Written by Tom Macham.
Hard to believe that 10 years ago this past weekend our hockey playing sons were mere toddlers ,getting into their mothers cupboards and using their fathers tools for anything other than what they were designed for. September 11th, 2001 is a day that will live in infamy and our hearts go out to our neighbours to the south and to the families who lost loved ones on that day....
Niagara Falls – “the honeymoon capital of the world” and also the home of Clifton Hill. A place solely designed to empty a man’s wallet in a matter of minutes. Oh well, the moths now have more room to breed in my wallet according to Scott Park.
The Falls was also home this past weekend to some good hockey at both the Minor and Major Bantam level. The newly named “Rivermen” hosted an Early Bird Tournament at the Gale Center and the ’98 Highlanders faired very well finishing the round robin portion in second place in their pool with 3 wins and 1 loss for 6 points and a rare berth in a semi-final game on Sunday.
Game #1 saw the Minor Bantams taking on the host team and even though they were outshot 21-17, they came away with a 3-0 victory. Standing tall in the net was Tristan Lewis. Knotted at zero until well into the third, Nick Foster opened the scoring assisted by Tiley and Marshall. Two more unanswered goals sealed the victory. Caskenette from Donnelly and O’Donnell, and Rajendra from Becker and Foster.
Game #2 saw the first of 2 U.S. based teams in pool “B”. The Hamburg Hawks proved to be tough opponents. Grey-Bruce held a slight edge in shots (18-17) and the final score was a 3-1 victory for the ‘98’s. It was a steady march to the sin bin as the officials called 20 minutes in penalties to each team. Scoring for the Highlanders early in the first was Tristen Park on a solo rush from his defensive position rifling a shot just under the crossbar on the Hawk goalies blocker side. 90 seconds later Derick Acheson found the back of the net set up by Caskenette and McCrae. That was it until 1:26 in the third when Justin Donnelly scored with assists going to Caskenette and Park. Brendan Macham earned his first win of the young season in goal.
Game #3 saw the second U.S. based team hit the ice as the Highlander’s opponents. The Wheatfield Blades could only muster 10 shots on Tristan Lewis. The boys started out slow and gave up a first period goal to the Blades. They battled back in the second on a goal by Caskenette assisted by Foster. Then at 9:31 of the third the “TSN turning point” took place in the form of a pretty goal by Jordan Reaman on a perfect feed from Donnelly. An empty netter by Donnelly sealed the deal with 61 seconds left in the game.
Game #4 - bring on the Wolves. Their first opponent of the tournament out of the ETA loop would eventually hand the ‘98’s their first loss of the season. A 3-1 score after 35 minutes of play with shots being a lopsided 26-13 for Central Ontario. Caskenette again opened up the scoring in the first from McCrae and Marshall. But the Wolves came storming back with 3 unanswered goals in the second and third. Braeden Marshall, a workhorse on defense, went down with a leg injury in the second and did not return.
Semi-final game #5 - crossing over to pool “A” for the semis the minor bantams encountered the Ajax-Pickering Raiders who had finished first in their pool with 7 points. The boys were in tough and the score stayed close (3-1) until the wheels came off with 5 minutes to go in the game when the Raiders scored 4 unanswered goals. With their defensive corps depleted the boys seemed to run out of gas. Owen O’Donnell scored the lone Highlander goal. Never-the-less, a very good tournament. With 7 new players this year it was a good time for everyone to get to know each other – I think it’s called bonding. Good things await this group of players. Just keep working hard boys.