MP Selects Cruise to Finals in Vaughan, then...
The Minor Peewee Select team extended their perfect record to seven games to start the season. Not bad! But all streaks must end eventually. After outscoring the opposition by a combined 22 - 3 over the first four games of the Marshall Drewnowsky Memorial Tournament, the Wolves came up against a very strong Forest Hill team in the finals. Read all about it in Curtis's post-tourney report...
Good evening folks, and welcome to a special edition of TSN Sportscentre. Tonight we have a lot of hockey to talk about. No, the NHL isn't back - and we don't need them because the Marshall Drewnowsky Memorial Hockey Tournament in Vaughan offered enough action to satisfy any hockey fan. The final game was played out late Sunday afternoon, but before we get to that, let's see how we got there.
On Friday the Waterloo Wolves played the North York Knights at the Sports Village Arena in the busy city of Vaughan, Ontario. Game 1 saw the Wolves dominate the Knights on the scoreboard but it didn't come easy. The boys have gotten used to scoring 9 seconds into the first period, but this time they disappointed the crowd by making them wait 13 seconds instead, with a powerful shot from Spencer after a beauty pass by Justin. The Knights tied it up just eleven seconds later. Later in the period it's Spencer again. This time he flies down the wing alone, takes the shot, and sends it to the top shelf with the peanut butter and jelly. Waterloo takes a 2 - 1 lead. Now we go to the second period. Curtis screams along the boards with Jeremy coming down the middle. Curtis drives toward the net but gets taken down before getting a good shot off. Jeremy picks up the leftovers and GOAL! A little later in the same period Brody takes a shot but only gets a piece of it. The puck dribbles toward the net, and unfortunately for North York their goalie is out in right field picking clovers, and the puck slides past, making it a 4 -1 game. After that we saw some good clean hockey but no more goals.
Game 2 played out the next day in the same arena, this time with Waterloo playing North Toronto. The first period ended scoreless, which we can largely attribute to the Waterloo defense. The second period had Waterloo getting on the board first with Josh going up the middle, surrounded by Toronto, he squeaks the puck out to Xavier and BAM - Xavier makes it a 1 - 0 game. In the third, Toronto gets on the board early, but after that, it's all Waterloo. We see Ben out front. He takes the shot, the puck rebounds and sits near the crease with the goalie out of range. Curtis sees it and slaps it in. Less than a minute later, Ben slams one in unassisted. Later in the period, it's Jeremy with the puck, a shot, the rebound, and guess who's in position again? Curtis, and he puts in the juicy rebound again. Now to the end. Xavier and Tristan go down the line, Xavier gets covered, passes to Tristan and GOAL... right at the buzzer, making a 5 -1 final score.
Game 3 pitted the Wolves against the York Mills Rangers at the Woodbridge Arena - a classic rink with one ice pad, small dressing rooms, and a front row seat for every spectator willing to be out on the cold side of the glass. The Wolves were ready in time to catch the final few minutes of the game between North Toronto and North York. If North York loses or ties then the Wolves have a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. Near the end it was York ahead by one, then Toronto flies down the middle and GOAL! This ties it up, but wait a minute, the referees have other ideas and....they waive it off. And that's how it ends - 5 to 4 York, which means the Wolves need a tie or a win to move on. The game turned out to be a confidence-builder for the Wolves with goal after goal made by the forwards, play after play getting broken up by the defense, and save after save by the goaltenders. In the first there's a scramble out front in the York Mills end, Xavier hands it to Tristan and GOAL! Later in the same period Nathan passes to Spencer who puts it in for a 2 - 0 game. In the second, Emmett makes a nice low glove save. Still early in the second, the Wolves get about ten whacks at it before Josh gets one past, with Tristan and Xavier taking the assists. A minute later, Spencer uses a backhand flip shot to make it 4 to zip. Still in the same period, Brody and Nathan assist Spencer for yet another goal, and this one is over for York Mills. In the third Casey and Curtis assist Ben for a final goal for a 6 to nothing game, which lands the Wolves in the semis.
The semi-final game had the Wolves playing the Peterborough Petes in the Al Paladini Arena. This match-up had the coaches a little nervous because Peterborough is a hockey town and they're known for being tough. The first period started a little slow, except for Jeremy who shows his speed with a fantastic back-check to help counteract Peterborough's forward action. Late in the first Waterloo picks up some momentum. Tristan gets on the board with a rebound off Xavier's breakaway shot. A minute later Curtis attempts a wraparound, Jeremy is in perfect position and BAM! He puts it in. Then it's Ben with a goal off a Curtis pass. Then Tristan nails another unassisted, ending the period 4 to nothing for Waterloo. They kept going after that. In the second, Ian sees an opening and goes for it. Ian has the killer instinct and the speed to match. He drives for the net but gets stripped of the puck right at the goal line. Nice try. Now we see Spencer pass to Brody, Brody with some patience behind the net, looks for the opportunity, passes to Nathan and GOAL! Waterloo is playing well, they're talking to each other, and this one looks in the bag. In the third it's Brody again, gets the goal off the Spencer and Nathan assists. With three minutes left, Xavier puts in the final nail, ending it 7 - 1 Waterloo.
Now for the final. We've seen some fantastic playing this entire tournament, and the Wolves enter the finals with some high hopes and the skills to match. On paper, they're evenly matched with Forest Hill Falcons so it promises to be a good game. A strategy session at Swiss Chalet the night before went late into the evening, so hopefully everyone had a chance to study the plays and will be all ready to go. Forest Hill wins the first draw, and from the get-go it's clear that the Falcons have been playing together for a long time. They play their positions well, constantly pass, and have some speed that's hard to beat. But the Wolves have a lot of heart and are giving their all. Emmett saves a breakaway shot early on, then stops another scramble in front of the net. Waterloo leads some promising-looking rushes but keeps getting shut down by the Forest Hill back-check. In the second Ben and Brody lead another fantastic rush, but again Forest Hill's speed puts an end to it. Now in Forest Hill's end, a scramble, Forest Hill tries to shoot it out but Zach and Braden put up a defensive wall yet again to keep the puck in. Zach reaches for a puck that looks way out of range, but the crowed is wowed as he gets a piece of it, and Waterloo gets another chance. This is a highlight play. Eventually the puck finds the middle ice and Forest Hill capitalizes and flies down to the Waterloo end. A scramble, Emmett keeps one out with a toe save, now another, everyone's a goalie now as the Waterloo defense is in the crease helping out. It looks like a rugby scrum over there. Ben gets it and goes long. He splits the D, but gets tripped on the buzzer to end the second. No penalty comes out of the trip, and we go into the third scoreless. Waterloo wins the draw, but unfortunately the third period is all Forest Hill. The Falcons look like professional tournament players out there, keeping their cool and making plays. They get one in early and put the Wolves on the defensive. Although the Falcons were all over them, Waterloo still makes them work for it. Josh, Tristan, and Xavier blast down the ice on a 3 to 1 rush, a shot, but the goalie drops on it. Did it go in? The ref says no and the play continues. Curtis sees an open net but can't get his stick on it. Casey and Justin are doing a fantastic job on the defensive end but can only do so much. The score runs up to 3 - 0 Forest Hill but Chris is still making huge saves. With 3:44 he makes a glove save worthy of the highlight reels. Forest Hill gets into the penalty box for a trip and now Waterloo has a power play. Unfortunately they can't capitalize on it, and the game ends with a 4 - 0 score for Forest Hill. A great game, but somebody had to win, this time it was Forest Hill. Emmett gets the tournament MVP, and the team gets the silver cups, which, by the way, actually look nicer than the gold ones. Good clean hockey overall. The City of Vaughan is about as pretty as a smashed pineapple, but the hockey was fun. See you next time.