Friday Night Fireballs!, News, ATOMc Blue, Major Atom Recreation 2002, 2012-2013 (Waterloo Minor Hockey)

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This Team is part of the 2012-2013 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Feb 22, 2013 | Mike Richardson | 563 views
Friday Night Fireballs!
         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!