Jan 18, 2016 | Evan Martin | 785 views
OMHA playoff series Friday, January 15, 2016
Listowel at Saugeen Shores, Southampton Coliseum
Friday night game...the excitement was mounting. Nothing says hockey like the playoffs, and this series will be sure not to disappoint! Allen's Fireside Storm Atom AE vs. Listowel Cyclones!
The kids were pumped, you could feel their excitement in the air. The puck dropped on what would be an exciting series, both teams were ready for this game. Battling for the puck, up and down the boards, gaining ground and holding the line. For the first half of the first period, no one on either team was giving anyone an inch, but at the 5:17 mark, Listowel drew first blood and sniped one past Lettau to make it 1-nil for the Visitors. Listowel kept the pressure on, but out defence and tending was outstanding. The forwards were also doing a great job keeping the pressure on a shell shocked visiting goaltender. At the sound of the first horn, the game was locked at 1-0 Listowel.
With our team down 1, the bench staff had a solid pep talk between periods, whatever was said seemed to have worked well, it only took 1:45 to rectify the deficit, when Meleski made no mistake and hammered one home, from Nason and Pope. Now ties are the most exciting hockey ever, but not to be outdone, after some hard battling in the offensive end, Guo popped in a beauty at 7:15, from Palinsky and Embro. Our defence and offence began firing on all cylinders, and Lettau made some pretty amazing saves. We were winning every battle, and maintaining offensive zone pressure. Listowel had a tough time clearing their zone, and at the end of 2, Allen's Fireside Atom AE Storm had a 2-1 lead.
With both teams at their benches, the coaches were doing their best to get each team on track. You could tell these kids wanted this win bad. There were 4 penalties handed out in the 3rd alone, that tells me that these teams were playing hard. At the 8:45 mark of the third Listowel tried to clear the puck out, our defence held the line and Martin fired one in, the opposing goalie kicked out a juicy rebound, and as was practiced all season, Noe crashed the net and pounced on the rebound to put the Storm up 3-1. Listowel, backed into a corner, fought hard and only one minute later found their way to Lettau, and fired one home at 7:47. With our team fighting hard to keep the puck out, and keep offensive pressure on, the kids worked at holding the Cyclones at bay, as time wound down, it looked promising for the Storm. Due to an unfortunate bounce, Listowel was sent off on a 1 on 0, and their player made no mistake, nothing Lettau could do, and with a mere 4:21 left the game was tied. The last 4 minutes was a tense eternity. But the kids never gave up. This team has a "don't lay down" attitude. We've seen it all season long, and they brought the fans a playoff gift we will never forget.....OVERTIME!
Period 4 is the most exciting 10 minutes in minor hockey. And 55 seconds in this game became even more exciting, when a tripping penalty put Listowel down a man. Those kids, both teams, were fighting for playoff supremacy, but with only 14 seconds left in the power play, at 7:11 in the extra frame, Noe won a tremendous draw over to Van Geel who made absolutely no mistake with the OT winner, sending the kids down the ice to dog pile Lettau, and take a
1-0 lead on the series. Congrats kids, you deserved that win.