Grey Bruce Food Town Atoms headed to their first tournament of the season. After it was all over, the boys returned home knowing what they must work on to be competitive in this league.
Our first game was against Kanata resulting in a 8-1 loss. Our lone goal came from Tyson Hutcheson on a break away, burying the puck in the five-hole, unassisted. Performances from our goaltenders Matthew Donnelly and Talon Johnsen had people talking about them at the tournament. The coach from the Kanata team approached our coach and said that Ron Tugnutt’s sister who was running the timeclock called Tugnutt (Tugnutt played goal in the NHL for several years and now is helping the Peterborough Petes’ organization) to come to the rink to see this Grey Bruce Highlander goalie because he is amazing. Tugnutt was able to catch the last seven minutes of the game. Way to go Matthew – Keep up the great work!
Taking notes from the first game the boys showed a lot of improvement in their second game against Niagara North. We had more scoring opportunities this game. Will Black helped his team get on the scoreboard with a nifty back hand over the goalie’s shoulder. Assists were awarded to Tyson Hutcheson and Riley Torrie. This game also had great goaltending with Talon Johnsen facing over 40 shots.
In the third game of the tournament the boys took on the host team from Peterborough. After some line juggling, the boys came out hard and played one of their best games of the weekend. The Highlanders controlled most of the play early but could not find the back of the net. The back and forth action made for an exciting game but in the end the Highlanders came up short losing 4-0.
In game number four it was a matchup against the Central Ontario Wolves. This proved to be another great game but an early penalty shot got the Wolves rolling and they went on to the 4-0 win. This game had a familiar theme, with the boys playing hard but unable to solve the opposing goaltender. The kids continue to improve and it is only a matter of time before they get rewarded for their hard work.
Good luck on Sunday against Oakville!
Article written by Trace Aljoe/Mike Hutcheson