It was a golden weekend for the Novice B Storm at The Chris Knott
Memorial Tournament, held in Saugeen Shores from the 21st-23rd of November.
The Storm began their tournament on Friday afternoon with an 8-0 win over the Paris Wolfpack. Chad Lawrence and Malachi McKinnon each scored a pair of goals during this game, while Liam Doherty, Austin Dunlop, Will Nason, and Emmett Jackson each contributed a goal. Player of the Game went to forward Brandon Embro and The Shut Out Award went to goaltender Lucas McCulloch.
With a win under their belts, the Storm next faced the Niagara on the Lake Wolves on Friday afternoon. This game saw both teams receive several penalties, but the Storm’s penalty killers were able to ensure that the Wolves were unable to score. Scoring began in the late minutes of the first period, with Storm forward, Luke Thornley, scoring from Sean Moorehead. Saugeen Shores kept the momentum going in the second period, with Liam Doherty and Dustin Heipel each scoring on the rush. During the third period, Dustin Heipel scored two more goals, giving him a hat-trick for the game and bringing the final score to 5-0 for the Storm. Player of the Game went to Jason Legge and The Shut Out Award went to goalie Keenan Bender.
Game three saw the Storm face off with the Parkhill North Stars at the Southampton Colosseum on Saturday morning. In this tight-knit match, the North Stars were able to take a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. Fighting hard to come back, the Storm rallied hard during the second period. Mid-way through the period, Chad Lawrence was able to equalize the score for the Storm. Picking up on this momentum, Dustin Heipel and Luke Thornley were each able to score in the late minutes of the second, bringing the score to 3-1 for the Storm at the end of the period. Play remained evenly matched and fast-paced during the third. Goalie, Lucas McCulloch made several big saves to keep his team ahead. With less than two minutes of play remaining, the North Stars scored their second goal. The last two minutes saw Dustin Heipel score the Storm’s fourth goal into an empty net, while the Stars were able to score with just 25 seconds remaining on the clock. Despite Parkhill’s gritty play, the Storm were able to hold off the Stars, with a final score of 4-3. Player of the Game was awarded to Chad Lawrence.
Undefeated in preliminary play, the Storm set off on Sunday afternoon to play the Parkhill North Star’s in the Championship Final. Play during the first period was fast and equally matched; both teams were looking for scoring chances and both goalies were playing to win. Midway through the second period, a defensive slip-up by Parkhill allowed Dustin Heipel to burry the puck into the Stars’ net, making the score 1-0 for the storm. Midway through the second period, a breakaway goal for the Stars evened-up the score. Minutes later, the Stars‘ were able to capitalize on the Storms‘ inability to clear the puck from their end. With fans on their feet, the last minutes of the game saw Dustin Heipel make two unassisted goals for the Storm, giving Heipel his second hat trick of the tournament. The final score was 4-2 for the Saugeen Shores Novice B Storm and Dustin Heipel was awarded the Player of the Game. The entire team should be extremely proud of their efforts and contributions to this fantastic weekend of hockey.