The Saugeen Shores
Novice B Storm came close to making the finals at the Kincardine Regional
Silver Stick Tournament, held December 27th-30th.
On Saturday, December 27th, the Storm kicked off the tournament with a 5-0 win against the Walkerton Capitals at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine. The Storms were able to monopolize the puck for the majority of the game against the Capitals. Storm forwards Dustin Heipel, Will Nason, and Malachi McKinnon scored the first three goals of the game for Saugeen shores. Defenseman, Jason Legge, scored on the rush, after having several great scoring opportunities. The last goal of the game went to Chad Lawrence from linesmen Luke Thornley and Dustin Heipel. Storm goalie, Lucas McCullough, was able to keep any attempts by the Capitals’ offense out of the crease, giving him a shut-out in his first game and a 5-0 win for Saugeen Shores.
Game two on Saturday saw Saugeen Shores face-off against the host-team, Kincardine Kinucks, at the Ripley arena. Both teams were looking for a win, which would place them at the top of their bracket for the elimination round, and a local rivalry guaranteed that this game would be a nail-biter. Storm fans went crazy, halfway through the first period, when Luke Thornley sunk a shot off of linemates Brandon Embro and Emmett Jackson. A minute and a half later, Storm fans were on their feet again, when forward, Dustin Heipel, nailed a shot to make the score 2-0 for the Storm. Play continued to be fast and rough during the second period, with both teams receiving minor penalties. Three minutes into the second period, the Kinucks were able to take advantage of the Storm being out of position and scored their first goal of the game. The Kinucks kept applying pressure throughout the remainder of the second period and into the third. With less than five minutes of play remaining, Kincardine was able to score once more, tying up the game. The last minutes of the game saw Kincardine miss several scoring opportunities, with the final score remaining a 2-2 tie. Despite facing a strong and quick opponent, Storm forwards like Malachi McKinnon, Luke Thornley, Liam Doherty, and Chad Lawrence used the forecheck to keep play in Kincardine’s end for a majority of the game, and defensemen Sean Moorehead, Lucas Harris, Austin Dunlop, and Jason Legge did an amazing job of shutting down rushes by Kincardine’s top players.
Sunday was a rest day for the Storm, as teams from the other Novice B needed to complete their round-robin play, after which the Storm were seeded third of nine teams.
Elimination rounds began on Monday, with the Storm facing off against the BCH Ice Dogs at the Ripley arena in quarter final play. The Storm came out guns-blazing in this game, with Dustin Heipel scoring his first goal of the game on the rush within the first seven seconds of play. Saugeen Shores keep the play predominantly in BCH’s end, during the first period. Dustin Heipel scored his second goal of the game with under two minutes remaining in the first period, assists going to Emmett Jackson and Jason Legge on the play. The Storm maintained control during the second period, with forward Chad Lawrence scoring a third goal for the Storm, with line-mate, Luke Thornley, grabbing the assist. BCH began to rally at the start of the third period, scoring at the nine-minute mark. However, goalie, Keenan Bender, made sure that goal was the Ice Dogs’ one and only for the game. Heipel scored his third goal of the game at the three minute mark in the third period, with Lucas Harris getting the assist on the play. Chad Lawrence and Dustin Heipel set up Liam Doherty, in a beautiful passing cycle, to score the Storm’s fifth goal of the game. With this win, the Saugeen Shores Storm eliminated the BCH Ice Dogs and moved onto the semi-finals later that day against the Twin Centre Stars.
You could feel the energy as you walked into the Ripley Arena on Monday night. The Storm knew it would be a tough battle but was ready to face off against the Stars, who had yet to lose a game this season. Play during the first two periods was equally matched, with both goalies making great saves and both teams playing aggressive, smart hockey. With just under two minutes to play in the second period, Twin Centre was able to beat our boys, making the score 1-0 at the start of the third. Both teams were forechecking well and making great shots on net. Goalie, Keenan Bender, kept his teammates in the game, with several stellar and much-needed saves. However, halfway through the third period, the Stars were able to score once more, taking a 2-0 lead over the Storm. A minute later, when Luke Thornley bested the Stars’ netminder, scoring an unassisted and much needed goal for the Storm, Saugeen Shores fans went wild with excitement. Despite tremendous determination and effort, Saugeen Shores was unable to score again and was eliminated from the tournament.
All players should be commended for their excellent team play during this tournament and all coaches recognized for their fine efforts and the on-going support they provided for this fine group of athletes. Awesome work, Storm!