Minor Peewee Team Keeps Rolling, News, Minor PeeWee, 2016-2017 (Grey-Bruce Highlanders AAA Minor Hockey Association)

This Team is part of the 2016-2017 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Oct 26, 2016 | Mike Broderick | 1624 views
Minor Peewee Team Keeps Rolling
Last weekend, the minor peewee team continued their massive improvements and got the results to highlight those improvements.  Travelling to Rochester, NY, the team was ready for a fun filled weekend, bonding by teammates and parents alike and the team was excited to show the Americans how Canadians play the game.

In their first game, the Minor Peewee Highlanders had no idea what to expect as they faced the Jersey Hitmen, a team from New Jersey that had 12 wins this season.  The Hitmen played like their name as this game was physical from start to finish but the skill of the Highlanders was too much for the Hitmen as the Canadian squad came out with a 4-1 victory.  In the Minor Peewees second game of the day, the Highlanders faced a successful Buffalo Saints team.  The Highlanders played a solid game, showed some improvement in puck movement and took care of the game on the defensive side, dragging a 1-0 lead late into the game.  After pulling their goalie, the Saints put the pressure on, had a couple of strong scoring chances but an empty netter solidified the 2-0 win for the Highlanders. 

After some good social time (with an afternoon game the next day), the boys awoke on Saturday with a true belief in themselves and the possibility of success.  Their third game of the tournament was set against the Rochester Red Wings, a team that had lost their first two games of the tournament.  While the team lost some of their focus in the game, and forgot about some of the important details they had learned, the Highlanders still skated well, showed high skills and put away a 7-1 victory.  This win earned the team the top ranking at the end of round robin play earning them a rematch in the evening against the Rochester Red Wings. 

Heading into the playoffs, the Minor Peewee team needed to stay focused to ensure that they would keep  moving forward against an opponent that they had already beaten.  For most of the game, the Highlanders stayed focused on the game plan and skated away to a 10-1 victory, securing a spot in the semi finals. In the semis, the Highlanders were in for another rematch as the Buffalo Saints earned a spot against the Highlanders.  This game was far different than the first matchup, as everything seemed to click for the Highlanders and the Saints had no idea what hit them.  Scoring early and often, the Highlanders put the game away early and skated to a 7-1 win, sending the Saints home.  The much anticipated final was set up, as the Highlanders were watching the other side of the draw.  With only two Canadian teams in the tournament, an all Canadian final highlighted hockey the Canadian way. Standing in the way of a championship, the Toronto Red Wings, straight from the GTHL had cruised their way to the final.  The Highlanders had a very strong warm up, looked ready and focused and most important, they were not going to take this Red Wing squad lightly.  The team played hard, moved the puck with precision from out of their zone and skated to open space with speed.  In this game, the team truly began to understand the importance of what a player should do without the puck.  And, the Minor Peewees were strong with the puck too, taking it to the net with speed, sending players to pick up rebounds and put relentless pressure on the Red Wing defensemen.  The Highlanders scored two quick goals, settling in with a 2-0 lead.  After a couple of penalties, the team relaxed a bit too much allowing the Red Wings back into the game as their opponents scored one and continued to put pressure on the team.  After a tough five on three penalty kill for the boys, the team seemed to be rejuvenated and put the Red Wings completely on their heels.  Scoring five unanswered goals over the next fifteen minutes, allowed the Highlanders to cruise to 7-2 Championship win.

 As the players stormed the ice, gloves and sticks littered the ice surface, the transformation of the Grey Bruce Highlander Minor Peewee team is officially in full force.  This tournament highlighted all of the personal attributes of each member of this squad, as shown in the physical presence of Josh, the fire lit in Dylan S, the pinpoint passing of Wyatt, Cam’s ability to close the gap, the sweet feet of Aidan, Jaxon going hard to the net and let’s not forget goaltender Derek, aka The Wall.  Every player contributed to this win in different ways, like Austin’s speed on the wing, Nate A highlighted strong puck movement from the behind the net, Nate D’s sweet hands and creativity, Alex creating time and space for his teammates, Matt, highlighting his power forward role by getting to the post, Quinton finding the seam in the offensive zone, Myles, in his coach and goaltender liaison role, Kye’s exceptional back checking prowess, Hunter’s hard work and determination, Cooper taking care of players in front of the net, Jarrett’s strength in the corners and Brett’s puck movement out of the zone.  Despite, all of the personal gains and individual efforts during this tournament, this team realized success last weekend solely because the entire group was willing to ignore their own gains to help the team see success.  As the Highlanders worked their way back over the border, road weary and gleeful from the weekend, they are reminded that the season continues with big games against in the toughest AAA division in hockey.  Congratulations Minor Peewee Highlanders and keep it going!!