Oct 25, 2021 | Kevin Waddell | 269 views
Double The Dogs in Chesley Sunday Night
With many on hand, the spectators in the stands were seeing double as the U15 Rep took on their Icedog counterparts from BCH.
After a needed nights rest and still feeling the sting of their home opener shut out loss, the U15 Rep team came keen to start their Chesley home opener, with different results.
With the faceoff homework fresh on their minds, the message was to concentrate on our defensive zone set ups.
With ample time prior to the game, College Coach Levi had the opportunity for not just one, but two pregame pep talks. I don't know, nor do I want to know what is said at such meetings.
Some key lessons were learned from the game before. The coaches emphasized puck management and zone transitions, as well as the aggressive and consistent forecheck. Work hard and good things happen.
It was apparent from the drop of the puck, we weren't going to give the other Icedogs much of a break in the offensive zone. Cayden H, although shot tracking, was taking on the roll of player coach, as he chirped and gave his feedback to his teammates.
Consistent zone management and decent forechecking resulted in a handful of scoring opportunities deep in the BCH zone. With Levi sitting for two minutes to think about what he did to earn an interference call, Chris P pressured the BCH power play zone entry, sending him in all alone to punch in our first goal of the game. The cheers were loud from our group, as for the first time this season, we were on the board, and a shorty to boot!
BCH did have their chances in our end but any shot attempts were kept high and outside by or defense, giving Owen W plenty of sight lines to kick them aside.
With only a couple minutes left in the first, Spencer H took advantage of some open ice and danced his way in and out of BCH players to net the second goal of the game. The period ended with up 2-0
The Dreaded 2 Goal Lead
As the second period got underway, the dreaded two goal lead was staring down upon us from the clock.
Although still managing some decent scoring opportunities after that, a bit of complacency began to overtake the group as the minutes ticked away. Some sloppy play down low in our zone lead to a wide open BCH player picking up the rebound out front, beating our tender at close range. We headed to the dressing room at the buzzer to regroup. At this point we were outshooting our opponent 25-7
As the 3rd got underway, we found our stride again. We kept the BCH goalie busy with attempt after attempt and we did not let up. Any attempts in our zone were quickly thwarted, regrouped and sent back their way. Midway through the period we had almost 2 minutes of 5 on 3, our Icedogs pelted the BCH net with puck after puck after puck. With no result on the power play we still pushed on. A low point shot from Tyler B bounced out to an awaiting Riley J, who in attempting to shoot left it to Avery D to direct it into the BCH net with over 4 minutes left to play.
With a 3-1 lead, you would think I would say, great game, bring on the next one. Well just hold.... but wait..... there's more. On Avery D's next shift, the golden rule of body contact was forgotten. Pressuring the BCH player in the corner, he made a hit right across the numbers sending Avery off the ice with a CFB minor and a game misconduct. Lesson learned for sure as we will be down a center for our game in Shallow Lake.
A grittier and more consistent performance from our crew. We are still just getting started and many great things to come. Don't worry George P, you'll find the twine!
Hats off to Dustin V for cheering on his teammates in the back up role as well as to Tyler B, Owen M and Ryan P for coming out of their shells for this one. It was good to see a bit more grit from them.
I also want to tip the hat to Jesse C, the goaltender for BCH, although a loss, we outshot BCH 36-12. There were many great saves from the BCH tender.
Lets see what we can do with what we have learned so far Lakers tonight.
See you at the rink.