The
Saugeen Shores Scotiabank Peewee AE team is currently 5 games into the regular
season and tallies up 2 wins 1 loss and 2 ties. It has been a busy 2 weeks of
hockey for the team, battling contenders in Listowel, and three home games
inviting Wingham, Mitchell, and BCH to our home centre, so here is a brief
update for these past few games.
Taking on the Listowel Cyclones in their home rink October 17, proved to be a wake-up call for the Storm. The Tuesday evening game didn’t quite go as expected, with only one goal coming from the Storm, compliments of Brandon Embro, and assisted by both line mates Chris Hoffman and Jimmy Gatesco. The remainder of the goals…7 of them, came from the Cyclones who were obviously ready to perform. No worries though Storm, it was only our second game in and provided areas where we can improve our game, and hone our skills.
Wingham Ironmen showed up in Port Elgin to battle the Storm on October 22 for a Sunday afternoon match up. With only one practice between the Listowel game and this game it appeared that some improvement was made. We managed to get onto the scoreboard early into the first period with Luke Noe netting his first of two goals this game, the first which was assisted by Zac Longmire. The Storm turned up the heat and managed to score two more in the second period compliments of Branden Lisk, and Brandon Embro. Great team play boys! The Storm netted one more in the third compliments of Luke Noe, but also gave up one goal to the Ironmen which broke an almost perfect game for goaltender Colby Lettau. Awesome game between the pipes! What a game. The game finished 4-1 in favour of the Saugeen Shores Scotiabank Storm.
Back on home ice Saturday October 28 we faced Mitchell Meteors, whom in previous seasons had been a very good match up for the Storm, with similar skills and performance. Knowing this, the Storm came out strong, but so did the Meteors. Almost a stalemate, neither team could clinch a goal in the first. Although the Storm fell short of winning battles, and gave up a number of missed plays, Colby made some great saves, keeping the game realistic. Into the second, a long rush end to end run by defenceman Talan Martin was the turning point. Netting a beauty, and putting a digit on the scoreboard the Storm sat at 1 and Mitchell 0. Battles continued, but the score remained at 1-0 into the third. Just into the third the Storm pulled ahead with Luke Noe adding a goal to the board where the score sat at 2-0. This goal was assisted by Lucas Harris. The Storm tried to defend the lead and continue to push hard, but the momentum changed slightly. Suffering 3 questionable penalties almost back to back in the third, we now tried to just stay out of the penalty box, and finish off the game. During the time in the box, the Meteors managed to claw one back leaving the score at 2-1 in favour of the Storm. Close one! Great game by all team members. Note…time to practice the penalty kill as it seems that we might spend a little time in the box this season.
The last game to speak of was the following day, Sunday October 29 where the Storm faced BCH Ice Dogs on home ice at the Plex in Port Elgin. This game was very even, both teams suffering 4 penalties through the game and both teams clinching 1 goal each to end the game at a 1-1 tie. Home scoring went to defenceman Zac Longmire with an unassisted goal. With Halloween in the near sites, and a busy week of hockey, a tie wasn’t the worst outcome for this game. The kids put forth a lot of effort and had some fun while doing it. This is the most important part of the game and this team definitely is succeeding at this level. From the warm up drills prior to the game, to the smiles seen on the kids’ faces on the ice at practices, this is truly a genuine and committed team, and a great group of kids. The upcoming practices will focus on some additional skills.
We look forward to our first tournament commencing this Friday in Tillsonburg for the Bob Tansley Memorial. Please review the team calendar as all games and times are posted. As always, see you at the rink!
And finally a quote from one of the best. “It is not how good you are. It is how good you want to be.”- Connor McDavid.
Submitted by Darryl Embro