Before we talk hockey the parents and players would like to send their condolences to Coach Graham and his family in the loss of his Grandmother over the weekend.
This weekend the CRGenergy major peewee team travelled to Kitchener to play in the Kitchener Blue Line Tournament for their 2nd tournament of the season. With mixed results in Ottawa at their 1st tournament the team was looking to show other teams around how much they have improved and how much more prepared they are now than ever before.
Game 1 on Friday would have the Highlanders against the Nickel City Sons which saw the the good guys get their first victory of the tournament by a 5-3 margin.
Game 2 Friday afternoon a team from south of the border would be our next test. The Amherst Knights battled us hard but our tight defensive structure would prove to much for the Knights and the Highlanders pulled off a 4-0 victory.
Next up on Saturday morning would be the battle of South western Ontario as the Highlanders would face off against the Huron Perth Lakers. For many of the Highlander and Laker players this was the game they were looking forward to the most as many players from both teams have become friends over the years playing with each other in spring hockey and other top tier events. But once the puck dropped friendships were thrown out the window and the teams battled tooth and nail to the bitter end. when the smoke settled it was once again the Highlanders on top with a 7-5 victory. The Highlanders were now 3-0 in rnd rbn play but still found themselves in a tough situation as they still needed one more victory to advance to Sundays semi finals. The Whitby Wildcats would be the team standing in their way. Whitby would prove to be as good as every one thought they would be, but the new and improved highlanders showed how determined they are to win and fought through some penalty trouble to prevail with a 3-1 win and advance to Sundays semi finals. The reward for a perfect 4-0 rnd rbn play would be a 7am game time Sunday morning vs a GTHL team the North York Rangers. But once again great goaltending, an amazing power play unit and a stingy defence would push the Highlanders into the Championship game by a victory over the Rangers 3-1. The Championship game was next and it would be the Burlington Eagles that would await them. The Eagles many times over the last few years have walked over the Highlanders . But this was not the same team that the Eagles have seen before. This was a team that was hungry, that was focused, and that was determined. The Highlanders were prepared this time for the elite offence that the Eagles have but in this day it was the Eagles goalie that stole the show stopping pretty much everthing the highlanders could throw at him. In the end the Eagles came away with the win by a 3-1 margin. Even though the Highlanders were not Champions this time, they proved to themselves how far they have come as a team and added more confidence to a team that is growing and developing every day that they see the ice.