Great start boys! From the drop of the puck in our first game on Friday this group was determined. They were a TEAM on and off the ice ALL weekend and were rewarded with a Silver Medal. In 5 tournaments now over the past 2 seasons this group has reached the final 3 times. Keep up the hard work boys, eventually it will payoff.
With good puck movement out of our own zone and a strong forecheck we started with two convincing 8-3 wins over Regional Express East and the Southwest Jets White on Friday. Saturday we knew the competition would be stronger. We were up against West Durham Army, a very strong skating team from Ajax/Pickering. In an effort to slow down the fast skating Army we ended up in a lot of penalty trouble in the second period and couldn't get the offence going in a 6-1 loss. Next up was Southwest Blue, a team we hadn't faced since early last spring, but we knew they were strong. A win or a tie would secure 2nd place for the semi-final. This was a close game all the way, that saw Troy Coultes force the Southwest strongest player wide on a penalty shot late in the 3rd. We held on for a 4-4 tie.
In the semi-fianl we faced the Golden Glide, and a strong goaltender. After extended periods of pressure in the Glide end we just couldn't get one by their goalie in the first, leaving it scoreless at the end of 1. We didnt change a thing in the second and the goals started to go, late in the 3rd we were up 3-1. The Glide wouldn't quit though and managed to tie it up by the mid point of the 3rd to force OT. The OT was 3 on 3 and our groups of 3 forwards were too strong for the Glide as we sustained pressure for a full 2 minutes before finally getting the winner.
That would put us up against West Durham in the final. We played a strong first period coming out with a 2-1 lead, but couldn't hold off the speed of the Army in the second giving up 4 and only scoring 1. We played good defesively in the 3rd but just couldn't get any shots on net, and came up short in a 5-3 loss.
Great job boys, we are PROUD of you!