The Major Atom Lakers had a strong showing at the 2012 Rochester'01 Invitational Hockey Tournament in Rochester NY last weekend (Jan. 27-29, 2012). In the preliminary round, the Lakers easily defeated the North Jersey Avalanche 4-1 and the Buffalo Saints 5-0 before tying the Ottawa Sting 1-1 in a hard fought game. This seeded the Lakers 8th out of 32 teams, just enough to be in the top 8 Gold Division. In the quarter-final match against the Mississauga Reps, the 5th best team in Ontario, the Lakers started slowly and found themselves down by a couple of goals early before settling down & playing with the Reps before falling 5-1.
In the 1st game against the New Jersey Avalanche, Tanner Reid opened the scoring by taking a centering pass from Joshua Zelek and burying it pass the goalie, with Matthew Schwindt picking up the other assist. Kyle Stanbury scored a hat-trick, picking up a goal every period, 2 of them unassisted and the last one being assisted by Ethan Roche and Sam Dupuis. The Avalanche were able to break the shut out with a goal late in the 2nd period.
In the 2nd game against the Buffalo Saints, Carter McLlwain opened the scoring on a powerplay, assisted by Braeden Burdett. Stanbury opened up a 2-0 lead, assisted by Zelek. Dupuis netted the only 2nd period goal from Stanbury. Stanbury scored again in the 3rd unassisted and Reid Campbell scored the 5th goal from Zach Dow and Griffin St. Onge. Goalie Bobby McLachlan picked up the shut out.
In the 3rd game against the Ottawa Sting, the Lakers struck 1st midway in the 1st period with Roche finding the opening after taking the cross pass from Stanbury. The Sting tied it midway in the 2nd. After that, the Lakers were on their heels for a good 10 minutes as the Sting pressured and took it to the Lakers. Goalie Owen Hahn, probably playing his best game of the season, stood his ground and played the hero to keep the game a tie. The Lakers turned the momentum late in the 3rd but a questionable penalty call with 2 minutes late put the pressure back on the Lakers. The Lakers penalty kill unit & goalie withstood the onslaught to preserve the tie. The tie allowed both the Sting and Lakers to advance to the gold final 8.
In the gold quarter final game against the Mississauga Reps, the Lakers must have been in awe of the energy level of the Reps, as the Reps struck twice within the 1st minute to grab a 2-0 lead. The Reps struck again late in the 1st and then early in the 2nd to solidify a 4-0 lead. Midway during the 2nd, Zelek stole the puck at centre ice, and picked off the top corner to narrow the margin to 4-1. This was the 1st goal the Reps had given up so far in the tournament. This energized the Lakers and there were at least 3 occasions where the Lakers were within a hair’s whisker in narrowing the margin even further before the Reps put the game away midway in the 3rd. For most of the game, the Lakers played with the Reps but the 2 couple of minute intervals that led to 4 goals were too much to overcome. This game eliminated the Lakers from the tournament. The Reps went on to the final before losing 2-1 in the championship game to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
The tournament was a great experience for the Lakers, especially the experience in playing 2 solid teams, the Sting and the Reps. Those 2 games prepared the Lakers for the intensity that is required as they begin their playoff series against the Brantford 99ers this weekend. Go Lakers!