With Christmas just behind the boys and still some
trying to work in new equipment that Santa had brought, the Atom Highlanders
were off to the Burlington to face off against some new teams that they haven’t
played before in the prestigious 44th annual Golden Horseshoe
Tournament. This tournament has had some
prominent NHL alumni and current NHL players participate including the 1971 and
1972 Atom MVP Wayne Gretzky among many other notable players.
First up, the Food Town Major Atom Highlanders were going head to head against the Ajax Pickering Raiders. It was with great news that our injured Highlander Tyson Hutcheson returned to the line up for his first game back off the injured reserve. The game started at a rapid pace and the Raiders were down deep into the Highlanders zone, however aggressive play by the defence of Sam Bye and Dawson Fahrer let the Raiders know that they would have to work hard in order to score on the Highlanders. A heads up chip into the natural zone by Colby Loosemore sent two Highlanders away on a two on O, however the Raiders net minder came up with one of his many saves. The Raiders got on the board first with what most of the fans considered a questionable goal that appeared to not cross the goal line, however the ref called it in. Matthew Donnelly, I think would have liked the luxury of instant replay on that one. Late in the period Carson English had a good read that broke up a two on one in the neutral zone and a quick pass that sent Mark Aljoe down with a quick shot on net.
Defensive break early in the 2nd saw the Raiders net two quick ones. However, the Highlanders didn’t let up and with hard work and aggressive play down low in the Raiders zone saw Tyson Lina out hustle a Raider defender and put a tape to tape pass out to the high slot where Brandon Stewart was waiting with a one-timer. Didn’t even give the Raiders goaltender a chance. The Highlanders were on the board.
The 3rd period started with some good effort from Brendan Hinds to jam a loose puck in front of the net to put up the Highlanders second goal, with the help of Will Black assisting. A heads up pass from Riley Torrie sent Colby Loosemore on a break away and again the hot Raiders goaltender didn’t allow the puck to get by him. Unfortunately, our two goals weren’t enough to beat the Raiders.
Back to the hotel for some well deserved team building in the hotel pool. What would a hockey tournament be without 17 screaming hockey players and some siblings having a super fantastic time in the pool??? Every parent around the pool could barely hear their own voice in their head, but looking out and seeing all of the bright smiles and red eyes from the chlorine of the kids having a great time, was worth it. Curfew of 8:30 came quick and I know for my hockey player and I’m sure most of them were fast asleep dreaming of scoring that game-winning goal.
Team was all downstairs and fired up for the team breakfast at the hotel and getting fuelled up and ready for the early morning game against the Hamilton Reps.
The game started at a rapid pace with lots of back and forth action. Highlanders defence was strong and Talon Johnsen was turning away the many testers that the Reps fired his way. Some good back checking by Mark Aljoe caused a turnover by Hamilton and almost resulted in Brendan Hinds netting one for the Highlanders. A couple of penalties for the Reps put the Highlanders on power plays unfortunately they couldn’t capitalize. The Reps did get the upper hand very late into the 1st period.
The 2nd period started with a big kick save by Talon Johnsen, turning away a two on one and good defensive play by Jayce Busby that saved a for sure goal. Lots of fore-checking by Tyson Lina and Colby Loosemore turned over a few pucks in the offensive zone but the Highlanders couldn’t take advantage of them.
Again, lots of hard work by all the Highlanders and unlucky bounces saw the boys having difficulties to beat the Reps net minder. They just couldn’t seem to get rolling in the 3rd. A solid defensive play by Carson English gave a scoring chance mid-way through the 3rd for Thomas Brown, but again the Reps goaltender proved he was worthy of the challenge. Overall it was a good team effort and the boys are doing their best and making Grey Bruce very proud. With hard work and perseverance and not being discourage this team will continue to make improvements that will one day make them a contender in any game. Job well done boys!!!!
Article written by Kevin English
The third game of the tourney saw the Highlanders face the mighty Toronto Marlboros, currently ranked fourth in the province. This very strong GTHL team proved too much for the Grey-Bruce boys despite outstanding goaltending from Mathew Donnelly and a refuse to be intimidated attitude from the entire Highlander team.
The Malboros quickly came out strong building a 3-0 lead in the first using some beauty set-up goals and amazing shots. They would match that in the second but the Grey-Bruce attitude would prevail and the Highlanders were able to tough out a tie in the third period.
The boys showed some great character and pride continually battling for pucks along the boards despite being doubled in size and strength by the Marlboros ultimately holding them to a 6-0 score. A very respectable game.
With the championship round out of sight the boys would battle a familiar foe in the Niagara North Stars. The first period saw both teams trade chances to score but with 10 seconds left in the period the North Stars would find the back of the net.
Early in the second Highlanders would get a penalty which Niagara wasted no time capitalizing on. This would appear to be the TSN turning point. Niagara would score again about a minute and a half later and with Grey-Bruce unable to cash on their opportunities, the period would end with a 3-0 score. The deflated Highlanders would continue to battle, but being unable to find the back of the net, the game would end with Niagara scoring a couple more in the third, driving the game out of reach.
Overall a fantastic tournament boys where we were able to see some teams we normally do not have the opportunity to play and show us were our level of play can get to. If we continue to work hard at the little things and improve, next time the Raiders, Reps, Marlboros, and the North Stars will be intimidated by us.
Article written by Paul Stewart