Oct 16, 2025 | Kevin Waddell | 32 views
U13 Tier 2 Game 1 In The Books
A shortened Icedogs U13 Tier 2 bench started off their season with a trip to face the Listowel Cyclones on Tuesday Night.
With many changes in our hockey landscape in the past 6-8 months, so many unknowns face all of our teams heading into the 2025-26 season. WIth the initial season round being crammed into a tight 6-7 week schedule, The Icedog U13 Tier 2 team started the season on Tuesday night against an unknown opponent. We were short handed with LIv on long Term IR, Ethan on a family vacation, and Simon who lost a epic battle with an ill mannered bee.
Without knowing the tiering of the far away loop we were put in, the coaches kept the message clear. Work hard and good things will happen. The focus was not to worry about the opponents or score, but just get out there and give it your best effort.
Well, our players did not disappoint. It was clear this was not a tiered team we were facing, but that did not deter our hearty icedogs. Austin, Evan and Myles were on a 3 player rotation on D which is hard at the best of times. Their efforts, shift after shift were absolutely commendable.
Up front we asked for Levi and Harley to step in and cover the centre positions. Both were keen and doubtful but with the amount of shifts they faced through the game, they did all they could. The efforts did not stop.
Our newer players, Bradley, Molly and Kellan, certainly found some extra gears and gave big efforts throughout the game.
Thomas, Lil and Mav definitely gave all they could muster up, right up until the final buzzer.
And lets not forget about two solid, and at times, the jaw dropping efforts by our two tendies, Farron and Dean. These two shared the game and each put on a couple of goalie clinics, stammering and frustrating many Listowel attempts.
As I have stated before, the score never dictates how the game played out. Our shortened bench of misfits, held a higher tier team to 2 goals for the first two periods. Sadly, physics do catch up and with a shortened bench....we just ran out of steam, allowing Listowel 5 more tallies.
The heads were sweaty after the game in dressing room, but there was satisfaction and pride on every players face, because they knew, they gave it their all.... and were proud of it.
Hat's off to you kids, for one heck of gutsy effort for our very first game of the season.