Owen Sound – Saturday, November 15, 2014
12-1, ORO
Saturday brought our first match with the Junior Attack of
Owen Sound...and attack they did! From
the opening puck drop, the Jr. Attack applied pressure. They forced numerous turnovers which led to
several scoring opportunities. Once
again our ROCK WALL was there to bail us out.
Jensen was focused and poised and made several key butterfly saves.
The Attack continued to press and forced the Thunder into a 5 on 3 short-handed situation. This was an experience the boys hadn’t faced all season long. The coaches weren’t sure what to expect, but the boys really locked things down. Logan, Nicky and Jack were ruthless on the puck, breaking up Attack rushes and clearing the puck out of our end.
As any coach will tell you, if you can kill off short-handed situations, momentum usually shifts your way, and tonight was no exception. As the first penalty expired, Devin left the box and immediately gained control of the puck, and with several dangles around Owen Sound players he was able to send a hard wrist shot to the far corner of the net making it 1-0 Thunder and providing a real jolt of energy to the team.
With the shaky start behind us and the boys feeling better, Caden had back to back dynamite shifts. When this young man gets into open space with speed, he can be lethal with the puck. After a couple of shifty moves he buried two pucks to put the Thunder up 3 after one period.
After a quick meeting, the coaches impressed upon the players to play their positions, stay in their lanes and more scoring chances would be created for them. At the start of the second, Logan raced deep into his zone to retrieve a loose puck. He attacked the middle of the ice with great speed. Our wingers, Jack and Taylor, were in great position and provided puck support. Jack found himself in alone on a great dish from Logan. Jack made no mistake and buried the fourth Thunder goal. Great passing and team work boys!
After the fourth tally, the game settled into a tough battle along the boards. To no one’s surprise, many of the battles were won by Thunder players. Leading the strong board play were Sammy and Taylor. Many times they found themselves locked in a battle with a much larger Attack player, but always came out with the puck to create a scoring chance.
As the period wore on, special mention goes out to our D core. Owen and Wesley were a solid tandem as always. They forced Attack players wide and closed the gap quickly to take away time and space. I sure know this coach WOULDN’T want to go up against this tenacious pair!
Nicky, as always, was reading plays and was always in the right place at the right time. His awareness on the ice is miles ahead of his age...well done, Nicky!
As the period was winding down, the Thunder quick-strike offence struck again. On a great feed by Logan and Devin, Jack was able to bang home another marker. Then, there were seconds left on the clock when Logan intercepted an errant Attack pass, getting it to Caden with tape-to-tape ease. With amazing clock-awareness, Caden fired a high shot to the top corner with a mere 4 seconds remaining in the second.
As Noal is enjoying the sunny beaches in Mexico, the Thunder found themselves a man short. However, right before the puck drop, the team received a lucky photo message wishing them good luck and a “Go Thunder”, complete with Noal donning an Oro Thunder jersey on the white sandy beaches of Mexico. To fill out the roster, the call went out to a young, dynamic forward who possesses tremendous hockey skills. Charlie has impressed all coaches during practice with his puck skills. He clicked with his new line-mates right away and made several great passes to Caden and Sam. As the game wore on, his confidence continued to grow as he began to lead rushes up the ice. All his hard work was rewarded on two occasions as he fired two laser beams behind the Attack goalie. What a debut performance, young man! I see lots of great things in your future!
We are hoping for continued success tomorrow against the Blackhawks of Collingwood!