Nearly two weeks after their last game together, the ATOMc Blue Fireballs arrived at Moses Springer Arena to play a late game against ATOMc Gold. Both teams had been very successful so far this season, and the two had played several great head-to-head battles. All players took to the ice ready to play, and only their coaches showed any signs of tiredness as they stood on the benches.
The powerful line of Riley D.,
Matthew M. and Ryan S. started the game for Blue, while the consistently
awesome defensive pairing of Carson A. and Mason D. stood tall in their
positions on the blue line. Luke C.
seemed to pace the crease as he waited for the puck to be dropped, like a lion
waiting for his prey!
It wouldn’t take long before
Luke saw some action in net, as Gold pushed forward immediately following the
initial face-off. After he made a nice
save and redirected the puck off to the side, the play shifted directions and
moved back towards Gold’s end. This
trend of back and forth play continued for most of the period, with both teams
refusing to let the opposition take advantage of any mistakes.
Early in the period, the
Fireballs had a number of great scoring chances. On one shift, Sam Z. had a great opportunity,
when he picked up the puck off of a rebound and surprised the Gold goalie with
a quick back-hand on net. The energy
that developed from this attempt led to ATOMc Blue continuing to push for the
lead. Josh R. received the puck at the
point as an ATOMc Gold player attempted to clear it, and he released a hard,
low shot on net that was perfect for tipping.
The puck found a path all the way through the crowd in front, and the
netminder had to make another quick save.
The Fireballs were off to a great start!
The wingers were working hard in
and around the neutral zone, and the game seemed like a tug of war at times,
with both teams working as hard as they could to prevent the other from gaining
too much ground. Breaking out of the
opposing team’s zone, Lucas B. refused to let up on a Gold player as he
attempted to escape. Through his hard
work, Lucas brought about a quick turnaround, giving his team another scoring
opportunity.
In addition, around his own
team’s blue line, Ryan S. showed a great deal of effort to ensure the puck made
its way out of the defensive zone and into neutral ice. From a kneeling position, he continued to
battle with two opposing players and, through sheer will and determination,
succeeded in accomplishing his goal.
Family and friends in the stands clapped loudly to show their
appreciation for Ryan’s efforts as the play went on in Blue’s favour.
Just over four minutes into the
game, the Fireballs found themselves on the power play, and they did their best
to turn their opportunities into goals. Matthew
M. set up one of the best scoring plays during this one-man advantage, when he
made a heads-up cross ice pass to Riley D. on the open wing. Riley flew over the opposing team’s blue line
and rifled a shot on net, but the Gold goalie patiently stood his place and blocked
and held the puck for a face-off.
Following the Gold penalty, the
ATOMc Blue Fireballs kept pushing for a goal.
Calder W. had an awesome rush, starting around his own team’s net and
ending with a great shot on the opposition’s goalie. Jett S. had dropped back to cover Calder’s
position at the point, and he benefitted from this play when the puck came back
to him at the blue line and he released a beautiful wrist shot towards the Gold
goalie for another scoring chance. The
Fireballs were playing together as a team, and their efforts were appreciated
by the cheering families and friends in the stands.
With just over two minutes
remaining in the period, ATOMc Gold was assessed another two-minute penalty,
and Blue worked very hard to take advantage of the situation. Tony
R. and Calder W. combined to act like a brick wall at the point, and their
opposition found it very difficult to clear the zone with these two on the blue
line. At one point, Calder had to move
very quickly to prevent the puck from escaping Gold’s defensive zone, and he
proceeded to amaze those watching with a brilliant heads-up pass to Jett S.,
who was open in front of the net. Although
Jett’s shot did not make it past the goalie, this play exemplified the type of
teamwork the Fireballs were showing again and again.
When the play eventually crossed
the blue line into the neutral zone, players such as Lucas B. and Jackson M.
were there to take up the cause with their strong back-checking. These players made it very difficult for
their opposition to gain any ground, and they helped keep the game’s flow
moving in Blue’s favour. The first
period ended with both teams at even strength and the score tied 0-0.
The ATOMc Fireballs took
advantage of the momentum their efforts had built up as they started the second
period, and they quickly pushed ahead into Gold’s territory. The first rush came from Mason D., who picked
up the puck off of the face-off and deked his way through several Gold players
before being forced off to the side with the puck. However, this play set up the second Blue
rush of the opening shift, as James R. had dropped back to cover for Mason’s
offensive play. Halen R. was a
considerable contributor to breaking up Gold’s efforts, as he passed the puck
off to James, who carried the puck through the neutral zone on the right side
of the ice. Spotting an opportunity
arising in front of the net, James passed the puck swiftly towards the crease,
where Sam Z. was waiting to meticulously redirect the moving puck into the
gaping net. With this goal, the ATOMc
Blue Fireballs took the first lead of the game.
The Blue attack was unrelenting
as the game continued, and ATOMc Gold couldn’t seem to buy a break-out
attempt. Josh R. was on fire at the blue
line, and his defences seemed impenetrable.
The opposition’s players continued to shoot the puck towards the point
to get it out of their zone, but Josh just kept shooting it back in to his
forwards. When the Gold players decided
that they should maybe try to clear the puck on the other side, they found that
Carson A. was equally up to the task, as he continually fired the puck back in around
the boards.
The next player given an
opportunity to shine was Luke C. One of
Gold’s players broke out over his team’s blue line and managed to deke out two
Fireballs and rush towards Luke on a breakaway.
However, Luke was up to the challenge and stoned the opposing player,
not once, but twice, before covering the puck to slow down the pace of the
game.
At this point, the puck seemed
to be spending most of its time in Gold’s end, and all players were
contributing to the scoring efforts.
Recently, the Fireballs’ defencemen had become more actively involved in
the team’s offensive efforts and had been taking more shots from the
point. Unfortunately, a Gold player
found himself in the path of one of Josh R.’s powerful wrist shots, and he
found himself recovering on the ice for a few moments afterwards. However, once play resumed, these shots from
the point kept coming, and one from Carson A. almost ended in a goal, as Sam Z.
and Halen R. nearly tipped the puck in and took advantage of the rebound,
respectively.
When the puck finally found its
way on to a Gold player’s stick, he sped out of his own zone… only to meet
Calder W. in the neutral zone, which is essentially the same as racing to get
to a red light! Calder hounded the
attacker until the puck slipped free and ended up back in Blue’s
possession. Lucas B. turned the play
back towards the Gold net, and nearly found himself on a breakaway. This great effort from Lucas almost led to a
scoring opportunity, but the Fireballs weren’t finished there! On the next shift, Ryan S. made a beautiful
pass to the front of the net from the right corner, and Matthew M. nearly
scored with a one-timer, but Gold’s goalie prevented this attempt.
As the period neared its end,
Gold fought its way into the Blue zone one last time. Initially, Luke C. made a brilliant kick save
on a hard shot. Unfortunately, the puck
found its way into the corner, where another opposing player took a deceptively
quick, hard shot that snuck in over the line and, whereas the period had begun
with a Fireballs goal less than one minute in giving them the lead, the frame
ended with a Gold point, tying it up with a mere seventeen seconds remaining.
Gold kept pushing forward as the
third period got underway and, despite many great defensive efforts from Blue,
their overwhelming push around the Fireballs’ net allowed them to score the
go-ahead goal one minute and thirty-four seconds in. A nice pass from the wing brought about this
point, and there was very little that could have been done on Luke C.’s part to
prevent it.
Gold’s efforts were unrelenting
as the period continued, but a huge save by Luke C. on an opposing player’s
breakaway seemed to turn the tide, and the remainder of the period seemed to be
an offensive onslaught by Blue.
Any opportunities that Gold
thought they had were shut down immediately by players like Carson A. Any opposing player who came even remotely
close to Carson ended up having the puck knocked away by an amazingly accurate
poke-check, inevitably turning the play back in Blue’s favour!
As the clock wound down, the
Fireballs worked hard to earn themselves scoring opportunities. James R. surprised Gold by winning a face-off
to their goalie’s right and immediately releasing a shot on net. This was followed shortly by a Mason D. rush
from one end of the ice to the other. As
he zoomed towards the crease, he stopped just short, causing those chasing him
to shoot right past, giving him a bit more space to take a shot. However, as had been Blue’s problem on many
other scoring opportunities, the opposing goalie was on fire, and he stopped
Mason’s fantastic shot with a quick gloved hand.
With mere minutes remaining in
the game, the Fireballs had the boys in gold back on their heels in their own
zone, and Blue converged on Gold’s net for a scoring opportunity. With one final push, a forward slipped the
puck past a Gold goalie who had been nearly unbeatable this game, and the boys
began to celebrate in front of the crease.
However, their jubilation was short-lived, as this effort was foiled by
a controversial call, when the referee waved off the goal because a Gold player
had knocked the net off. Had the net been
off when the puck crossed the line?
We’ll never know for sure. The
score remained 2-1 in favour of Gold.
In the game’s final thirty
seconds, the Fireballs unleashed a barrage of shots on Gold’s net, but nothing
beat their goalie to tie the game.
Although they had owned the third period, the buzzer sounded with Blue
down by one.
Excellent game, boys! You all played fantastically, especially for
such a late game time! Today’s efforts
really represented a great team effort!
Good job keeping this usually high-scoring team to just two goals.
Our next game is at 7:30 the
morning of Sunday, February 24th.
We’ll see you at Albert McCormick West to play ATOMc Red!