January and February
were busy but successful months of hockey for the Saugeen Shores Novice B Rep
team.
Play in January began with a hard loss on home ice against their major rival, the Kincardine Kinucks. Kincardine seemed to be unstoppable during the first period, with three goals being scored against the Storm within the first five minutes of play. A well-placed tip in the second period by Chad Lawrence off of a shot by Dustin Heipel gave the Storm their only goal of the game, despite having several power play opportunities. Final score 3-1 Kincardine.
The Storm were looking for revenge on Friday, January 16th, when they met the Kinucks at the Southampton Coliseum. Play throughout the first period was fast and aggressive, with both teams having scoring opportunities denied by opposing goalies. With under four minutes to play in the first, the Kinucks were able to score on the rush, making it 1-0 Kincardine, heading into the second. Despite both team aggressively fore and back checking, neither team was able to score during the second period. With five minutes left in the third period, Liam Doherty scored a beauty goal for the Storm, after weaving through several Kincardine players starting from his own end. Despite Kincardine receiving several penalties in the third period, the Storm were unable to break the Kinucks’ goalie, and the game ended as a 1-1 Tie.
Sunday January 18th saw play between the Mount Forrest Rams and the Saugeen Shores Storm at the Southampton Coliseum. This game belonged to the Storm! During the first period, Dustin Heipel scored with less than five minutes remaining in the period. During the next shift, Heipel worked and weaved his way through several Ram players in their own end, banking the puck off of the boards to receive his own pass, and then setting up fellow Storm player, Sean Moorehead, for a beautiful goal. Play during the second saw Saugeen maintain possession for the majority of the period, with Will Nason scoring with under two minutes remaining. In the third period, Saugeen Shores was able to score four more goals, two going to Heipel to complete his hat-trick, one going to Sean Moorehead with a great rush from his end, and a final going Malachi McKinnon right at the buzzer. Final score 7-0 Storm.
The Storm travelled to Walkerton, on Monday, January 26th, to face off against the Capitals. The Storm maintained possession of the puck for the majority of the first period, but the Capitals’ goalie made several key saves to keep the score at 0-0. During the second period, Walkerton received several infractions, giving the Storm several scoring chances. It wasn’t until the seven minute mark in the second period that Saugeen Shores was able to best the Capitals’ netminder, with defenseman, Austin Dunlop scoring from linemates Chad Lawrence and Will Nason. The third period saw the Capitals continue with an aggressive and rough style of play. With just over three minutes to play in the third, defenseman Jason Legge ripped a wicked shot from the Capital’s blue line to make the final score 2-0 Storm.
Walkerton headed to the Port Elgin Plex, on Sunday, February 1st, looking to make up for Monday’s loss. Both teams took penalties during the first period, however neither team was able to use this advantage to score. Two minutes into the second period, the Capitals were able to use a missed clearing opportunity by the Storm and scored the first goal of the game. A minute and a half later, Dustin Heipel, with help from Luke Thornley and Jason Legge, was able to even-up the score, scoring for the Storm. Play continued to be rough throughout the remainder of the game, with neither team able to score again. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.
On Saturday, February 7th, Saugeen Shores Novice B headed to the Davidson Centre in Kincardine to match up against the Kincardine Kinucks. This was a fast-past, hard fought battle of a game, with Saugeen having puck possession for the majority of the game. Despite several strong scoring opportunities and great passing by all team members, the Storm were unable to make one stick. The game ended as a 0-0 tie, though fans truly felt that the Storm had out-played their rivals that day.
The weekend of hockey continued on Sunday, February 8th for the Storm, as they travelled to Mount Forest to face off against the Rams. Within the first minute of play, forward Emmett Jackson scored an unassisted goal, making the score 1-0 Storm. Thirty seconds later, Dustin Heipel and Liam Doherty set up Chad Lawrence for the Storm’s second goal of the game. The Rams came back, scoring their own goal at the seven minute mark of the first period. With just under four minutes of play remaining in the period, Luke Thornley set up forward Brandon Embro for the Storm’s third goal of the game, with Embro earning his first goal of the season! The Storm dominated the remaining two periods of the game, with Liam Doherty scoring in the second, and Will Nason and Dustin Heipel each scoring once and Chad Lawrence scoring twice in the third period. Final Score 8-1 Storm.
The final game of the regular season was held on a blustery Saturday, February 14th in Mitchell. Despite it being Valentine’s Day, the Storm fans had no love for the stormy drive or the final results of this game. The first goal of the game was scored by Mitchell, halfway through the second period. The Storm rallied back, with Dustin Heipel scoring with just two minutes left in the period on a pass from AP player, Cameron Cumming. A minute later, the Storm took the lead, with Chad Lawrence scoring on a rebound from Jason Legge. Despite being able to score twice in the second to take the lead, the Storm could not keep the Meteors’ offense from capitalizing four times during the third period. The final results saw the Meteors beat the Storm 5-2.
The Storm now head into their first round of WOAA playoffs against the BCH Ice Dogs. Go Storm!