Becoming a single ‘A’ centre has had its ups and downs and has come with its share of challenges for the New Hamburg Huskie organization, however competing and not giving up aren’t on the challenge list. Still classed as a small single ‘A’ centre, the Re/Max Twin City Minor Peewee Huskies didn’t give up and competed admirably against some very large cities.
In game one of the three game round robin at the 38th
annual Regional Silver Stick tournament in Woodstock this past weekend, the Huskies
faced off against the Niagara Falls Canucks. Strong play by defenseman Bradley
Vitello highlighted the otherwise listless first period as he pinched
aggressively at the offensive blue line which earned him a couple of shots on
goal. The Canucks opened the scoring on the power play midway through the
second after a questionable call. But, the Huskies answered to tie the game on
a goal by Jake Schweitzer as Cotter Hegan and Luke Egers earned the assists.
In the third, some hard work paid off when Koby Seiling sent
a point shot to the net which rebounded to the corner. Griffin Hergott muscled
the puck out to an open Kyle Green in front who buried the 2-1 goal to seal the
win. “Good. Like it takes my team one step closer to winning Silver Stick,” a
delighted Green commented after he was asked how he felt about the goal.
Up next St
Thomas, who had just beaten London
4-1, would be the competition. The teams fought for every inch of ice but the
pendulum would not swing one way or the other. Not until 6:25 left in the third
that is, as one of the prettiest goals of the tournament was scored. It
characterized some great teamwork as Jacob Ertel picked up a loose puck behind
the net and came around front. He could have shot but dished a pass to Hergott
whom he found backdoor. Hergott then slammed it into the cage for the 1-0
victory. “Well, Kyle (Green) kept it in and chipped it in the corner,” said
Hergott. “Ertel picked it up and came around and passed to me.” Asked how he
got open, an unsure Hergott remarked, “I don’t know… I was just standing
there.” A somewhat subdued assistant coach Jeff
Livingstone was not so jovial, ‘lucky again,” he said.
“Hockey Gods were with us. We gotta earn them (wins). Sloppy play ‘til the
third when we started moving our feet,” he continued.
If the Hockey Gods were with the Huskies the first two
games, they sure vacated the arena for game three vs. the 0-2 London Bandits.
Perhaps a little too confident or their lunch ended up in their skates, a slow
and methodical Huskie squad succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the
Bandits. Two goals in each of the first two periods and that was all she wrote.
Three of the goals were of the sloppy variety save for the third one which was
scored on the power play. In the third, the dogs redeemed themselves to a
certain degree but head Kory Green
wasn’t buying it. “Payback. Don’t work, don’t get success,” he responded.
The 2-1 record was good enough for first place in their
division and a semi final date against second place in their division, the
Burlington Bulldogs. With 2:59 left in the first, a great individual effort by
Hergott was rewarded as he walked in alone from the corner to tally the lone
Huskie goal. 59 seconds later, Burlington
made it 1-1 as there would not be any real scoring chances until the bulldogs
grabbed the lead with 11:07 to play on a scramble in front of the Huskie net.
The Huskies would put up all the stops late in the
game for that one last chance. With the goalie pulled, the desperate dogs got
that chance with 9 seconds left but the shot ended up at the goalie’s chest.
Head coach Green, obviously disappointed, praised the tournament organizers by
saying he would recommend it and that it was well run with lots of people to
help. “(It was) not the result we wanted. We were gripping our sticks too
tight,” he said. He did go on to say he was proud of his players though.
“Sometimes you see sticks thrown around the room after (games like this). They
were sitting quietly, waiting for the coaches to come in to address them.” The
Peewees return to league play this Sunday Oct 28 vs. Oakville at 2:00pm at the Wilmot Recreation
Complex and hopefully the Hockey Gods will be in attendance.