Jun 16, 2014 | Greg McNevan | 1671 views
Three-peat in Collingwood, 04 South win Gold!
The 04 South squad traveled to Collingwood June 6-8th weekend for their final tournament of the spring. Having won gold in this tournament the last two seasons, they were looking for the 3-peat. Coming off the gold medal win in Sarnia, the boys were excited about their last weekend of the spring in Collingwood, and not just for the hockey. The accommodations for the weekend were 2 chalets at Blue Mountain side by side where the majority of the team were staying. It was baseball, soccer, football and mini sticks all weekend with 5 hockey games thrown into the mix.
The hockey started Friday with a strong 5-1 win over Green Gloves. With a short break between games the boys grabbed a quick lunch and headed out to Collingwood for their second game against the KW Selects. We just couldn't get a flow going in this one. KW were the quicker team, beating us to loose pucks and forcing turnovers. With solid goaltending from Troy Coultes we managed to pull off a 2-2 tie. Game 3 Saturday morning the boys played a great game beating Edge 9-0. Our final round robin game on Saturday afternoon was against Maitland North. With some winter teammates, future teammates and other friends on the North team, the kids and parents from both teams were excited for this game. With us at 2-0-1, and the North at 1-1-1 in round robin play going into this game, whoever won this game would go to the final, as head-to-head was the first tie breaker. You could tell from the drop of the puck it was going to be a battle. The first 7 minutes saw both teams exchange scoring chances. Nick Houben would get us going at 5:31 of the first as he finished of a great passing playing, with Mitch Kenney and Ryder Livermore drawing assists. At 2:38 of the first we would go up 2-0, as Houben would bang home a rebound off a Ryan Laws shot with Livermore also assisting. The North would continue to battle, pressuring our D, and putting pucks to the net. Early in the 2nd we killed off a 4 minute penalty, but shortly after Noah Swann would put North on the board going bar down, on a shot from tight in the slot. With :38 seconds remaining in the 2nd Camden McNevan would restore the 2 goal lead with a back hander to the top shelf off a great feed from Corey Jewitt. The North would close the gap to 1 on a breakaway goal by Elliott McCarey with 9:52 remaining in the 3rd. Each team had a power play in the final 9:00 minutes of the game, but both goalies would come up with some great saves, and South would hang on for a 3-2 win, advancing to the gold medal game against KW Selects on Sunday.
The boys sure listened to the pre-game speech for this one, as they saved their best game of the season for last. That being said, most would probably expect a dominating 1 sided score, which wasn't the case. The boys chipped pucks up the boards, put pucks deep, cycled it down low, put pucks to the net, back checked hard and won the battles on the wall all game. Everything we worked on at practice, everything we talk about in pre-games was all coming out in a complete team effort. With 1:13 remaining in the first period Carter Coombs would get it going, cashing in a rebound with Jewitt and McNevan drawing assists. In the second period the Sharks would continue playing a solid defence first game, playing the majority of the period in the offensive zone. KW kept working hard drawing a penalty late in the second, to put us a man short. Early in the 3rd they capitalized on the PP to tie the score at 1. The Sharks kept their focus and continued to play smart hockey. With 2:47 to play Houben would work the puck to the point, and Tripp Gilbert would step in and put a great point shot through traffic in front giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead. The way these boys were playing that was enough, as they shut the door the rest of the way capturing their 3rd straight Blue Thunder Cup! I couldn't have asked for these kids to play a better game of hockey. In their final 10 games of the spring they gave up just 11 goals, going 8-1-1.
I would like to thank all of these kids and parents for another fun and successful spring season. Winning 2 golds and a silver was only a small part of the success. The way these kids got a long on and off the ice was amazing. That team atmosphere off the ice carried right into their all around team play on the ice. With a group of parents that always supported what we were trying to teach the kids really makes it easy and enjoyable to coach. Thanks to the rest of our coaching staff, and anyone who helped out on the bench when we were short. Thanks as well to those parents who kept stats during the games, and those that helped organize accommodations, pot lucks and those who took and distributed team pictures. Enjoy your summer!