PLAYOFF LUCK RUNS OUT, News, Novice Rep, 2014-2015 (Oro Thunder Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2014-2015 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 01, 2015 | cemerton | 977 views
PLAYOFF LUCK RUNS OUT
OMHA Quarter Finals – ORO vs. MIDLAND
February 9 – 15, 2015  

Game 1
 

The second round opened with the Thunder on the road to face the extremely tough Midland Centennials.  With a strong regular season and one playoff series victory behind us, we still went into this series as the underdog.  The series kicked off ​Monday evening with eleven excited and eager boys.

As the puck dropped emotions and intensity were running high for both teams.  Every inch of ice was fought for.  Each team took turns trying to penetrate a stingy and air tight “D”.  Much of the early play was in the neutral zone as attacking forwards were denied entrance into opposition territory.

 

With three minutes gone in the 1st Devin won a clean neutral zone face-off to Nick.  With poise and precision, Nick slid a return pass to Devin.  As Devin headed towards the Midland end he met fierce resistance.  With a smart dump in, Jack was able to outrace his defender and gain control of the puck.  With a slick move he evaded his defender and sent a howitzer at the Midland keeper.  A great save was made but the rebound was up for grabs.  Recognizing the opportunity, Devin swooped in out of nowhere to push the black disc across the goal line.  A better start could not have been scripted for the visitors. 

 

The final seven minutes of the 1st were dominated by team defence on both sides.

Period two started with Midland attacking hard and fast looking to even the score.  Their relentless pressure forced the Thunder into penalty trouble.  With a revolving penalty box door and talented Midland players, it wasn’t long before the home side would tie and take the lead.  With momentum on their side, the Thunder continued to find themselves in the sin bin.  When the dust settled on the second the Thunder found themselves behind the eight ball with the score 4-1.

 

With 15 minutes remaining we had to pull out all the stops and attack.  Our D corps- Logan, Nick, Wesley, Owen along with Jensen were committed on not allowing another goal against in hopes that our forwards would find their scoring touch.  These five boys combined to eliminate any threats against with great saves and quick puck movement which allowed our forwards to attack the Midland goal.

 

While numerous chances were generated the talented forwards were not able to push the needle forward on the visitor score clock.  The final buzzer would sound with an opening 4-1 loss on the road.  Coaches were happy with the effort but stressed to the boys that discipline would be essential in this series.

 

Game 2 would be Saturday allowing both teams to re-group and practice.

 

As the Saturday matinee got underway the home side was going to pull out all the stops in an attempt to tie the series.  Both teams wasted no time going at one another.

 

Unfortunately the home side was not able to open the scoring on this day.  This coach always finds it amazing how the puck finds its way to the bench when a player change is taking place.  With an extra skater on the ice the home side was assessed a “Too many men” penalty.  This coach had to accept the blame and hoped his squad could bail him out.  The red hot Midland P.P. continued to produce and pushed the Cents up one.

 

The home side showed great character in knotting the affair at one, not two minutes later.  Wesley started the play with a great pass to Noal streaking down the boards.  With his nimble feet and hands Noal weaved his way into Midland’s end.  With great support, Devin came to his line mate’s aid.  Devin was able to steal the puck away and drive it hard to the net.  The Midland goalie continued his fine play and made a great save on a wicked shot from Devin.  The third man on the line “Jacko” perked up when he saw Devin ready to unload.  With powerful strides Jack attacked the blue paint and deposited the rebound to the back of the net and squared the game at 1.

 

The first and second would end knotted at one.  This game was shaping up to be a classic and possibly an overtime thriller.

 

As our team prepared to wage battle for the final 15 minutes our game plan was simple.  Be aggressive and attack as much as possible.

 

Caden, Taylor and Sam started things off upfront for us and set the tone for the period.  As the puck was chipped into the Midland zone, Taylor out muscled a Midland defender to gain control of the puck.  With his quick hands he sent a gorgeous pass to Caden who spotted a wide open Sam in the slot.  With a quick of his weight Sam fired high and hard only to miss his target by mere inches.  A bad break as nobody was stopping this shot.

 

A few minutes later Jensen raised his game to a new level with a dynamic acrobatic save.  His glove save on a Midland sharpshooter was pure robbery and should have landed him in jail.  It left a Midland player shaking his head in disbelief. 

 

Shift after shift both teams attacked and defended with passion.  As the Thunder took the attack to Midland, a great read and quick stick by a Midland player lead to a 2 on 1 with only Wesley back.  Like a consummate pro Wesley surveyed his surroundings and was determined to keep Midland away from our net.  With his strong backward skating and quick stick he prevented the attackers from making a cross ice pass to each other and when the time was just right he sacrificed his body to block a shot and take away a great scoring opportunity.

 

As time ticked away Logan took it upon his shoulders like a true leader to break the stalemate.  He led several rushes up ice with numerous defenders in hot pursuit.  With his power strides it made catching him impossible.  When it came time to unleash his cannon only the heroics of the shot blockers would deny him from bulging the twine.  I’m certain ice packs were flowing after being hit by his shot. 

 

With five minutes remaining, Midland waged a ferocious attack.  Owen, with nerves of steel and ice water in his veins, went 1 on 1 with Midland’s best player.  Owen has worked hard all year on his 1 on 1 skills and today was his payoff.  Owen never let his opponent gain the upper hand.  He forced his attacker wide and closed in on him without hesitation.  After stripping the puck away he sent a beautiful tape to tape pass to Sam.

 

With a soft touch Sam chipped the puck past a Midland defender to send Caden off to the races.  As he darted down the ice with Sam I thought this would be our moment to seize the lead and never let go.

 

As the two crossed the line Caden checked his options.  The defender was cheating towards Sam to take away the pass.  Correctly, Caden elected to shoot and unleashed a wicked wrist shot labelled for the top shelf.  With cat like reflexes the Midland goalie made a highlight of the night save.  It was a great play by both players.

 

After such a great scoring opportunity it seemed inevitable that Midland would force their way back to our end and bounce the tie breaking goal into our net.  It wasn’t the prettiest goal but most importantly it counted, putting the Centennials up 2-1.

 

With Midland scoring in bunches the coaches called a time out to settle the group and assure them all was not lost.

 

With 4 minutes remaining, it was no time to hold back.  The boys pressured and attacked only to be foiled on great opportunities.  With time fading away a Midland attacker found a seam to send a backhander post and in to make the final 3-1.

 

Once again the coaches were happy with the effort and compete level of our team.  Today would not be our day even though I felt we deserved a better fate.  Game 3 would be the following day leaving no time to look back, only forward.

 

Game 3

 

A mere 24 hours later the two foes would face off again.  One team looking to prolong the series, the other looking to punch their ticket to the semi-finals.

 

The opening 10 minutes saw both squads punch and counter punch hoping to gain the lead.  Both defensive groups and goalies were fool proof.  The siren roared and the first period was over in a blink of an eye.

 

The second period went back and forth much the same as the first.  As forwards back checked ferociously on both teams, defencemen would be aggressive and hold the blue line.  For a while it seemed goals would be impossible to come by.

 

With two minutes remaining in the second a turnover was forced deep in the Thunder end.  With a quick pass to the point, a Midland defender sent a hard shot towards the Thunder goal.  A great save was made by Jensen.  With the puck so close to the goal chaos erupted.  When the dust settled Midland found the back of the Thunder net to put themselves ahead one heading to the final frame.

 

The determination and pride was very evident on all Thunder player’s faces before the puck hit the ice to start the third.  The coaches new these eleven talented boys would give it their all and compete to the bitter end.  Our defencemen were stingy and tough as always, our forwards creative and skilled, our goalie sharp and quick like a cat.  Today would not be our day and Midland would close out the series with an impressive 2-0 win.

 

To my team - I would to congratulate you on the class you displayed as the game concluded.  You showed great character and poise as you lined up to shake hands under difficult circumstances.  I hope each of you remembers all the way back to September when we talked about winning and what it meant.  We defined winning not by the score on the clock but by how hard we “COMPETED”, and COMPETE you did.  The coaches couldn’t be more proud of you.  As our journey in the O.M.H.A playoffs ends a new one begins with our league playoffs.  I look forward to the journey with you. 

 

Thunder players and coaches would like to congratulate Midland on a terrific series and wish them continued success as they move forward.

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