The
Minor Atom A Huskies went 6 and 0 this past week in the Newmarket “The Road to the Hall”
tournament to capture the International Silver Stick Finals Championship!
In
the first game of the tournament on Thursday the boys were up against a good
Don Mills Mustangs team. The first period would end with the Huskies up by a 3-2
score. However that would be all Don Mills would get as the Huskies poured it
on to take it 8-2.
In the first of their two games on Friday the Huskies were up against the Midland, Michigan Northstars. New Hamburg would score early and often in this one as they were up 4-0 at the end of the 1st and 8-0 at the end of the 2nd. That would end up being the final as the Huskies took their foot off the pedal in a run-time third period.
The second game of the day Friday proved to be more of a test against a solid, hard-working Barrie Colts team. Barrie took a 1 – 0 lead in to the second period. New Hamburg would score 2 in the 2nd and took a 2-1 lead into the final frame. They would add the insurance marker with 2:03 remaining in the contest to seal the 3-1 victory.
In the fourth and final game of the divisional round robin on Saturday morning the Huskies cruised to an overwhelming 10-1 victory over the host Newmarket Redmen. That win would guarantee New Hamburg first in their divisional standings.
In order to make the finals on Sunday New Hamburg would have to get through a very strong Welland Tigers team that had narrowly finished second in the other division. The semi-final game would be a very well played game for both teams. The Huskies would need every boy in the room to pull out a hard-fought 4-0 shutout win.
The Championship game on Sunday would see New Hamburg up against another very strong team from Essex that had finished first in the other division and then defeated Barrie 6-3 in the other semi-final game.
There was excitement in the air early Sunday morning as the Stanley Cup was in the building for the day.
The boys showed few signs of nerves as the Silver Stick committee representatives came in to their room before the game to show them the original Silver Stick and explain exactly what was up for grabs and how special it was to even get this far but also that the winner would get their team name put in to the Silver Stick display case at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Despite the display and explanations of grandeur the boys remained calm and loose and prepared to accomplish what they had set out to do.
In the Championship game in front of lots of loud and supportive family, friends and fans New Hamburg would jump out to 2-0 lead by the end of the first. New Hamburg were relentless at both ends of the ice and would score 3 more in the 2nd to take a 5-1 lead in to the final period. Essex would get one back early in the third to make it 5-2 but it didn’t seem to shake the Huskies resolve at all. They would continue to work and shut the door from then on and buried an empty net goal with 2:01 remaining to take the final 6-2!
It was impressive to watch as the Huskies would use their complete team effort with 3 solid lines, 6 solid D and 2 exceptional goaltenders to go a combined 11 wins and 0 losses between the Regional qualifier tournament in Owen Sound in November and International Finals in Newmarket.
It took each and every one of the following team members to accomplish this. Congratulations boys!
Brayden Thomson, Hudson Bradshaw, Parker Pfaff, Colton Griffith, Brennen Brietenstein,
Carlo Gerardi, Carter Mcphee, Gavin Mueller, Logan Boulton, Nathan Monahan, Oliver Warden,
Brandon Wilhelm, Aren Mcbeth, Mason Woodley, Logan Azzopardi, Lukas Stoll, Brayden Symanyk