Jan 23, 2023 | Greg Price | 206 views
International Silver Stick Round up
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The U13 REP Ice Dogs traveled to Forest for their 31st annual International Silver Stick Finals Tournament. This event pitted all the Regional winners against each other in the C division. Being a DD center and facing CC and C centers this was going to be a tall order for this little team. With two of our Ice Dogs away enjoying the sunny south we called up AP players Will Hampton, Oliver Hershey, Conner Hesch and Payson Hamel to help us out. They played great and never quit in what was sure the best competition they have ever faced. We came out of the gates with one of the best performances this team has had all year with tight checking and defensive zone coverage that led to some very good offensive opportunities. Conner H with 1 and Jesse P with 4 led the attack and we ended up winning 5-3 to open the tournament.
Before the next game the Silver Stick organizers put on a great opening ceremony with the local legion providing some bagpipes and all 24 teams in the U11 and U13 level marching onto the ice to showcase their respective team.
The next two games were against the eventual two teams that made it to the finals(Lambton Shores and North Middlesex). Both of these teams are unbelievable and they played great hockey and stymied most of our offensive opportunities that we had. We lost another Ice Dog and the best hard working forward in all WOAA in Porter B to injury early in the second game. But this team did not quit and tried there best to mount some offence. Payson H and Jeese P with singles in these two games.
The last game was against another solid team in the Highland Storm. This game the Ice Dogs cleaned up a lot of mistakes from the previous two games and obviously learned a lot from what was the most pressure from the best two teams we have faced all year. We were blocking the lanes and the defense were hitting our wingers with great passes to start our breakout out of the zone. We tried right to the end and the kids gave it all they had. Adan S was superb between the pipes in this game.
So in summary, we came down and played against some of the top teams in the C division in Ontario. All the forwards Porter B, Conner H, Oliver H, Payson H, Jesse P, Conner B, Carter M gave it there all and never quit. They scored some really nice goals as well. The defensive core of Owen W, Bronson B, Landon S, Waylon G and Quinn C played their hearts out as well. Adan S and Will H stood tall between the pipes and gave the Ice Dogs a chance. Nothing to be ashamed of.