Penetang – Wednesday, November 5, 2014
9-0, ORO
Our boys faced the familiar Penetang Flames last night in
our third of four match-ups this season.
Prior to the game word got out that we would be missing one of our
regular contributors – Sammy – due to illness.
Due to his unfortunate circumstances, the coaches made a call to a young
man who has shown great skill during our Thursday morning practices. Dylan was eager to accept the invitation to
play and the coaches were happy to see that the team welcomed him with open
arms.
With a new player in the line up, the coaches also decided to change some of the lines around to see how the kids would react to playing with new line mates. Much to our delight, the kids seemed to click with one another right from the opening face-off. Taylor and Devin worked together to make some terrific passes to Jack, who opened the scoring for the game within the first minute of play.
Jensen wasn’t tested often, which can sometimes be a tough situation for goaltenders. Due to his great focus when the Flames did break through our solid back line, Jensen was there to make key saves and thwart any Flame momentum. With his continued solid play, he is sure to find himself in the crease one day of his favourite NHL team – The Sharks!
Owen “The Tank” continued his dynamite defensive play. It brings great joy to the coaching staff to watch as his offensive game is starting to blossom. His confidence with the puck is increasing every day. It shows as he makes great passes, and his velocity of shots from the blue line make opposing forwards duck out of the way as he is loading up the cannon!
Wesley was poised and committed as always, and has taken to heart the coach’s advice to always look to make plays first and foremost. He made numerous great passes to open teammates which led to several goals and many more scoring chances. It should be mentioned that Wesley was a huge part of the offense last night, as he rocketed hard wrist shots to the net on many occasions!
Young Nicky did double duty last night as he started out in his familiar position alongside Logan on the blue line. As always, he was rock-solid. His tenacious, aggressive, smooth skating allowed him to break up many Penetang break-outs. Nicky was able to keep the puck down low to our attacking forwards. He has a tremendous sense of when to pinch, which is truly remarkable for such a young man. As the game wore on, another illness caught up with the Thunder again, leaving us a man short up front. As a true team player, Nick volunteered to move up to play right wing, demonstrating great versatility!
Logan was on fire last night...generating numerous scoring chances with his brilliant rushes up the ice. His sense of when to attack and when to defend are really beginning to flourish. Logan certainly looks comfortable playing the role of an offensive defenseman! All good teams require them, and he is certainly fulfilling his role.
Noal was at his feisty best last night – notching a sweet hat trick! Noal and I had a great chat last week when he brought his brand new WARRIOR stick to the rink – I had asked him if he had talked to it yet, and he had said no. I told him about talking to his new stick to see if there were goals in it! I guess that conversation went pretty well, Noal, because the WARRIOR coupled with your amazing skill put on quite a display!
Taylor had an amazing game, impressing the coaches with his passing which we have worked so hard on in practice. He made several hard passes with his head up! Taylor’s positioning in our own end continues to improve each game and is now something we can expect and rely on. He was tenacious on the forecheck all night and had many great scoring opportunities, foiled by some excellent net minding.
Caden, although suffering with illness, worked hard to forecheck and backcheck all night. Even while under the weather, he showed tremendous flashes of offense. When illness did catch up with him, forcing him to sit out a period, he was able to muster enough energy to finish the game on defence. When playing defence, he put up a brick wall when the Flames started to advance, shutting down any scoring opportunities and helping Jensen out in front of our net.
Devin continued his excellent all-round play, dominating in the offensive and defensive zones. He won many face-offs, which led to many scoring chances by our defensemen. This is a unique skill that he has developed and a real asset to the team. His passing skills and heads-up play were remarkable and resulted in great team play!
Jacko played a passionate game of hockey last night. His consistency of play all season long has been top-notch. His passing and finishing skills have been spot on, however the thing we’ve been most impressed with is his tenacity to get that puck, and his willingness to out-muscle and dig for loose pucks. All of this hard work led to some great assists and great goals! Well done!
Finally, what can I say about such a superb performance by Dylan in his first appearance? He came ready to compete and delivered an amazing show! His enthusiasm was contagious for his line mates, and he impressed the coaches and fans alike as he battled for the puck and made some great passes. The fans went wild as he notched his first goal with our team, and showed his selflessness by setting up two other goals! Wow! What a performance...a 3-point night! Great work, Dylan!
We missed Sammy, and are wishing him a speedy recovery. Please rest-up and get feeling better soon! You are a valuable team member and bring a real presence to our team! As impressive as the team was on the ice, one thing that should not go unmentioned is the leadership and compassion of Logan, as he took the initiative to have all teammates sign a Get Well card for Sammy. You boys are amazing!