Jan 12, 2015 | Jarod Moorhouse | 1722 views
2015 International Silver Stick Champions!!!!!!!
What a weekend....
The Mt.B Cougars Peewee Rep team went to Forest this past weekend for the International Silver Stick Tournament with the hopes of winning on an invite.
At this tournament in the "B" division. You have teams from Kanata, Penetang, Elmvale, Lambeth, St.Clair Michigan and Mt.Brydges. A tough field. You have teams ranked in Ontario here all in the top 20.
Should turn out to be a great showdown.
The Cougars first game was against Penetang early Friday morning. With hopes high and a little sleepy the game was on. The boys came out of the gate, should we say ok. A little tentative, nervous but once the game got going they picked it up. It was a 0-0 score after one. The second looked to be better. With a quick goal right from the puck drop. The Cougars were on the board. They held the lead till half way in the period when Penetang struck back and scored to tie it up. With the end of the second looking to come to a draw. The Cougars regained the lead to take a 2-1 score at the end of 2 periods. The 3rd period was looking to be a gem. With the Cougars gaining their strength. They scored again to lead 3-1 with 10min to go. Penetang would get a second late in the third but it wasn't enough. Cougars win 3-2.
With not much turn around. The Cougars were back on the ice to face the top team in Ontario, Kanata. They are big, fast and can move the puck. The 1st period turned out to be a period where each team was getting a read on each other. The sticks were gripped tight and no one wanted to make a mistake. No one did. The score was 0-0 after one. In the second, the boys started to turn it up. With both team trading chances at both ends. The Cougars get a late goal to take the lead going into the third 1-0. The boys were tired yet anxious to play. They wanted this win. The third turned out to be one of the best periods this team has played yet this year. With fore checking hard and pressuring the Kanata defense. The Cougars score again at the 5min mark to add to their lead 2-0. But Kanata would not give up. With a lucky bounce and a redirect, they were on the board. It was a little too late as the Cougars held them off to win 2-1.
Next up was Elmvale. The Cougars came out flying to take a quick lead. By the end of the 1st the Cougars had added to their lead and was in command 2-0. As the clock ticked down in the second period. The Cougars scored again to add to their lead 3-0. But Elmvale would not stop. Elmvale scored to cut the lead to 3-1 and send the Cougars back on their heels. With a late second period rush the boys netted a fourth goal to lead 4-1 after 2 periods. Elmvale must of had a great pep talk because they came out flying in the 3rd. They scored 1min in to make it 4-2. But the threat ended there. The Cougars went on to controlling the game and netting another to end the game 5-2.
Not knowing who we played next, the Cougars had to wait for the rest of the round robin games to end. Once all the games were completed. Here is how the top 4 teams stood.
1-Mt.Brydges
2-Kanata
3-Lambeth
4-Penetang
The semi-final game challenger was Penetang. Here we go.
With the game 1hr behind schedule. The boys had to keep themselves focused and ready to go. Do you know how hard that is when you have this much at stake. Not easy.
Once the game got underway. The game turned out to be a nail biter to say the least. With chances at both ends and multiple penalties being taken by both teams. The score was 0-0 after one. The second turned out to be the turning point for the Cougars. With a late goal with 24sec to go. The Cougars had the lead going into the 3rd period. The 3rd was chaotic. The Cougars took 2 penalties to the Flames 4. The line juggling that took place was crazy. Making sure your line up is in place and making sure they know what their assignment is, is not easy. The Cougars held off Penetang's late 3rd period push and won 1-0. We are off to the finals!
With this game running late. The next game was Lambeth and Kanata. With kids sent home to get right to bed. A couple of us stayed to see who our championship opponent would be. It was a tight game but Kanata defeated Lambeth 3-2.
Championship Finals!
This is how all finals should be. Playing the top ranked team.
The boys were pumped, focused and ready to go. Both teams in the first were sizing each other up and end the 1st in a draw 0-0. In the second period the boys seemed to play very tentatively and that soon lead to Kanata scoring first at the 7min mark. The Cougars have not trailed in this tournament. So the question is, how will they respond. They responded perfectly. After gaining control of their emotions. The Cougars went to work and pressured the Kanata defense. With a quick shot, the game was tied 1-1. But Kanata would not shy away. They answered right back to steal any wind the boys had and scored to make it 2-1. But with a selfish penalty on that goal by Kanata. The Cougars made them pay and tied it up again 2-2 to end the second tied. To keep the boys focused during the flood. The team sat on the bench, ate their oranges, talking to one another about how the 3rd was going to play out and what they need to do to win. Here we go. The Cougars started to take control of the game. We weren't getting many shots but rather out skating them and putting a lot of pressure on them. Ultimately forcing them to take penalties and they did. The Cougars power play went to work and scored with 8min to go in the game. Now Kanata was scrambling and took more penalties. Deserving or not. The Cougars played a simple defend, dump and chase game that eventually saw them watch the clock tick down and hear the buzzer.
We did it. We won 3-2 and are now the International Silver Stick Champions.
What a weekend!!
I am so proud of the boys this weekend. They played with a lot of heart, determination and represented Mt.Brydges perfect. They played with the mind set that we will do what ever it takes to win.
Just as a family does.
I would also like to take this moment to thank all the parents from myself and their boys for their dedication in making sure that the boys stuck to the game plan. With making sure they ate properly, slept properly and getting them to the games safely and on time. Its not easy juggling this feat especially when we all work and have multiple kids in the family. Thank you!
I hope everyone had fun at the party last night. Its fun to see the families outside the rink!
We can't savior in this victory too long. We start OMHA playoffs in 3 days and this whole push will start again.
I am up for it, lets go!!
JM