The Major PeeWee Huron Perth Lakers competed at the AAA SilverStick tournament in Port Huron this past weekend and went undefeated in 4 games. It is interesting to note that they were the only team to go undefeated at the tournament. Unfortunately this was not good enough to advance to the final 8 from a field of 24 teams. The Lakers finished tied for 8th, the last playoff spot, losing the tie breaker by goal differential. The Lakers ended up winning their first game and then their last 3 games all ended in ties.
The remarkable side story is that the Lakers were probably assigned to the toughest division, a division of death, which included Chicago Mission (#3 top US team), Mississauga Reps (#9 top Canadian team) and Ottawa Valley Titans (#17 top Canadian team) and their cross over game was against the Hamilton Bulldogs (#13 top Canadian team). The Lakers current ranking is #41 in all of Canada however they have played excellent hockey the last month or so. The low overall ranking is more of a result of a very slow start. In the last 10 games, the Lakers hold down the top #17 position in all of Canada, have run a 10-3 record in December and are undefeated in 2014. The SilverStick performance is a positive encore to winning the Nations Cup tournament in early December.
The Lakers on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014 began the tournament in Lapeer. MI against the Hamilton Bulldogs, defeating them 3-1. The following day, Friday, in Port Huron, they played Chicago Mission and were down by a score of 3-1 entering the third. The Lakers came back to tie the game but gave up a goal with 3 minutes to go which could have been a back breaker. In an exciting finish, with the goalie pulled, the Lakers tied the game with 15 seconds left and just missed winning the game with 4 seconds left. Later that day, again in Port Huron, The Lakers opened a 1-0 lead against the Mississauga Reps only to give up the tying goal while short handed late in the game. Saturday morning, the Lakers opponent were the Ottawa Valley Titans. A quick goal gave the Lakers the lead but a defensive lapse later in the first saw the Lakers down by a score of 3-1 after one. The Lakers took over the game in the second but could not score until the third period when they tied the game. Numerous late chances were denied and the game ended deadlocked. In retrospect, an extra goal in that game would have advanced the team.
Laker goal scorers included Tyson Hall, Parker Miller, Braeden Burdett, Eric Vander Eyk, Joshua Zelek, Tyson Koopman and Kyle Stanbury. Backstopped by the strong goaltending by Zach Hall & Owen Hahn and strong defensive core of Maxim Mulder, Jake Weston, Shawn Barnett, Griffin MacDonald, Rhys Britton and Connor Otto gave the Lakers the opportunities to be competitive. Strong forechecking by Reid Campbell and Joel Denotter kept the other teams on their heels.
The boys can hold their heads up high based on their performance this past weekend. They went up against the best North American AAA teams and the Lakers did not bend, they held their ground. As the season winds down and playoffs begin in a few weeks, the recent strong performances are inspirations for continued strong play. Congratulations Lakers on your recent successes, especially the excellent performance from this past weekend, and we wish you continued exciting performances and successes.