The Huskies started another fun filled weekend with a
challenging game on Friday morning. Competing in the 2012 Ayr Challenge, the
boys began with a game against one of the local Ayr
teams. The first period ended with no score as the defensive prowess of Connor
Needham, Matthew Donkers, Jared Vandervelde and Thomas Gallie kept the front of
the net clear and worked to get the puck out of their own zone.
The second period continued to be a back and forth battle of wills and close scoring chances for both teams. Just when it looked like this frame would also end in zeros, Nathan Ward broke in on the right wing and snapped a shot past the Ayr goalie with 15 seconds left! Assisting on the Huskies first goal in the tournament were Ethan Troupe and Jared Vandervelde who made crisp passes to spring the shooter into the open. The game would continue 1-0 until late in the third when Ayr pulled their goalie to try and attack for the closing goal. Their attempt was thwarted however when the duo of Troupe and Ward would strike again as Ethan stole the puck and fed Nathan who stepped over the red line before sending the puck into the open net. Kai Janzen once again stood tall in the net and stoned every Ayr attack for his second shutout of the season!
The second game had the Huskies up against the Plattsville Rage. Plattsville opened up the scoring halfway through the first period despite the clinic the New Hamburg forwards were giving in back checking effort. Jack Schmelzle, Ben Herrle and Thomas Gmach were constantly rushing back to lift sticks, dig against the boards and stick their noses into the corners to work the puck free from the Rage players. The score remained 1-0 and the action continued to be furious until with only seconds left in the second period the Rage went ahead 2-0. The score just before the end of the period could have crushed the Huskies spirits but instead they came out of the break flying into the third period. Paul Coffey and Jonas Jarosz continued the trend of hardworking forward play and helped to break down the Plattsville defence. With the whole team firing on all cylinders, Drew Weinacht finally broke through the Rage goaltender’s armour by setting himself up in front of the net and firing a one timer off a pass from the corner. Matthew Donkers was able to keep the puck in the attacking zone at the blueline and fed a pass down to the corner where Nathan Ward centred it to Weinacht for the goal! Despite repeated attacks at the Rage goal for the remainder of the period, the game ended with the Huskies on the wrong end of the 2-1 score. It was a game that could have very easily swung the other way and proved to the parents and coaches that the boys were really coming into their own as a team on and off the ice. Even with the loss, the attitude and energy in the locker room was positive and the boys were looking forward to Saturday when they would have entries into the skills competition and looked to avenge this defeat in their third game.
The skills competition on Saturday started out on high notes as both Kai Janzen and Ethan Troupe advanced to the second round in their parts of the shootout competition. The relay team of Jared Vandervelde, Ben Herrle, Nathan Ward and Drew Weinacht continued the strong showing by advancing to the finals and narrowly missed taking the title by finishing in a strong second place.
After a short rest and joking around with each other in the locker room, the boys were upbeat and focused heading into the opening puck drop of their third game against the Beverly Bandits. Again both teams were evenly matched and struggled to try to break free of each others stifling fore check and strong defensive presence. Finally three and a half minutes into the second period Colin Mcbride broke free from the Beverly defenders and took a feed from Connor Needham to put New Hamburg in front and send their supporters into a frenzy. Five minutes later Nathan Ward was again able to convert a pass into a goal, this time the assist going to Drew Weinacht. Beverly netted a goal of their own early in the third period to draw within one but with a jump in their step and the end of the game in sight, the Huskies kept attacking. With five minutes left in the game Nathan Ward was on the receiving end of a brilliant pass from the defence as Matthew Donkers set him up for the team’s third goal of the game. This would prove to be the final goal as New Hamburg closed out another opponent with determination and hard work and had all the Huskies parents on their feet at the final buzzer.
Despite the outstanding effort put in by every player, a fantastic 2-1 finish in round robin play and outscoring their opponents 6-3 overall the boys just missed out on the chance to play in Sunday’s final. Even though they didn’t get to play for the championship, due to their hard work and outstanding team play the Huskies were all able to walk out of the arena on Saturday with their heads held high.