Dec 16, 2018 | Mark Emerick | 270 views
Woodley Hoskins Memorial Tournament
The Woodley Hoskins Memorial Tournament was front row centre on the team calendar this weekend. The Goldiggers were on the road in South Kent at the Blenheim and Bothwell arenas facing various teams from South Kent and East Lambton. As always, the kids enjoyed a weekend of hockey and camaraderie among team-mates and the parents enjoyed a great meal at Fat Jimmy'z Pub & Grill in Blenheim.
Enough small talk, now for the hockey recap....
Our tournament started on Saturday morning at the Blenheim Memorial Centre and our team showed up to play. We came out strong and did a lot of the little things right. We moved the puck well and worked together as a team, the result was goals scored by Lynden Luis, Paolo Casavecchia and Craig Kopal. The credit for the assists went to Colbey Relou, Colton Wilson, Craig Kopal and Soreyn Snake-Singh. The first game ended with a 3-1 victory for the Goldiggers.
Now we're off to the old barn in Bothwell for a 6:00pm game against the East Lambton Eagles. This venue is coach Mark's old stomping ground from his younger days of playing hockey. I stood in the lobby speaking with Mark's dad and looking at an old photo still hanging in the lobby with our fearless leader holding a rather sizable trophy. We spoke of the fond memories he had in this barn and he mentioned winning the golden funnel contest on more than one occasion :-). I think it is fair to say more than a few beers have met their demise in the old days when drinking in the dressing rooms was tolerated (by the older players of course).
There would be no cause for celebration tonight as East Lambton took the game to us and defeated us by a score of 6-1. The kids just couldn't get it going and we were out played for most of the game. Time to shake it off and prepare for our 3rd game back in Blenheim this morning at 9:00am.
This 3rd game would be against the South Kent Lightning 2 squad which I believe to be the stronger of the two South Kent teams. We would need to play a very solid game in order to get the win and move on in the tournament. Unfortunately the Golddiggers just couldn't muster enough offense and we lost this one by a score of 3-1. Colbey Relou would score our only goal with 3:38 left to play. The team cranked up the pressure in the last few minutes and pressed hard when we got a power play and Coach Mark pulled Ben for the extra attacker. Unfortunately we could not close the gap and the game ended. The lesson to be learned in this game is we need 3 periods of intense effort, the last 4 minutes just isn't enough.
In my opinion, some of the kids in the dressing room are not staying focused on the game and the effort levels are below what is expected. I heard a couple of our players make negative comments like "we suck" as we skated off the ice after the final game. These type of comments and poor attitude will bring the whole team down and hurt everyone. Every team can go through a tough tournament or a rough period in the season where the wins are few and far between. An important part of being a good sport and team mate is learning how to lose. When things get tough we need to band tighter together as a team and work harder. Stay positive and always give 100% each shift and I'm sure the game results will reflect that.
GO COUGARS GO!
Trainer Pat