Midget LL3, U18, 2016-2017 (New Hamburg Hockey Association)

The New Hamburg Huskies Midget LL3s capped off their season with one final tournament in Paris held from March 31 to April 2. New Hamburg Midgets are no stranger to the Syl Apps Memorial venue but have never been able to secure any hardware given the number of teams and quality of competition but this year was going to be very different. There were 12 teams registered including their fraternity brothers, the LL2s whom they recently conceded the Grand River championship the previous week. 

The New Hamburg Midget Huskies Midget LL3s had a big job in front of them on March 23 when the puck dropped at the Wilmot Recreation Complex. Having lost game 1 in a 5 – 0 route to their fraternity brothers, the Midget LL2s, the LL3s faced a must-win situation for game 2 of the best-of-3 championship finals.

The New Hamburg Midget Huskies Midget LL3s took to the ice on March 7 with the knowledge that this would be a season deciding game. The Dogs needed a win in this last round-robin match to secure 2nd place and guarantee a berth in the championship finals. A tie would force a run-off game with Plattsville and a loss would be a season-ender. They knew the task would be daunting given that their fraternity opponent, the Midget LL2s, had gone all season undefeated and had a lock on the 1st place berth in the finals.

It was a “must-win” game for the New Hamburg Huskies Midget LL3s when they hosted the Plattsville Rage on February 24. The Dogs had 3 wins and 3 losses in the 10-game A-pool round-robin play-off series and a win would go a long way to securing a top-2 slot. They knew it wouldn’t be easy, having lost 5-7 to their guests at the beginning of the series but the Pack was ready at game time to get the job done. 

With regular season just completed, the Huskies Midget LL3s took to the road to compete in the Wasaga Beach Tournament on January 14. The boys were looking for gold in the 3-game winner-take-all 8-team format that saw them face-off against the Waterford Wildcats LL2 that morning.