Over the past weekend your Food Town Atom Highlanders travelled to Cambridge to play in the Preston Tournament. Game 1 on Friday was against the Toronto Red Wings.
The game started out strong as both teams seemed pretty even both playing a very strong defensive system. The Highlanders broke through first as Mark Aljoe (Durham) got us rolling with assists going to Nathan Ahrens (Hanover) and Colby Loosemore (Flesherton). This seemed to make the Toronto team really clamp down on defence as they hardly gave up any more chances and they went to score three of there own to win the game 3-1. Talon Johnsen (Owen Sound) played an amazing game in net for the Highlanders, keeping them in it the whole way.
In game #2 the boys took on the Niagara Riverman. This proved to be one of the most exciting games of the year, as every member of the team came out flying, ready to prove that we were the better team. The Food Town Atoms played a very solid first period, showing great attention to defence while still generating good offensive chances. The forwards Mark Aljoe, Brenden Hinds (Grand Valley), Brendon Stewart (Township of Chatsworth), Tyson Lina (Hanover), Nathan Ahrens, Will Black (Mount Forest), Tyson Hutcheson (Durham), Colby Loosemore and Thomas Brown (Mount Forest) were all forechecking and backchecking with passion not giving an inch to a tough Niagara team. All this hard work would pay off as Nathan Ahrens buried a one timer in the slot with some beautiful passes from Will Black and Tyson Lina. Niagara would later tie the game up making it 1-1. The second period was a battle the whole way with neither goaltender giving in until with time winding down Tyson Hutcheson made a nice feed up to Tyson Lina who pushed pass a Niagara defender to go five hole with a backhander to put the good guys up 2-1. With only a one goal lead heading into the third the boys new they had to dig deep to keep The Rivermen off the score sheet. Defencemen Dawson Fahrer (Hanover), Sammy Bye (Mount Forest), Jayce Busby (Walkerton), Carson English (Township of Chatsworth), Riley Torrie (Township of Chatsworth) and Jordan Ferrier (Durham) were excellent in there own end not giving in to Niagara's pressure. Matthew Donnelly (Walkerton) was his normal steady self making great saves to preserve the one goal victory!
Game #3 The Atoms were taking on Detroit Compuware knowing that with a win or a tie we would move on to the semi finals. This game had a familiar feel with both teams being evenly matched and having to fight for every inch of ice. The Highlanders ran into some penalty trouble early on and found themselves down two men, but that didn't discourage Mark Aljoe who instead of just trying to kill off the penalties, stole the puck and skated down and buried a hard wrist shot giving the boys a 1-0 lead. Detroit would tie the game up shortly after. Early in the third Detroit would take the lead and despite the Highlanders efforts, couldn't tie it up and ending up losing 2-1. Talon Johnsen played another very strong game in net for your hometown boys. The kids showed great heart throughout the tournament, being competitive in every game! Good Job Boys!
Article written by Mike Hutcheson
A long standing tradition of the Preston International Tournament is the Atom All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon. Three players were chosen from our team to play in the game – Mark Aljoe (Durham), Tyson Lina (Hanover) and Riley Torrie (Township of Chatsworth).
The boys arrived very excited to participate in their first ever all star game. Jerseys with all star numbers were worn proudly. Aljoe wore “8” (Ovechkin), Lina wore “87” (Crosby) and Torrie wore “22” (Sedin). Walter Gretzky has traditionally coached this game but had sent his regrets to everyone on Sunday.
A spotlight showcased each player as their name was called when they skated onto the ice. The players wearing “99” did the ceremonial puck-drop. And then the game began… it was a great one! It was fast paced with exciting back and forth action. When a penalty was called, the other team was awarded a penalty shot. The final score was 5-4 with our boys claiming the victory and receiving individual trophies. Torrie stood strong on defence stopping numerous scoring chances. Lina and Aljoe were involved in many scoring opportunities.
What an excellent effort from our boys! You made our “Grey Bruce Highlanders” proud!
Article written by Karen Aljoe