Amazingly, 33 regular season games are in the books and the
Minor Midget Lakers finished with a record of 12-14-7, good for 7th
place in the Alliance rankings.
This past weekend saw the boys skate in two final games with
playoff positioning on the line. Friday night’s opponent was the Waterloo
Wolves, who overcame a difficult start to the season to finish in a playoff
spot themselves. Waterloo struck quickly, pouncing on a rebound in the
first minute to take the lead. A Laker penalty to captain Sheldon Pryce lead to
the Wolves second goal as they held possession for what seemed like forever
before finding the shot in the middle of the ice, going five-hole on netminder
Garrett Golley.
There was no scoring in the second period, but the Lakers
managed to even up the shot count with several good chances. The Waterloo
goalie made some fine saves to keep Huron-Perth off the scoreboard.
Waterloo stretched their lead to three with another
powerplay goal early in the third. Shortly after, with Lakers down a man
yet again, Bryce Lee forced a turnover at the blueline when the Wolves’
defenseman blasted the puck into his shin pads. From there it was a foot
race with Lee fighting off a hook and managing a good chance on the
breakaway. His shot was denied, however the Lakers would get on the board
with a goal on the ensuing powerplay, scored by Carter Schoonderwoerd, from
Pryce. Later in the period, Lakers forward Lakin Hendry buried a pass
from Pryce to cut the Waterloo lead to one. With Golley on the bench for
the extra attacker, the Lakers made a push for the tying goal. Unfortunately it
was Waterloo who scored the game’s final goal, into the empty net.
Despite a very good Huron-Perth third period, it was the Wolves who held on for
a 4-2 victory.
Sunday’s final regular season game featured a visit from the
Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs, another playoff-bound team. For the second
straight game, the Lakers would find themselves down a goal early. This time it
was an early powerplay for the Chiefs that did the damage when the forward in
front of the net was able to tip a point shot past goalie Carter Roth.
Unlike Friday’s game however, the Huron-Perth boys would provide some immediate
push back and tie the game up when Hendry cut to the middle of the ice and slid
the puck through the wickets of the Chiefs goalie. Laker defenseman
Thomas Gangl was a force in the early going with 3 good shots on goal.
A turnover at the E-M blueline looked to be no problem as
their player headed up the ice one-on-one. Unfortunately for us, a Chiefs
player exited the penalty box directly into the play resulting in a
two-on-one. A good pass across and into the net it went – no chance for
Roth. 2-1 Elgin-Middlesex after two.
An early penalty against the Chiefs in the third allowed the
Lakers to tie the game up at two when Nolan Gagnier scored on a feed from
Austin Mumby. Once again, though, it would be the Chiefs who retook the lead on
another odd-man rush. This time the puck carrier looped around the sliding
Gangl and kept it himself, shoveling it high on the short side. A short
time later, the Lakers would claw back even on another powerplay goal.
Jack Robinson let fly a hard low shot from the blue line that beat the Chiefs’
goalie five-hole. Might have been tipped in front, but no matter, the
deal was square once again. The Lakers very nearly took the lead late in the
period when the Chiefs’ goalie came way out of his net to play the puck and
then ended up shooting it to an open area of ice in their zone for
Schoonderwoerd to scoop up. His shot from a tough angle on the
still-empty net hit the outside of the post and bounced harmlessly away. With
the Chiefs needing two points to move up in the standings, it was a surprise
that they didn’t pull their goaltender to create a man-advantage, but instead
they chose to play it safe and the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
No rest for the weary, the boys jump straight into the
Playoffs with their series commencing on Wednesday night in London against the 2nd place Jr. Knights. This will be a best 3 of 5 series. Reset the odometer to
zero, it’s a new season – Playoff hockey baby!