Oct 26, 2014 | sjohnson | 432 views
4TH Annual Austin Holley Memorial Tournament
What a great weekend for hockey!! All three of the Ice Dog novice teams participated in the Austin Holley Memorial tournament in Wiarton. The weekend was to honour Austin, who was a valued member of the Bruce Peninsula hockey community. Austin passed away in 2010 from a brain aneurysm.
The entire hockey community came together to remember the vibrant, excited and sporty player, who loved the Canadian game. The complete tournament was very well ran and organized right from the beginning on Friday evening to the closing on Sunday afternoon. My hockey helmet salute to all who helped make this a truly fun time for each player.
Our mighty whites, began the day on Saturday with the shoot-out and skills completion, for which Austin and Kolby represented our team very well. I think that both boys had a lot of fun and laughs along the ice. Way to go guys!!
Right after this event, our team faced our first game of the season against the Bruce Peninsula # 2 team. Let me tell you fans, this was a fast-paced, evenly matched game!! The fans were kept on the edge of their seats, as the end-to-end rushes were fantastic!! We had a few firsts of the season, first penalty, off-sides, game with an "real official", but each Dog played strong and the game was tied at the end of the third, 2-2! Super start to the season.
Our long break of 4 hours between games, seen us take to the ice, to meet up with Shallow Lake #2. The Dogs were tired but never gave-up!! There were some great passes, digging along the boards, hard shots, yet we just could not seem to find the back of the Lakers net. Final score after 3 periods, 4-1 for Shallow Lake. I might add that our Dogs played the last game on Saturday and most of us didn't get to bed before 9 pm and were back up and ready to play at 8:00 AM on Sunday!!
With this record, our Dogs were playing for the bronze medal game against the Bruce Peninsula # 1 team. I am not sure if it was the much needed sleep or coach Dan's pre-game music, but the Dogs came out skating, passing and showing the fans a great game!! Each player was on-fire, and it showed in the stands. As the game was skating to a close, there was a surprise guest joining in on the game! The players from both teams were shocked to see Cubby bear from the Owen Sound Attack on the Ice Dog bench!! That's right folks, Cubby was there to help cheer on both teams. The game actually came to a sudden stop, not really sure if anyone was watching the puck or not?! Makes for some great excitement, anyways back to the game highlights, final score 5-2 for novice white!! And the crowd went wild!!! Each player was awarded with a bronze medal, from Austin Holley's parents and the help from Cubby!!
Again, an excellent tournament for all players who participated, each should be proud of her/himself for the way that they conducted themselves and represented Arran-Elderslie both on and off the ice!! Way to go Ice Dogs!!!
Next up, practice on Wednesday night in Tara at 7 pm!! ( We meet those other Dogs for a match on Saturday!!)
Keep your stick on the ice and skate fast the whole game and not just when you score!!
Sherry