Saugeen Shores Atom LL#1, Alan’s Fireside Grill, travelled
to Ayton to compete in the West Grey Tournament. This is a one day Atom LL tournament with 2
games guaranteed with a lot of teams we normally do not play against and the
Storm arrived ready to compete hard and have some fun.
Storm vs Center Welland
With the Team wearing West Grey Warrior sweaters chanting “were blue were yellow we like to eat jello” before they hit the ice it was clear they were ready to compete and have fun. The puck drops to open the tournament for the Storm and they got off to a good start. Center Welland was a pretty good team and Ben was tested early, but with some quick work of the defense the Storm gained control and moved the puck up ice. The play was back and forth with both teams battling and working hard the end of the first saw no goals scored.
Starting into the second it was Center Welland who struck first managing to get one past Ben but not long after Jack lifted a sweet Backhand into the top of the net with Charlie and Peter earning assists on the play. As the teams continued to battle on Center Welland struck once again putting them up. The Storm responded with Jake making a beauty pass out front and Riley firing a nice wrist shot into the top of the net. Riley earning the goal and Jake with the beauty assist the score would remain 2-2 at the end of the second.
Going into the third the Storm kept up the great work and got a few chances but Center Welland continued to make some good passes and slipped a third one past Ben. Wes took it upon himself and skated end to end scoring unassisted to tie the game up again. Going into the final 2 minutes of the third it was looking like this game was going into a shootout to decide it as both teams were skating and passing really well. Then it happened, Center Welland score to put them up and then scored again shortly after to seal the deal. The final score was 5-3 but despite what the scoreboard said it was a pretty close game and the Storm played very well and stayed right with their opponents the whole game. The Digger was awarded to Big Save Benny as decided by the team chanting in the room after the game.
Storm vs Grand Valley
Back in their Storm sweaters the team was fired up to play the second game as they lined up for the opening faceoff. The draw was won and into Grand Valley’s end they went to work. With the forwards battling hard and the defense holding the line very well to keep the play in the offensive zone the period ended with a 0-0 tie.
The Storm however did get off to a great start in the second as Wes made a beauty pass out front to Charlie who made no mistake with it and hammered it home putting his team up by one early into the period. Both teams continued to battle hard against each other and going into the last two minutes Jake scored unassisted on a sweet skate up ice making a nifty move to put his team up by two. Grand Valley did not give up and came back in the dying seconds of the period to make it 2-1 when the clock ran out.
Starting into the third Grand Valley tied the game up early. The Storm kept to the game plan and took to their opponent’s zone and started working hard. The players had some good chances as passes kept coming out front and the defensemen kept the puck in with a few shots on net. This great work continued and a good save by Grand Valley’s goalie left a rebound Nick scooped it up and passed over to Andy who was wide open on the far side and it hammered home. Andy earning the goal and with Nick with the great assist. With the time was winding down Grand valley pulled their goalie as the Storm where killing a penalty to make it 6 on 4. Zac jumped on the puck in the neutral zone tried his luck going up ice with it but with so many Grand Valley players he was pinched out on the boards. In a desperate attempt as he was falling shot the puck at the net and there it was, the deal was sealed, with an empty netter to make the final score 4-2 for the Storm. Great job team, we saw some great teamwork, passing and battling during the game. Ian was awarded the Digger for his solid game on defense of holding the line and moving the puck up ice as well getting the shots off from the point. Great work team you have worked your way into the Consolation Champions.
Consolation Championship vs South Bruce
With the team excited to be playing for a Championship they came out hard against their opponent, South Bruce. They gained the zone early set up the plays but unable to get anything through early on. Then with some great work from Ian to move the puck up to Wes who came in for a shot on net the rebound lay just out of the goalies reach and with Nick flying in joining the rush grabbed that rebound and opened the scoring for this Championship game. Nick with the goal and Ian and Wes with the assists. Not too long after that Wes went coast to coast and managed to beat the netminder making it 2-0 with an unassisted goal. Less than a minute after this Zac made a pass up to Riley who went in for the teams third goal of the game. Riley with the goal and Zac the assist as that concluded the scoring in the first and the period ended with the storm up 3-0.
Starting of the second it was all Storm again as they attacked their opponents and got pucks to the net. The goalie for South Bruce was making some great saves until some nifty passing from Ian on the blueline to Jake who found Jack out front all alone. Jack made a few stickhandles then tucked it in the back of the net, Jack with the goal and Jake and Ian with the beauty assist. A few minutes later we saw some more great passing as Ismail moved the puck to Jake, he moved it to Hunter who was out front. Hunter popped his shot past the goaltender and the team was up another goal, Hunter with the goal and Jake and Ismail earning great assists on the play. With the game winding down the team continued to work hard on the ice and when Josh and Zac moved the puck out of their end and up to a rushing Peter the pass just got in front of him and it turned into a foot race. Peter won the race for the puck with South Bruce’s defensemen, cut towards the net and fired a hard wrist shot along the ice and right through the five hole, Peter earning the goal and Zac and Josh with the assists. This would prove to be the last goal scored in the game and as the time ran out the team rushed out to hug Big Save Benny who was not very active during the game but made the stops he had to earn his third shutout of the season. The Digger was awarded to Zac for his solid play all game and his exceptional passing throughout the game, congrats Longy!!
Great Tournament team as it was a lot of fun and we managed to bring home some hardware which is always a nice bonus. The team competed hard and worked as a team out there making some great plays and we were rewarded for that great work. Congrats Team!! The Coaches and fans are very proud of you.