Crabby Joe's Players Meet Walter Gretzky, News, Atom C Girls, U11 (OMHA), 2013-2014 (Saugeen Shores Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2013-2014 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 11, 2014 | rhall | 995 views
Crabby Joe's Players Meet Walter Gretzky
Crabby Joe’s Saugeen Shores Storm Atom C Girls entered the 33rd Annual Walter Gretzky Girls Hockey Tournament  20th to 23rd February.  When the time came to travel to Brantford the team found they were going to miss their top goal scorer in Skyler Pomroy as well as Calaen Macdonald.  Based on the strong reputation of the tournament, the team requested two Atom girl replacements from the Bruce Peninsula Predators  at the last moment. Thanks to Emma Baker and Maizy Hutchinson for stepping in.

Saugeen Shores’ first game was Thursday evening against the host Brantford Ice Cats, coincidently the same day of the Women’s Gold Medal Game – Canada/USA.  The team made arrangements to have the Party Room made available at the Comfort Inn and arrived early to cheer Canada on.  The victory of the Canadian women had a positive effect on the Crabby girls as they went into their own game on a high. Olivia Hall with two goals and an assist, Francesca  Alpajaro with one goal and an assist, Kennedy Stauffer with a goal, Natalie Brown with two assists and Emma Nason with one helper gave Crabby Joe’s an opening 4 – 0 win. Defensively, Lily VanGeel, Emily Russett, Maddy Leger, and Lauren Macdonald played rock solid in front of Ashley Shields.  Forwards Emma Baker and Maizy Hutchinson adapted very quickly to their new team’s style of play and fit right in. The tournament selection committee presented Olivia Hall with the game MVP honours.

Friday’s morning game had Crabby against the East Lambton Eagles. The Storm dominated in every department except  goal scoring.  It was one of those games where the opposition goalie was unbeatable and she did her job, shutting out Crabby Joe’s 1 – 0. The Selection Committee selected Kennedy Stauffer as the game’s MVP.

Crabby Joe’s faced the Bluewater Hawks in their third game. This team boasted a very good record and had recently won a tournament in Orillia while only allowing two goals in four games. It was a crucial game in determining advancement. The Division had 7 teams but only the top two would play in the Championship Game with the 3rd and 4th place teams relegated to the Bronze Medal game. Our 1 – 0 loss would seem to bump us from  Gold possibility. Realizing the goals for and against differential could be a deciding factor, to a player Crabby’s played Crabby’s game. Battles were won and scoring by Francesca with two and an assist and Olivia with one and one gave their team a 3 – 0 victory.  Francesca was selected her team’s MVP.

All of the teams were obviously evenly matched. The point spread between  7th place and first place was  2 points! No team won by more than a two-goal  margin in round robin play besides  the Storm. In fact there were three 0 – 0 games and three 1 – 0 games.  This meant that Crabby Joe’s had a mathematical chance to advance even though they suffered a loss. Unbelievable. The end result placed Crabby in first place with a plus 6 and Bluewater in second.  The third and fourth place teams each had a 1 – 1 – 1 record.  It was the Sudbury Lady Wolves over the Ancaster Avalanche  5 – 0 in the Bronze Medal game.  This was the tournament’s biggest score. The remaining teams in order of finish were the Woolwich Wild, the East Lambton Eagles, and the Brantford Ice Cats.  But the Championship game was awesome. Again, the battles were won and Ashley played flawlessly between the pipes.  Francesca scored her team’s two goals and Olivia and Kennedy had assists. The Gold Medal Game MVP went to shutout goaltender  Ashley Shields.

Champions: Natalie Brown, Ashley Shields, Emma Nason, Francesca Alpajaro, Emily Russett, Lily VanGeel, Kennedy Stauffer, Maizy Hutchinson, Emma Baker, Maddy Leger, Olivia Hall, Lauren Macdonald.