Jan 02, 2015 | goldfield | 366 views
Clutch Ty in Oro's First Loss
Into the Quarters of the Niagara Falls' Al Boone Memorial vs The Richmond Hill Kings...a formidable opponent
The dreaded late start and the worn and weary Oro Thunder mustered all they had for the Kings
This was a whale of a hockey game
As we had noticed all tourney,most of these teams play with great physicality to mostly swallowed whistles
Oro was not used to such leniency in rough play and began to push back this game led by Captain Harry
On the edge,but never over, Harry showed Richmond Hill that we can dish as well as take it and led our D's aggressive own zone play.
The Kings team was our equal on puck sharing and had been working systems as well with good team awareness.
Their D pinched more aggressively than we had seen before that led to sustained zone pressure
It also led to exploitable opportunities which we took advantage of, just not often enough.
One such instance was in the first where Ben found Doogie flying zone for an in alone breakaway
Eric went left/right with such a great fake that the goalie bit on like a Mepp's #4 and left him the whole yawning side to push in the easy 1-0 lead. Fab move Doog!
Charging right back the Kings evened the score late first to bring us back to square one into the second
We had implored the forwards to drive wide on rushes vs trying to deke through the D and we saw instances of this message getting through to all pivots. One such was Doogie driving wide and getting a shot on goal whereby Big Ben flew in for the greasy rebound and drove it home...again!!
Teams exchanged chances evenly and Richmond Hill replaced their goalie at mid second.
We wanted to get lots of shots on the cold tender but this kid proved to be a low ice monster eating up all scrambly chances with quick pads.
At our end Justin again held the fort on some highly skilled,hard shooting forwards.
He was especially strong on finding point shots through screens and getting great position to deflect pucks to the corner.
We seemed to take turns at controlling opposition zones and our point men Hayden and Magoo were pushing the pucks down deep and ripping shots when the lane was there. All the D made great reads game long as the Kings left them precious little time with a swarming attack.
It was this smart play that allowed us to keep the lead; it was becoming obvious that Richmond Hill simply had more energy and fresher legs.
Third period and the Kings tied the game seconds in..you could feel them coming on
We exchanged chances in gut check fashion; both tenders unbeatable.
Finally Jacob took advantage of an aggressive pinch and hit Aidan who came in 2-1 with Ty
As instructed,Aidan drove wide with speed and was tripped...this the third time on scoring chances uncalled all game to much frustration
However this time Aidan managed to push the puck while falling to Ty who found himself alone high wide slot.
It was a crucial moment,and Ty,who always looks to pass first, bore down and ripped a laser glove high that went in and out of the tight twine so fast we weren't sure he scored.
The look on his face a second later confirmed the marker and the crowd erupted.
I was so happy for my son who picked up his first goal of the season at the most desperate of times
I had run stats prior to the tourney and was a little surprised to see Ty at fourth place in assists amongst some heady company.
He wasn't pleased back in November with his transition back to an old position,yet understood it helped the team having our former MVP Magoo trade off.
To his credit he has adjusted well and helps lead the team in unselfish playmaking.
A clutch goal son that almost held up to be the winner and for that POG honours.
We bent but didn't break for what seemed an eternity watching the clock tick down achingly slow
With just over 3 minutes to go, the Kings finally penetrated Justin's armour with an equalizer
The air came out of our balloon..it was palpable.
The team had tried so hard to muster energy to hold on but the Kings team were relentless and the fresher squad.
They wasted little time with the dagger at 2:16 striking while our guard was down to take the 4-3 lead.
We rallied the boys who were half parts angry and sad reminding them "this game isn't over" and "dig deep..we can do this"
I looked down the bench at some very beat up/tired pivots and put uber fast/offensively gifted Flash up to wing
We kept an eye on Justin as the clock hit 1:30 and an offensive faceoff gave us the opportunity to pull him
Flash had a great chance but then the puck was turned over as we raced back to protect the open cage took a penalty.
Down 5-4 with 1:04 we were in trouble
Yet we were able to get the puck deep,pulling Justin again and swarmed all over the Richmond Hill crease as seconds ticked down.
So many great chances in the scramble had us jumping,sure we had tied it,and finally Chaser had one last jam play before the clock struck midnight.
It wasn't meant to be and Oro 1 suffered their first defeat of the season
Post game we found a sombre group..some who hadn't tasted defeat in what seemed like forever
Poor Justin was especially hard on himself.
We all reminded him that it wasn't his fault in the LEAST, it was the team that afforded those late chances and that it was because of our superb tender that we were in the game to begin with...and leading our league as well.
Goalie is by far the toughest position in hockey.
Like a pitcher in baseball,a quarterback in football;everything they do is overly magnified and the mental pressure is high.
It takes a special person to dare assume the role and then to succeed in it.
Justin is just that person and the fact he cares so much is especially endearing.
You're a champ Justinator...and your teammates know it.
We told the entire team to be proud of their efforts all season and tourney; that in the end it was the little details that made the difference. We can't win them all.
To use this moment going forward as a hard reminder of why we need best focus at practice and games to limit mistakes by making plays that become natural under varying circumstances
We came oh so close to making a push to the finals with a worn,beat up team that tried their best..its all we can ask for
A team record of 18 games undefeated to start the season is something to triumph and savour before we get back to work playing our tough division foes in the G
I can't think of a better way to spend the holidays than with our hockey family...and hope you had as much fun as we did
Cheers to the Oro Thunder 1 in 2015!!!
Final ;
Richmond Hill 4 - Oro 3