The Saugeen Shores Atom Rep Storm, sponsored by UNIFOR, played a tough match against a strong Walkerton Capitals squad on Halloween afternoon. The coaching staff showed up in full Halloween costumes as a result of a friendly wager with the team, but things soon turned spooky when the Storm squad took the ice to face the Capitals. Both teams came out strong and the play went end to end for the first few minutes until Walkerton put in two quick goals - one in a puck scramble in front of net, and the second off the resulting face-off that saw Storm goalie Kaine Myers save the first shot and then another Capital player clean up the rebound.
The Capitals had a few more chances before the Storm regrouped for a couple of drives of their own. The Storm net minder made a few more great saves before a strong Capitals forward stick-handled his way up the ice and posted the third goal of the period. The Storm defense did their best to guard the net and were able to help out their keeper by making a few rebound saves of their own, holding Walkerton to 3 goals in the first period.
The second period continued the same strong pressure on the Saugeen Shores net with Kaine Myers making more great saves, including some nice work on his blocker side to rob the Capitals of a few extra goals in the top corner that seemed to be their favourite target. The Storm skaters did their best to relieve the pressure, but some defensive collapse in the Storm zone allowed two more Walkerton goals and made it tough to clear the puck and mount a consistent offense. The best Storm chances came later in the period with a shot by Chase Cosgrove, another by Kai Bailey, and then Mack Smith pounding the net with all his might. Gordie Brady also got a nice shot in that was smothered by the Capitals goalie, taking away any chance for a Storm rebound. Walkerton got a hooking penalty with one minute left in the period, and Bradley Seaman had the Storm’s best power play shot on a cross by Micah Alexander, ending the period with Walkerton up 5-0.
The third period opened with some player pile-ups behind the Storm net that chewed up most of the remaining power play. Back to even strength, Storm had a few more chances with a cross up to Richie Buckland, another strong drive by Mack Smith, and a passing play for another shot from Kai Bailey. The Storm defenders played hard until the final buzzer, doing their best to break up drives and block shots, and Walkerton managed two more goals to end the game up 7-0. Will Conley was assigned the difficult job of playing man-on coverage for the two strong Walkerton skaters who posted most of the goals and assists. His strong effort in this task and consistent energy during all three periods earned him player of the game. The Storm squad has one mid-week practice to work on “owning their defensive zone” and “growing eyes on the back of their heads” as they prepare to come out strong in their first tournament of the year this weekend in St Clements. Go Storm!