The Minor Peewee Lakers traveled to Peterborough the weekend of November 18-20, 2011 earning them silver medals.
The following weekend the Lakers traveled to Kitchener, again earning a silver medal!
~ PETERBOROUGH WALLY BEAVIS MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT~
On the weekend of November 18-20th, 2011 the Lakers would travel north to Peterborough for what would prove to be eventful and exciting hockey. The Lakers would come out strong winning their first game against the West Seneca Wings convincingly 6-0 on Friday, November 18, 2011. The Lakers would capitalize on the Wings penalty trouble throughout the game. Scoring for the Lakers: Eric Rolph, Max Hall, Brady Hinz, Brooke Schroeder, Cameron Amos and Colton Atkins. Assists were awarded to: Hall, Bayden Parent (2), Owen Gilhula, Malcolm McLeod, Rolph and Evan Dowd. Riley Deline earns the bragging rights of the game shut-out.
The Lakers would come out strong against the Oshawa Rockbrune Bros Movers later that same afternoon. The Lakers would score the only goal in the first period, followed by a second goal early in the second period. Oshawa would score their only goal of the game early in the third period, however the Lakers would secure the win with one last additional goal late in the third. Scoring for the Lakers were Gilhula, Parent and Kaleb Pearson. Assists were awarded to Hinz (2), Amos, Trent Buchanan, and Gilhula. Final score 3-1.
The Lakers would continue their winning streak onto Saturday morning after facing the Don Mills Flyers. The Lakers walked away again with yet another 6-0 win in the tournament, scoring 2 goals in the first period and 4 additional ones in the second, despite some serious injuries endured during the game. Scoring for the Lakers were: Pearson, Parent, Rolph, Gilhula, Amos, and Parker Gibbings. Assists were awarded to Buchanan, Cameron Hanson, Atkins, Dowd, Gibbings and McLeod. Deline earned his second shut-out of the tournament.
The Lakers started the game a little sluggish, allowing the Toronto Junior Canadian to score first. After such a successful start to the tournament the Lakers forgot they had to work, work hard and work as a team to win. Gilhula would tie the game up in the second period, shorthanded. Moments later, Hinzy would score again, shorthanded! At the end of the second period, the Lakers were up 2-1. In the third, Pearson would fire a bullet of his own. With an empty Canadian net, Hanson would secure the win with a shot up and out of the Lakers zone, to secure the win 4-1.
With 4 convincing straight wins, this put the Lakers in first place to advance to the semi finals where they would face the Upper Ottawa Valley Titans. The Lakers and Titans would take turns on the score board with the Lakers being first to score in a goal-mouth scramble. The Lakers would score again in the second period with some beautiful tape-to-tape passes. The Titans would get into some penalty trouble late in the second, however the Lakers were not able to capitalize on their 5 on 3 power play. Early in the third, the Lakers would net their third goal of the game, which was answered back minutes later by the Titans. Scoring for the Lakers were Amos, Parent, and Gilhula. Assists were awarded to: Gilhula, Pearson, Amos (2), and Gibbings. The Lakers would win 3-2 advancing them to the gold medal game where they would face the home town team, the Peterborough Petes.
In the game against the Petes, the Lakers would score early in the first period with a rush down the ice, top shelf by Defenceman McLeod unassisted. The Petes answered back minutes later. Gibbings took advantage tapping in a rebound from Atkins late in the second, again only to be answered back by the Petes less than a minute later. The Petes would advance by one early in the second period on a power play goal. With an empty Laker net, Gilhula would score with only 34 seconds remaining on the clock to tie the game, assisted by Hinz and Amos. However 7 seconds later, the Petes responded right off the face off to take the go-ahead goal and the gold medal just out of reach for the Lakers. The Petes clearly have mastered their penalty kill as the Lakers could not capitalize on the 18 minutes the Petes spent in the box.
The weekend was a TOTAL TEAM EFFORT with every player earning a goal or an assist. The team demonstrated that good things happen as a team when they play as a team and that despite some drama on the ice the Lakers proved that it is better to lose with class than win playing dirty. Riley Deline and Nathan Young stood on their heads and used their magic gloves to snag pucks out of the air the entire weekend. What an incredible weekend, the team should be proud to wear their silver metals.
~KITCHENER BLUELINE TOURNAMENT~
On Friday November 25, 2011 the Lakers travelled to Kitchener for an early 8am game, facing the Ottawa Sting. The Lakers scored late in the second period, however the Sting came back early in the third to tie the game. The game remained tied 1-1.
Later in the day, the Lakers would face the Grey Bruce Highlanders, winning with a convincing 3-0. Hat-trick Hinzy scored all three goals for the Lakers, one in each period. Assists were awarded to Owen Gilhula (2), Eric Rolph (2) and Malcolm McLeod. Netminder, Nate Young was strong between the pipes to earn the game shut-out.
The Lakers would rise again before the sun for another 8am game. The Minor Peewee Lakers and the Cambridge Hawks would exchange scoring opportunities throughout the game, however with only 3:38 remaining on the clock the Hawks were able to get past the Lakers netminder. The Lakers were unable to find the back of the twine for the remainder of the game, even with an extra offensive player and an empty net. The Hawks managed to get past the Lakers defence and head down the ice with an empty net, to secure the win. The game remained 2-0 Hawks.
Despite a long day to kill later on Saturday, the Lakers looked strong coming out the gates, facing the Central Ontario Wolves. With less than 1 minute into the game Trent Buchanan rushed the puck down the ice to net the Lakers first goal. However the mighty Wolves would respond with two further goals of their own later in the first. Bayden Parent would net the only goal in the second period, assisted by Buchanan and Kaleb Pearson. The Wolves would score again early in the third period, to take the go-ahead lead. The Lakers would continue to work hard and push the puck for the rest of the game. With only 1:33 remaining in the game the Lakers would get their lucky break as the Wolves would have to play the remainder of the game short handed. With an empty net and now 6 on 4 play, the Lakers would find the back of the Wolves twine with a D to D pass and then a one-timer bullet sent by Rolph with only 17 seconds on the clock to tie the game, assisted by Buchanan. This would tie the game 3-3.
With only 4 points, the Lakers had to patiently wait the outcome of rest of the tournament participants to confirm that their points and goals for and against had secured them a spot in the semi finals for yet again another early start to the day. The Lakers would face the first placed, Ottawa Sting for the second time in the tournament. The Sting would first light up the score board, only to be answered back less than one minute later. Defenceman Malcolm McLeod would send the puck up the ice to Matthew Bean who would rush the puck down the ice, dangling through the Stings defenceman, to send the puck top shelf to tie the game. Gilhula would net the only goal in the second period, assisted by Hinz and Rolph. Late in the third, Gilhula would net his second of the game, assisted by Hinz and Bean. Making a last effort to gain team momentum, the Sting would pull their goalie with over 3 minutes left on the clock. The additional offence would allow the Sting to net one additional goal with seconds left on the clock, however there simply was not enough time and the Lakers defence and goaltender would hold strong, securing the Lakers a spot in the championship game.
Again the Lakers would face the Cambridge Hawks for the second time in the tournament. The Lakers would come out a little tired and would endure injuries early in the final game. Both the Lakers and the Hawks traded scoring opportunities throughout the game. The Hawks would net the only goal of the game on a power play late in the second period. Despite an empty Laker net, the Lakers would not able to get the puck past the Hawks netminder, who earned the tournament MVP.
Honourable mention goes to both Riley Deline and Nate Young, who strongly defended the Lakers net keeping their opponents at bay. As well, APs' Matthew Bean and Cody Camm contributed fresh legs, speed and skill to the team efforts for the weekend.
Again, the Lakers would bring home Silver medals for their efforts on the weekend!!!
We are all so proud of each and every one of you!
The Lakers will have the opportunity for redemption on Thursday night, where they will face the Hawks again in Milverton at 7pm.