After a silver medal performance in Stratford, the Ice Sharks came up with a very strong defensive weekend of hockey in Sarnia to capture the Bluewater Championship. We have been really pushing the boys to play defence first hockey, minimizing quality shots against, getting pucks deep and not turning pucks over at the bluelines. This weekend they bought in, and with some great goaltending from Troy Coultes allowed only 5 goals against in 5 games.
The Sharks started the tournament with a convincing 6-0 win over Windsor, collecting 5 of a possible 5 points in that game. In this tournament there is 1 point available for winning each period, and an additional 2 points available for winning the game. Next they would face the TAG Tigers from London. The Tigers come out of the gate with 2 quick goals in the first 5 mins of the game. The boys tightened up the D, and didn't allow another goal the rest of the way, but could only manage to score 1 goal in the 3rd period, losing 2-1. In the final day of round robin play the boys would need 2 wins to make the final on Sunday. KBX from Sault Ste. Marie would be the first opponent. The Sharks out shot the Soo 46-9 in a 3-1 win, collecting 4 points. The last round robin game would be against Detroit Compuware, who were undefeated. In a review of the point system prior to this game, we would need a minimum of 3 1/2 points to be guaranteed a spot in the final. Both teams came out playing smart defensive hockey, in a scoreless first period. Compuware would score the only goal of the second period as they carried a lot of the play out shooting us 10-3. This meant we would have to win the 3rd period by 2 goals. With not only a birth in the Championship game, but also another night at the hotel as a motivator the boys turned up their play. Luke Fritz would get the equalizer on the power play,throwing a Zach Schooley rebound up and over a sprawling goalie. Schooley would then score the go ahead goal on a low blast from the point. This goal would stand up as the game winner and give us the 3 1/2 points we needed to set up a rematch with Compuware on Sunday in the final.
It was two years ago in this tournament when most of these boys faced a very skilled Detroit Honeybaked team in a Canada vs. USA final. I reminded the boys, on that day we had a much bigger challenge as Honeybaked had beat us 11-1 in the round robin game. That game was the most memorable these 04 Ice Sharks had played to date as they beat Honeybaked 3-2 to win the 2012 Championship. Compuware is also a very skilled and fast team with good goaltending, so we knew we needed to continue where we left off in the semi with a low scoring, solid defensive game. Once again Canada vs. USA was a great motivator.
In the first period both teams continued their solid defensive play, as they battled to a scoreless draw, with Compuware holding a 5-4 lead in shots. The Ice Sharks would score first at 7:14 of the second period as Mitchell Kenney finished off a rush, assisted by Nick Houben. Compuware would bounce right back and even the score at 1 less that a minute later. The score would remain 1-1 going into the 3rd. With a 15 minute period to go, and Canadian pride on the line the boys turned it up. They forced many turn overs as Compuware continued their individual efforts to get the puck into our zone. At 9:52 all the efforts paid off as Ryan Laws went to the net hard tipping home a great centering pass from Kenney, with Houben picking up the 2nd assist. With continued solid goaltending from Coultes and a complete defensive effort, the boys shut the door the rest of the way reclaiming the Bluewater Sharks 04 Championship.
This weekend they head to Collingwood to defend the Blue Thunder Cup in their final tournament of the spring.