On December 9th, the Minor Midgets traveled to Waterloo to participate in the Waterloo Gold Puck Tournament. The Lakers came into this game with
Ryker Killins,
Drew Gross,
Ethan Adair and
Evan Wigmore all suffering from injuries. Adair would be the only one of the four to see any weekend action. Wigmore is close to getting back between the pipes after being out for six weeks.
The Lakers first opponent was the Toronto Titans. Garrett James opened the scoring in the first period when he was fed a beauty pass from Jacob Middleton who made an end to end rush and fed Jamsey from behind the net. The Titan goalie made the first save but James got his own rebound and banged it home. Goaltender Daniel Dekoning got his first point of the season when he earned the second assist on the goal. The Titans tied the game in the second period with a shot through a number of bodies that beat Dekoning low on the glove side. The Lakers took the lead for good in the third period when Alex Peters took a pass from Blake Pickering and hammered a shot from the point. The goalie made the first save but Quinten Haddock banged home the rebound in to the empty net. Haddock scored his second of the period and gave the Lakers the insurance they needed on a similar goal as his first one. Zach Goodhew took a pass from Nathan Templeman and took a shot from the point. Again Haddock was there to gather up the rebound, waiting until the goalie was down and out and firing a shot to the top half of the net. The final in this one was 3 – 1 with the Lakers who outshooting the Titans 28 - 18.
The Lakers second game of the day was against the Barrie Colts. The Lakers opened the scoring in the first period when right off the draw in the Colts end, Garrett James moved in from the hash marks, took a quick shot on net and then buried his own rebound. This was all the scoring the Lakers could muster up in this game as Barrie tied the game in the first on a slapshot from the point that beat a screened Daniel Dekoning. Barrie took the lead in the second period when some strong forechecking resulted in a pass from behind the net that was one timed past Dekoning. That was all the Colts would need as they went on to win 2 -1 outshooting the Lakers 26 – 15 along the way.
With a one and one record, the Lakers entered day 2 of the tournament with a noon hour game against the Copper Cliff Redman. The first period saw both teams having some scoring chances but neither one could find the scoreboard. The Laker powerplay has been struggling of late and that continued throughout the weekend. The Redman drew first blood in the second period when Daniel Dekoning made the initial save on a shot from the point but the rebound was buried up high. A rare penalty shot was awarded to Derek Elliott when a Redman player put his hand on the puck in the crease on a wild scramble in front of their net. Elliott made no mistake deking the goalie to his blocker side and backhanding the puck into the corner of the net. The game was tied at 1 – 1 going into the break. Half way through the third period the uRedman scored what turned out to be the game winner on a scramble in front of the Laker net. The puck slid past Dekoning on the blocker side. Final score 2 -1 for the Redman who outshot the Lakers 34 – 24.
The final opponent for the Lakers would be the South Central Coyotes. After the Lakers took it to their opponents for the first 5 minutes of the game, the tide changed with the Coyotes scoring 3 unanswered first period goals, all on the powerplay. The first goal was on a two on one ending with a Coyote player deflecting a pass across that beat Dekoning up high. The Coyotes scored again on a shot from the point that was deflected a few feet in front of the net and in. A few minutes later a Coyote player walked in from the face off dot and had three chances as he buried the second rebound past Dekoning. The period ended with the Lakers trailing 3 – 0. The Lakers were unable to capitalize on any powerplay opportunities and it became evident as the game wore on that a comeback was not in the works. A scary moment in the second period when Laker captain Jacob Middleton was sent hard in to the boards on a hit from behind. Midds laid on the ice for an extended period of time before being assisted off by trainer Tyler Matheson. Zach Goodhew took matters into his own hands and fought the responsible Coyote player. Both were ejected from the game. The game took a sombre mood following the events as all were concerned for the well being of Jacob. The Coyotes added a 3rd period goal making the final 4 – 0. The Lakers were outshot 28 – 21 in the game. Though the tournament started with a win, 3 straight losses spelled the end for the Lakers as they headed home licking their wounds.
The Lakers will take a few well deserved days off to heal their wounds and get some needed rest.