RvB: Red vs. Blue!, 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 24, 2013 | Mike Richardson | 511 views
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!