Jan 31, 2015 | Joe Heinisch | 514 views
A Win, A Tie and A Loss...Oh MY!
Saturday January 31, 2015
Game Reporter: Jay Nijhuis
If you are looking for an exact moment and time where the season began to turn around for this Skills Plus Team, look no further than Game #2 of the tournament in London. We had just been defeated by Mount Forest and the coaching staff decided to radically change the look of our lineup to shake things up. Ethan M. and Connor M. moved to Defence and Tyler H. and Dustin K. moved to Forward and the boys have not looked back since.
Game 12 vs Pillers
Skills Plus had just comeback the night before to beat Pioneer Transmission 6-3 and confidence was high. Not to mention, Piller's beat us in the Christmas Tournament, so some payback would be a nice motivator. The boys played hard from the drop of the puck but just couldn't get the go ahead goal and skated off the ice with a 3-3 tie
Game 13 vs The Delivery Guys
Earlier this season, Skills Plus had beaten the "Red" team 3-1 but one look at the standings showed that they were a much different team than the last time we played them.
Before the game, Coach Joe let the team know that Will H. had given up Kitchener Rangers tickets (a Christmas Gift) because he would rather go to battle with his team mates than go to see the Rangers play. The boys loved his dedication and decided to try and win the game for Will H.
Skills Plus came out very hard in the first frame and played an outstanding period. Logan N made a fantastic rush up the ice and roofed a wrist shot to make it 1-0. Then for some reason the boys got off track in the 2nd period. The forecheck wasn't as intense and our compete level dropped allowing The Delivery Guys to score two goals and take a 2-1 lead. Between periods, Coach Joe reminded the guys that if they want to be successful they have to work harder. Message was received as the boys played very well in the third but couldn't get the equalizer, even with the goalie pulled for the final 1:30 of the third period. Final score was a 2-1 loss.
Game 14 vs Domino's Pizza
The Coaches knew this was going to be a pivotal game in our season as we prepared to play the Team who battled us through 7-8 Overtime periods in the London Tournament. We knew they would be motivated to beat us, and let's face it, everyone wants to win the final game of the season to head into the playoffs on a positive note.
Skills Plus was fired up and ready to play from the drop of the puck. Congratulations to Derek R. on scoring his first two goals since coming back from a broken wrist, Logan N. scored two goals from the blue line as well as Ty C., Ethan M. and Alex S. all scoring goals in a very impressive 7-1 win.
As a coaching staff, it was so much fun watching this team play the way we know they can, and it's really important that they see what kind of effort it will take to win big games in the playoffs. Coach Joe told the boys after the game, that if they play with that much heart, not many teams will be able to beat us.
The boys forechecked, played great defence, passed the puck, broke out of our zone using the break out drill we have worked on all season, went to the net with their sticks on the ice and were rewarded multiple times for their effort this morning. Also, David B. told he team he only had 3 shots on goal which shows how impressive our team defence was... shutting down several of the Shark's most dangerous offensive weapons.
So our final record for the season was 5-6-3 and that now goes out the window as we start the Playoffs next weekend with a clean slate. We play 7 games to determine whether or not we will be grouped in the A division or B division for the season ending Tournament coming up in late March.
Enjoy your weekend and hopefully you don't eat too many bowls of chilli during your Superbowl Party tomorrow night.
Keep your stick on the ice....great season....let's get ready for the Playoffs BABY!