The Waterloo Wolves headed north to Ottawa this Christmas Holiday to compete in the prestigious Bell Capital Cup. Waterloo was one of 20 teams entered in the Minor Atom Division, and went in knowing that they would be facing some of the top ranked teams in Ontario.
Waterloo started off their round robin play facing a tough Centre Wellington Fusion team (eventual tournament champions...). Centre Wellington currently ranked #3 in Ontario. Waterloo played a scoreless first period, with some good end to end action. Centre Wellington carried much of the early play, with the Waterloo goalkeeper keeping us in the game. Waterloo got on the board first with an even strength goal just as our penalty expired and carried the lead until midway thru the 3rd period. Centre Wellington scored with a flurry around the Waterloo net with 4 minutes remaining, then potted another shortly after to take the lead. Waterloo applied furious pressure to end the game, hitting the post with a minute left, but was unable to tie the game up. A well played game by both teams.
The second round robin game saw the Wolves take on the Nepean Raiders. Waterloo started out strong and took the lead in the first period. Our boys were well positioned and put the puck away off a missed shot just wide of the net. The second period was much of the same. Waterloo won a faceoff and fired a quick shot past the Nepean goalie to take a 2-0 lead. Nepean got a late power play to end the 2nd and capitalized on their chance with a hard well placed shot to make it 2-1 to end the 2nd. Waterloo responded mid way thru the 3rd with a shot from the point to regain the 2 goal lead and carried the play the remainder of the game. Nepean never got the opportunity to pull their netminder, as Waterloo applied excellent pressure the remainder of the game to seal the win. A well played game by Waterloo to get a much needed win.
The final round robin game saw the Minor Atom wolves take on the Cumberland Jr Grads. The Wolves needed a win to advance in the tournament and did not disappoint. The coaches had the boys fired up before the game and they came out guns a blazing. Waterloo opened the scoring a few minutes into the game and never looked back. They took a 5-1 lead into the second period and pressed on throughout the game. The Wolves tallied 3 more goals to take their final round robin game 8-1! Way to go boys. With the win Waterloo locked up the #1 wild card seed and advanced later on the same day to face the Barrie Colts.
In the quarterfinals, Waterloo faced a determined Barrie team, currently ranked #5 in Ontario. Waterloo came out battling and again took the lead in the first period on a nice individual effort breaking through the Barrie defense and putting away a nice goal. Barrie responded late in the 1st period to tie it up. Barrie scored again early in the 2nd period which proved to be enough, as Barrie went on to win 2-1 in a very close and tight game. Shots were only 8-8 for the game with both teams blocking numerous shots at both ends. Both teams took away passing lanes and pressured the other teams forwards as they entered the opponents end.
Waterloo held their heads high after this tournament with some good team play, and some breakout scoring. Waterloo lead the round robin play in scoring with 12 goals! It certainly was nice to see the boys putting the puck in the net like that.
Saturday night saw the boys head off to Scotia Bank place to watch a Sens – Flames game. For some kids and siblings, their first NHL game. The Sens went down 3-0 in the first, but battled back to win 4-3 in OT, with Alfredsson getting his 400th goal. It was a great way to end a long day (2 hockey games, and a skills completion).