Feb 09, 2015 | maiken | 765 views
Hawks and Hounds: Heck of A Start!
Flesherton Golden Hawks came to Chesley to meet the Dogs and what a great OMHA game! Our goalie, despite battling the flu, put on a wonderful performance and it was a fast game. Hawks and our Hounds are going to have an exciting series! Game one: OT but they got there first! Final 5 to 6.
This was game one of OMHA with the Flesherton Golden Hawks. IceDogs were ten minutes from game time, hoping that their goalie would be able to stand between the posts, but he down with fever and flu. A call to Bradley Hillier to get his pads ready was made. But then, against all odds, Tyson rolled into the Chesley arena and putting all the stress behind him, he played a game that was inspirational! Hats off to the goalie! And big pat on the back to Bradley and his parents for that speed run to the arena to support, just in case....
The first period started and Hawks got their first shot away in the first 25 seconds and Tyson handled it confidently. There was perhaps a little sigh of relief and then the Dogs played the game with the heads and their hearts. It takes a whole team to win a game and moments can't be measured in minutes or points. Our defense was very sharp this whole game and moments like Corson's kneeslide block or his ankle save and Clayton's pick up and run or his body save in the final seconds made this period exciting. Brett was the one to get the Hounds on the scoreboard first at 4:09, with assists to Will and Chase. The only other goal in this period was another for the IceDogs, a great bit of passing work from Chase to Mitch to Conor who fired it in. 2 -0! But the IceDogs would get the first penalty from hardworking Spencer in the final minute.
The next period started with a minute still to serve but the IceDogs worked the penalty off, without the Hawks getting on the board. However, all good things must come to an end and they would finally score at 11:26, after Tyson made two great saves in a row. 2 to 1. Then our Dogs battled around the Hawk goalie and at 8:03, from Conor to Chase to the goalie's skate to the net and it was 3 to 1. But Flesherton was not going to stop skating and Tyson faced a lot of Hawks. It was inevitable that one or two would find a way to get that puck to the back of our net and by the end of this period, this contest was all tied up at 3 to 3.
The IceDogs needed a moment to recharge and they did. However, the ice was sticky and required some serious moving around for the Hawks and some serious standing still for the IceDogs. But that didn't deter us. Mitch immediately started the third with a skate down to their end to get a shot away, but no goal. Then Braydon took a run and the Dogs started to fly down the ice! The defence was shutting down the Hawk offensive. Brad took to the ice to block a shot. Danny worked the puck out of our end and got to bring out his big shot. The forward line was playing back more, for the most part, and Chase put his body on the line to make a stop. Then, Spencer set up a play to Mitch who shipped it back to Conor who beat their goalie over the glove again. 4 to 3. A minute and half later, Mitch made his own magic happen, with a nice run that ended with a sweet backhand that made it 5 to 3. Tyson made a series of glove saves but the Hawks got behind the defence and got their number 4. Then they charged through a faceoff and tied it up again. 5 for everyone. Hawks had the momentum now. Tyson made more awesome stops and saves....4:32, 3:24, 1:55, 1:49. And he kept the Dogs in it! The buzzer sounded it and the board read 5 to 5.
The fast overtime was our forte last series, but it appears the Golden Hawks have been reading our write ups and took a page from our book because the overtime was over almost before it began. Just like what the IceDogs like to do. 5 to 6. But the Dogs skated off the ice knowing that there was more to come. Much more to come! This will be an awesome series!