After much anticipation, Huskie Novice Blue travelled down the 401
for their first tournament of the season.
With the first round of the regular season successfully over, the team
was eager to go away and play in their first tournament as Huskie Blue. Although
the obvious goal is to win a championship, this tournament was more about
forging new friendships and re-enforcing existing ones.
The team started the tournament against the Cambridge Hawks with a late game Friday night. Netting a pair of goals each, Domenic and Conner helped the team to victory, starting off the event on a positive note. Before heading back to the hotel for some pool time, the team was challenged to be prepared for Saturday, emphasizing the need for stronger team play as we have two strong opponents on the schedule ahead.
Saturday the team started off against a strong Woodstock team and they came ready to play. Huskie Blue played a smart team game, constantly applying pressure in the neutral zone, aggressively fore-checking, unselfishly passing, and sound defensive play from all defensemen. This was all topped off by key goaltending by Ainsley and key goals by Josh and Kyle en route to a 2-0 win. This was a team shut out as each and every member of our team collectively made plays and made defense a priority. The win secured our spot in the A division with another late game coming up.
Against another strong opponent in the Oakridge Areos, the team got off to a slow start and by the time they started to “play” they were behind and stayed that way until the final whistle. Despite the loss, the previous victories secured our spot in the final and another shot at Oakridge. This time, the team played like us coaches knows they can, coming out hard against their opponent. After a scoreless first period, the team ended the second down by a pair, however their never quit attitude immediately got them back into the game with the teams battling down to the last seconds of the final period. With outstanding goaltending from Ainsley, goals from Jonathan and Conner, but most importantly strong play from everyone, Huskie Blue almost pulled off the upset against the home team, losing 3-2. Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn. That’s what this team did this weekend. The players learned about preparation, trusting teammates, team systems, what works and what does not and that we win or lose as a team.
Even though they lost and took home the silver, the smiles of each player remind us adults that minor hockey is much more than a win or loss on the ice. It’s also about those aforementioned friendships.