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WOAA CHAMPS AND A BIRTH AT OMHA
What an unbelievable season this team has had. After completing a very good regular season and three tournament Championships, OMHA saw fit that this team deserved to be moved up and into the Tier 2 group
of teams for the playoffs. At first this
team was not sure how that would go, but with some positive pep talks and never
give up attitude reinforced this team seemed ready to go. Well, the first game of the playoffs did not
go so well, and these Ice dogs dug themselves a little bit of a hole. With a very tough Oshawa tournament thrown in right after, we were a little down on our luck
and fighting to stay positive. But this
tournament seemed to be the turning point for this team, as each game was
against very stiff competition, and we could have won any of them. So, with that positive experience, the
coaching staff could feel the energy in the room come back and we were not
backing down from anyone the rest of the way.
The Goderich Sailors proved to be a very tough opponent in round robin
play as we beat them in OT with a beauty from Porter B. We also had to come back from 3-0 down in our
second game with them, as Landry W and Jesse P led the comeback with two goals apiece
in the third and Adan S made a season saving save to preserve the 4-4
tie. We reeled off 6 wins and a tie to
end the round robin play first in our pool and punched our way to the WOAA
final and a spot reserved at the Tier 2 OMHA Championships in Barrie.
WOAA FINALS vs DRAYTON
The boys earned the right to play in the WOAA finals versus
a very good team in the Drayton Defenders.
We had not faced this team this year and did not know what to really
expect from them other than that they were good for sure. Our boys came out flying and we took a
commanding 4-1 lead heading into the second period. But this Drayton team was starting to get
some really good chances and they finally broke through and scored 4 unanswered
goals and had a 5-4 lead heading into the second intermission. The coaching staff made some adjustments in the
intermission and reinforced the Ice dog way to play, and we absolutely
dominated the third period and skated away with a 9-5 win, led by Aiden M with
a hat trick. The second game of the
series was in Drayton and with a win we would be the Champs, and if we lost, we
would have to make the long drive back to Drayton the next day for the deciding
game. Well, the boys came to play, and we
were not losing this game. After a tepid
first 5 minutes we dominated the play and kept them to the outside with no real
dangerous chances. And any shot they did
have Adan S made his saves look easy. Owen
W with a rocket from the point started the scoring for us and we never looked
back. Porter B and Aiden M completed the
scoring and a very thorough 3-0 win, and we were WOAA Tier 2 Champs. Adan S completed his fourth shutout of the
playoffs as he was dialed in. This kid and the second-year kids from last year’s
team really stepped up for this team following the Oshawa tournament and a heart
to heart with the coach. They did not disappoint
and really led the charge for this little team.
They led and the rest of the kids followed and played their best hockey of
this season game in and game out. The defensive core of Owen W, Waylon G, Quinn C and Landon S absolutely were brilliant the last few games and shut down some top talent in the Tier 2 division. The Forwards made up of Jesse P, Porter B. Carter M, Adian M, Landry W, Bronson B and Conner B all contributed to the offence along the way, and that was the difference in winning some of these tight games, as the offence was spread out. And our spark plug goalie Adan S was dialed in and was a rock for us in net.
The coaching staff could not be prouder of
all the players. When they were down and
moved to Tier 2 they could have quit and
folded up shop and called it a good season.
But this was a good life lesson, when you are down are you going to quit? Or get back up and fight? They chose to
fight.