Written by Jana Miller
The Peewee Rep Huskies wrapped up a stellar regular season over the weekend, finishing their first season in the new 11-team Tri-County League in third place with a 15-9-4 record. The Huskies also closed out the regular season with their second A tournament championship of the year, capturing the gold medal at the 45th Annual Hespeler Minor Hockey Olympics over the Christmas Break.
Netminder Jonathon Heise was instrumental in helping his Huskies open the tournament with a 2-0 shutout win over the Burlington Bulldogs. Team scoring leader Austin Benko carried his steady regular season scoring streak into the tournament, scoring both goals, assisted by Ayden Nafziger, Mitch Roth and Evan Rolleman.
In the second tilt against league rival Guelph Jr. Storm, the Huskies had their work cut out for them. Having just stolen a dying-seconds win from the Storm in their final match-up of the regular season a couple of weeks before, Guelph was out for justice.
After a scoreless first frame, Rhett Miller opened the scoring midway through the second, assisted by linemates Honderich and Josh Beach. Guelph retaliated four minutes later to tie the game and then notched the go-ahead goal with just over a minute to play in the period. The Huskies battled hard – including a hard-skating effort from Lucas Bast – but were unable to find the mark.
A last-minute decision to play a “captains line” paid off when captain Miller’s work on the boards behind the net enabled a passing play from assistant captain Harrington to assistant captain Benko who, once again, made no mistake. Brenner’s strong play between the pipes kept the score close.
Moving on to the third game, the Huskies proved to the host Hespeler Shamrocks that it would take more than the luck of the Irish to beat them. The Huskies, backed by Heise’s solid work in net, notched their second 2-2 tie in a row to remain undefeated in the round robin – again in the dying minutes of play.
After spotting Hespeler a 1-0 lead in the first, Nafziger battled through traffic and scored unassisted to knot the score at one apiece. The Shamrocks earned the go-ahead goal with just over five minutes left to play in the final frame but the Huskies – well-known around the league for their come-from-behind ability – were relentless. With two minutes left to play, Josh Blier tangled with Hespeler players to the left of the net and their efforts resulted in the puck being blasted high into the air – finally coming to rest just behind a surprised Shamrocks netminder. Greg Yeoman collected the assist.
The Huskies finished the round robin undefeated, by downing the Humberview Huskies out of Toronto 3-1. Defenseman Tyler Wyszynski walked in to the Toronto zone and roofed a wrist shot to open the scoring early in the first assisted by Ben Reinhart and Benko. Harrington was able to give the Huskies some insurance a minute later when he scored, assisted by Roth. Toronto found the mark early in the second period to make it 2-1, but Harrington set Nafziger up to reinstate the two-goal lead before the period was through. A scoreless, penalty-filled third ensued.
The win saw the Huskies set for a return bout with the host Hespeler Shamrocks in the A final. It was a nail-biter from start to finish as the battle-worn Huskies played with a short bench due to injury and suspension. Though the Huskies dominated the play through three periods, neither team was on the scoreboard at the end of three frames. Heading to overtime, the tired Huskies battled hard to keep the play in Hespeler’s end when, at the 3:23 mark, Wyszynski and Nafziger combined to set up a wide-open Harrington who blasted home the winner for the gold medal. Heise collected the well-deserved shutout.
In their final game of the regular season on Jan. 7, the Huskies blanked the Owen Sound Jr. Attack 4-0 at home in the dog pound. Benko notched a pair of tallies while Honderich and Blier rounded out the scoring with singles. While the Huskies dominated the play despite a short bench, Jonathon Heise also made some key saves to preserve the shutout.
The Huskies open their first round of OMHA playoffs this week against Tillsonburg.