play by the Chiefs. Tanner Reid opened the scoring when fed a pass from Zelek from behind the net who was fed the puck by Carter McLlwain. In the 2nd period, Stanbury scored (from Burdett and Zelek) to open a 2-0 lead. The Lakers built up a 3-0 lead when Burdett tapped the puck past the Chief goalie (assisted by Reid Campbell and Zach Dow). The Chiefs were able to get a late 3rd period goal on a 5-3 power play but it was too little too late; ending up 3-1 for the Lakers. Goalie Owen Hahn had a strong game in net.
The Lakers embarrassed the Markham Majors in the 3rd game 8-0. Goal scorers included Stanbury (4), Sam Dupuis (2), Burdett and Zelek. Assists were given to Burdett, McLlwain, Jake Weston, Maxim Mulder, Matthew Schmidt, Zelek and Mcllwain. Goalie Bobby McLachlan was tested a few times late in the game when the Lakers got a little sloppy in their end, and held up the fort earning a well deserved shutout.
In the 4th game, the Lakers continued their strong play by beating Michigan United 6-0. Goal scorers included Zelek, Stanbury (2), Reid, Dow and Dupuis. Assists were awarded to McLlwain, Reid, Campbell, Mulder, Zelek, Stanbury and Ethan Roche. Goalie Owen Hahn preserved the shutout win by making some key saves late in the game.
In the 5th and quarter final game, the Lakers fell to the Toronto Jr. Canadians 5-2. The Canadians pressured the Lakers in their zone and were awarded with a 3-0 lead going into the third. Goalie Bobby McLachlan played a strong game, keeping the score from getting out of hand. The Lakers got some life when they scored 2 goals with 5 minutes left in the game. Dupuis scored with 7 minutes left from Mulder. McLlwain blasted a slap shot (from Campbell) from the blue line with 5 minutes left to narrow the gap to 3-2 . This was to no avail, as the Canadians continued their mastery in the Laker zone to create a couple of successful scoring chances to put the game away 5-2.
In the tournament, the Canadians ended up losing to Kanata 3-2 in the semi final and Kanata ended up losing to the tournament champion Waterloo 4-3 in the final. A couple of bounces here, some more aggressive play in our zone and this could have been us rather than Waterloo. This is more evident given that we had beaten Waterloo 2-1 in league play the week before. Keep working hard Lakers, good things are on the horizon. Go Lakers!!