At 7:30 in the morning on Sunday, March 17th, the ATOMc Blue Fireballs took to the ice for their final game of the regular season. They would be facing ATOMc Green, a team they had struggled to defeat prior to the Christmas Tournament, but had been more successful against since. Needless to say, both of these teams wanted to conclude their seasons with a win and hoped to head into next weekend’s tournament with victory on their minds.
The starting forward line
consisted of Riley D., Matthew M. and Ryan S., and Tony R. and Calder W. had
their backs on the blue line. After
resting to get over a “sore tummy” the previous day, Luke C. was ready to go in
net, and looked hungry for a win today!
As soon as the puck hit the ice,
the Fireballs were off like a shot!
Within the first minute, ATOMc Blue had a great scoring opportunity,
when Ryan S. made a great play at his team’s blue line to get the puck around
an opposing defender and into the neutral zone to Riley D. Riley carried the puck quickly into Green’s
end with one player chasing him before letting go a nice shot on net. Although the goaltender made this save, it
was a sign of things to come, as the boys had blue fire in their eyes today and
wanted to make up for last week’s loss with a big victory today!
The very next shift, just over
one minute into the game, the Fireballs struck!
Jett S. shot the puck from the one side of the net, but it missed and
hit the back boards, rebounded to the opposite side… and directly on to James
R.’s stick! James quickly released the
puck and buried it in the back of the net to put his team up by one on the
second shift of the game!
Blue kept applying the pressure,
and James and Jett almost connected again, when one passed to another directly
in front of the net. Only a fantastic
play by a Green defender prevented the puck from reaching the net, as he dove
in front of the crease and blocked the shot!
Although their last attempt had
been foiled, the boys connected just moments later, as Jett passed the puck to
James in front of the net, and Sam Z. tipped his shot on its way to the net to
put the Fireballs up by two just two minutes into the game. Two goals on the same shift… WOW!
While the forwards were taking
care of business at one end of the rink, Luke C. and the defence were doing the
same at the other. After the action in
the offensive zone had subsided somewhat, the puck made its way down the ice
towards the Fireballs’ defensive end.
However, when Green attempted to setup a scoring play with a nicely
placed pass from the wing to the front of the net, Luke showed his stuff with a
brilliant kick save to prevent the goal.
Everything seemed to be clicking
for the boys today, as everyone on the team made significant contributions to
the magic that was happening on the ice.
Jackson M.’s efforts exemplified how hard work pays off, as he dug in
and refused to give up when faced with the challenge of helping his defencemen
keep the puck in Green’s zone. By
skating hard and stretching his body to its limit, Jackson reached the puck
first before spinning around and shooting the puck back towards the
opposition’s net.
Calder W. was like “The Phantom
of the Ice Rink” for Green players all game, as he seemed to come out of
nowhere and steal the puck from the unsuspecting opposition. When he was on the ice, very few boys made it
through the neutral zone successfully unless Calder gave them permission to
pass.
While Calder was busy in the
neutral zone, his defence partner, Tony R., stood guard around the net and used
his stick to tie up any Green players who tried to station themselves
there. The positively aggressive
approach these two employed made them a difficult team to deal with, and the
opposition struggled to solve the Tony/Calder puzzle all game.
The Fireballs’ forward lines had
been improving their back-checking abilities all season, and this game showed
how well they had developed these skills to date. In the middle of the first period, what
appeared at first to be a potentially dangerous offensive play by Green was
disarmed by Jett S. when he snuck up behind the puck carrier, lifted his stick
and skated off in the opposite direction, now in possession of the newly
acquired package!
Although some of the things that
happened on the ice during this game seemed amazing and unbelievable to those
on the bench and in the stands, the boys on the ice made them look like they
were common exercised that they did every day and simply out of habit. For example, Carson A. continued using his
time-tested and proven practice of poke checking the puck off of his
opposition’s stick. He did this so often
and so effectively that the coaches on the bench just knew he would be
successful. Also, when Josh R. got a
hold of the puck in the middle of a busy Green line change, he looked around
calmly and selected the perfect passing route for the most effective and
efficient path to his destination. Then,
without pausing, he placed the puck perfectly on Jett S.’s stick as he broke
through center and towards the net for a shot.
These fantastic passes seemed commonplace to Josh, but looked amazing to
everyone else watching the game.
Luke C. energized the crowd as
well. As the period wound down, a
fast-moving Green skater made his way towards the net. From between the hash marks, and with two
Blue defenders as cover, he shot the puck towards the net, but, with a flash of
leather, Luke extended his glove and grabbed the puck out of thin air, much to
the disappointment of the opposing player.
This play received many cheers and gasps from the crowd, as family and
friends rose to their feet to cheer on the Fireballs.
The first period came to a close
in ATOMc Green’s defensive zone, the place where much of the period had been
spent. Matthew M. and Ryan S. were both
digging hard around the net when the buzzer sounded to conclude the game’s
first ten minute stretch, and it was efforts like these which had given the Fireballs
the 2-0 lead they currently possessed.
The second frame started in much
the same way as the first had, with a strong Fireballs push towards the
opposition’s net. Carson A. made a
stellar play at the point to prevent Green from clearing the zone, when he
stopped the puck and spun away from a player rushing him before dumping it back
in the corner. From there, Riley D.
picked up the puck and passed it out front, where a waiting Lucas B. banged it
home to put ATOMc Blue up 3-0 less than one minute into the second.
Unfortunately, the first of
three injury timeouts in the game happened in the second, when Jett S.
unleashed a shot from the top of the circle, which hit the inside of the goalie’s
leg on its way through the five-hole and deflected past the post. He was on the ice in pain for a while, but eventually
rose to claps and cheers from the audience and benches.
Shortly after shaking off the
injury, the Green goalie was tested again on a play that had all Fireballs’
players and fans on their feet cheering.
It began in Blue’s zone, when Michael R. poke checked the puck expertly
off of an opposing players stick. The puck
slid to one of his teammates, and, as if he knew what was coming, Michael took
off with a burst of speed and received the puck as he passed his own team’s
blue line. He out-paced one Green
defender in this excitingly unexpected offensive play, and Michael skated in on
an unobstructed breakaway. His shot was aimed
perfectly for the gap between the goalie’s legs, and it was only stopped by
mere centimeters of goal pad. The bench
erupted in cheers at this uncharacteristic move by Michael which gave insight to
just one more facet of his fantastic hockey playing skills!
Although Green didn’t have many
opportunities in Blue’s defensive end, any chances they did get were shut down
almost immediately. Mason D. had a great
poke checking play late in the period in which he stole the puck from the
opposition before winding around his own net and taking off up the boards
before passing the puck to a forward.
Luke C. also showed that his big saves early in the game had not been
flukes, as he made several more before the period was out.
Just prior to the period’s
conclusion, several highlight reel passes earned cheers and claps from those in
the audience. The first one occurred
when Riley D. made a beautiful pass from the side boards to Matthew M. in front
of the net. The pass was perfectly
accurate, and Matthew’s one-timer nearly resulted in another Fireball
goal. The second was an NHL-calibre
passing play between James R., Jett S. and Sam Z. Jett was low in the corner to the left of
ATOMc Green’s net, with Sam higher along the boards and James in front of the
net. The play started with Sam passing
the puck smoothly to Jett in the corner.
Without wasting a moment, Jett returned it to Sam who immediately sent
the puck across the ice to James.
Although it didn’t result in a goal, it was a beautiful play to witness
and represented a very impressive and intuitive level of skill in the three
participants.
As soon as the third period got
underway, Jett S. broke through a number of player obstacles in the middle of
the ice for a break towards the net.
Following this first opportunity, Green turned the play back in the
other direction only to be met there by Michael R., who swiftly stripped him of
the puck and turned it back towards the Green net.
Eventually, ATOMc Green did make
their way into Blue territory, and Luke C. had to come up big twice in a row to
maintain his shutout. On the first
attempt, Luke knocked down a quick wrist shot with his glove, but the rebound
bounced free and sat just outside of his reach (LIZ RICHARDSON FROM THE STANDS:
“Use the Force, Luke!”). Mason D.
swooped in to the rescue, as he picked up the loose puck and carried it out of
harm’s way. The very next Green scoring
opportunity occurred when a speedy opposition player broke through the
defensive line and rushed towards Luke unhindered. His shot was aimed at Luke’s five-hole, but
the skilled netminder collapsed his stance right on time, capturing the puck
between his pads before it could reach the net.
With just under four minutes
remaining in the game, Jackson M. and Jett S. teamed up to add to the game’s
score, which had been stagnant for nearly a period and a half. Jett took the initial shot, and Jackson
tipped in the rebound to give the Fireballs a 4-0 lead heading into the last
few minutes of regulation time.
Less than one minute later, Jett
set up the game’s final goal, and it was a thing of beauty. Racing down the right side of the rink, Jett
had one player pacing him between he and the net. In order to shake this Green defender, Jett
stopped abruptly and waited patiently for Lucas B. to reach the perfect
position in front. The pass was
well-timed and found Lucas’ stick perfectly, and Lucas put it in the back of
the net to make the score 5-0.
In the game’s final seconds,
ATOMc Green had one final chance to break the shutout, but Luke C. stoned the
opposition player with a sprawling leg save just before the buzzer sounded to
signal the end of the game. Because the
three injury timeouts had taken several minutes out of the allotted fifty
minute ice time, curfew required that the game be called with approximately two
minutes remaining on the clock.
Following the game, the decision
as to who should receive the Gold jersey was a difficult one for the coaches,
as everyone deserved the honours today.
However, for an excellent game on defence during which he was nearly
impenetrable, Calder W. was named Player of the Game.
What a great way to end the
regular season! This win represents how
well the boys have grown together and developed into a team. What passing!
What shooting! What
defending! What goaltending! If we play like this through the tournament,
we’re going to give the other teams a real run for their money!
Great game, boys! Pay attention to e-mails and the Waterloo
Minor Hockey website for next weekend’s tournament schedule! Get ready for a great end to the season!