RvB: Red vs. Blue!
For the second time in three games, the ATOMc Blue Fireballs were set to face-off against ATOMc Red. These two teams had enjoyed a competitive rivalry, with each team having won against the other so far this season. Each time Red and Blue meet, the audience is inevitably in for a treat!
Two Fireballs were absent from
this morning’s game: Lucas B. and Michael R.
To accommodate, Tony R. moved up to play forward with Jackson M. and
Jett S. On defence, the lines were
combined and condensed, with Josh R. and Calder W. starting on the blue line
and Carson A. and Mason D. taking the second shift.
ATOMc Blue applied pressure on
Red as soon as the puck hit the ice, when, on the first push down the ice,
James R. dished it to a perfectly positioned Sam Z. in front of the net. Sam’s tip was aimed for the far corner, but
hit the post with a resounding “DING!” instead.
Luke C. showed that he was on
top of his game in the first few minutes, as he stopped a breakaway shot to
prevent a poorly-timed line change by Coach Mike from putting his team down by
one.
Tony R. showed that he could
transition between positions when, while playing a defensive role, he broke up
the Red attack in the neutral zone and turned the puck over to Jett S. Jett sped across the blue line and skated
quickly around the two opposing defenders for a shot on net. Efforts such as these made this game an easy
one to watch and enjoy from beginning to end!
The two defensive pairings were
tight all game long. Early in the first,
Josh R. and Calder W. were perfect on the point, doing everything they needed
to in order to prolong their team’s offensive attack. In their own zone, Carson A. and Mason D.
worked together to cover their territory.
Each checked hard in the corner when it was on his side, while the other
refused to give any ground in front of the net and kept their opposition tied up
and out of harm’s way. Efforts such as
these helped maintain a scoreless tie when the buzzer sounded and the teams
switched ends to begin the second period.
In the first couple of minutes,
chances to score continued to present themselves. Riley D. turned a defensive play into an
offensive opportunity, when he foresaw a Red passing play and got his stick in
between it to break up the attack and give himself a breakaway. As he skated quickly down the ice, Riley drew
a penalty, giving his team the advantage for two minutes.
On the power play, Blue was on
an all-out attack in the opposition’s end.
As the two-minute advantage wrapped up, a play developed along the
boards to the right of the Red goalie. A
number of players were fighting for the puck, and Jackson M. came away with it
and released a hard shot on net. The
netminder made a beautiful sprawling save, but the puck squirted free to his
left… to a waiting Tony R. Tony
backhanded the puck over the goalie and into the net for his first ever recorded
goal! For the time being, the Fireballs
were up 1-0.
Following this goal, Red
attempted to come back quickly by pushing aggressively into Blue’s zone. However, Carson A. stopped their attempt by
protecting the side of the net to prevent a wraparound goal. Carson continued to play strongly all shift,
using his body to shield the puck from opposing players one moment and
frustrate ATOMc Red with poke-checks the next!
The remainder of the period
seemed to consist of one Blue scoring opportunity after another. Approximately half-way through, Sam Z. and
Halen R. almost connected to put their team up by two, with Sam releasing a
beautiful pass from the left which landed squarely on Halen’s stick in front of
the net. Only a well-positioned Red
goalie got in the way of this insurance goal.
On defence, Josh R. contributed
to the team’s efforts by hounding Red forwards until they coughed up the
puck. It was a situation such as this
that led to the second Fireball goal, which started with Josh causing a turnover
and James R. picking up the puck in the neutral zone. Sam Z. saw this opportunity developing and
paced his centerman as they both crossed the blue line. A fantastic pass towards the net allowed Sam
to do what he does best, as he redirected the puck smoothly into the back
corner of the net, giving his team a two-goal lead in doing so.
Mason D. contributed a highlight
of his own to this exciting game simply through his sheer commitment to clear
the puck over the blue line with a couple minutes remaining in the period. As he came close to carrying it out of the
Fireballs’ defensive end, the throng of Red players surrounding him caused him
to fall just shy of the finish line. However,
Mason kept the puck in his possession and persevered to avoid the sticks and
skates around him and get it out over the blue line. It was an effort that deserved the cheers and
applause it inspired in the crowd!
As the third period got
underway, the excitement continued with a great play by Riley D. On a breakaway, Riley put the moves on the
Red goalie and nearly had a goal, but the puck hit a divot in the ice and
bounced out of reach.
Matthew M. kept the excitement
going, as he skated hard to get to the puck first and create a scoring
opportunity for Ryan S. who was moving like the wind to get into position in
front of the net.
Three minutes into the period, a
flurry in front of the Blue net gave way to a couple of excellent defensive
plays. Initially, Mason D. used his body
to block a shot in front and clear the puck out of danger. When, Red came back for their second attempt,
Carson A. prevented the puck from reaching its destination by stopping it with
his stick before spinning and clearing the puck to the blue line. Unfortunately, the third time was the charm,
and no one could block the quick wrist shot that eventually found its way into
the top corner of the net. Red was on
the board, and the score was now 2-1.
The remainder of the game was
fast-paced back and forth hockey, with all players skating their hardest. Although the opposition pushed aggressively,
they found it difficult to breach the Blue defences. In the final minute of the game, Red pulled
their goalie and replaced him with a forward to try to tie the game, but a
beautiful breakout pass from Halen R. to James R. and an incredibly accurate
shot from just past the center line sealed the deal. It had been a close one, but the buzzer
finally sounded to signal a 3-1 Fireball win over a very strong ATOMc Red team.
In the locker room, Halen R. was
awarded the Gold jersey for his assist and an all-round excellent effort. A well-deserved win, boys! We will see you all at 8:30am on Sunday,
March 3rd for our next game.
It will take place at Albert McCormick West, where we will be taking on
ATOMc White for the last time this regular season!