BMO Wealth Management GBH Atom Team Shocks the SCTA!!!, News, Atom, 2018-2019 (Grey-Bruce Highlanders AAA Minor Hockey Association)

This Team is part of the 2018-2019 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Feb 25, 2019 | Heidi MacPherson | 2378 views
BMO Wealth Management GBH Atom Team Shocks the SCTA!!!
In the last weekend of February, the SCTA Atom Championships was guaranteed to be an exciting weekend with some tough games for all teams.  The parity of the Atom division is well known as every team had big wins throughout the season.  The standings for this division were tight all year for the team that would eventually fall from 5th to 8th place.  The Highlanders ended up the season in 8th place, meaning that they would be in a pool for the championships against the first, second, ninth and tenth place teams.  Throughout the season, this Highlander team had a goal of achieving the most points by any Highlander Major Atom team in history, but headed into the SCTA Championships still one point short.     


In game 1, against 10th place Buffalo, the Highlanders knew they could outskate their opponents, but they also knew scoring goals would be very tough against a Buffalo goalie that is widely considered to be one of the best in the age group.  The team dominated the game but did give up a couple of quality scoring chances against, keeping this game close.  In the end, after outshooting Buffalo 31-4, the team skated away with a 3-2 victory and a good start to the tournament.

Up next, the Highlander Atoms had to play against a very tough Halton team.  Halton finished first in the standings and had beaten the Highlanders all four times this season.  The boys played hard, backstopped by their own stellar goaltending by Brian Ferguson, the team was in the game heading into the third.  Getting down 3-1, it looked like the Highlanders would fall just short.  But, the team regrouped, scored twice in the third to get the game back to 3-3.  In the last two minutes, it was the Highlanders applying the pressure against the first ranked team as Halton held on for their playoff life.  In the end, a 3-3 tie and another solid result for the Highlanders.

On Sunday, the first game for the team would be against the 2nd ranked Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs were 2-0 in the tournament and had taken three out of four against the Highlanders this season.  However, the team was confident as they had played the Bulldogs tough all season.  A hard fought game, back and forth action, great team defense and another stellar goaltending effort by Jacob Fluney this time and the boys skated away with a 3-1 win.  This game had a classic TSN turning point, as Fluney stopped a penalty shot at 1-1 in the second helping pave the way for a momentum change for the Highlanders.  Defeating the top two teams in the division made the Highlanders the hot topic of conversation.

As positive as this was, the BMO Wealth Management Atoms still had work to do.  The team still needed one point to finish in the top two and move onto an OMHA Semi Final series.  Up last was Burlington who the Highlanders had two wins and two ties against this season.  However, all games against Burlington were close so the team had to prepare for an opponent who would have their sights set on playing spoiler.  Early in the game, the Highlanders looked tight, made some dangerous plays, likely a result of their nerves.  But, after a two goal shift mid-way through the first, the team settled in, outskated Burlington, scored often and skated away with a 7-0 win.

The Highlander Atoms qualified for a semi-final series, earned 7 points on the weekend and 47 points for the season, to record the most points by a Highlander Major Atom team and played to the potential that the coaching staff and parents knew they were capable of.  A great weekend of hockey, a lot of smiles and a series against Oakville is up next.  Congrats to the boys, and good luck in the next series against Oakville.

Sponsors
Tim Hortons
Major Atom Team Sponsor
JN Ferguson Trucking
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Downey Farms
Major Atom Team Sponsor
Lystek
Major Atom Team Sponsor
BMO Wealth Management
Major Atom Premier Team Sponsor
Rotomill Inc.
Major Atom Team Sponsor