Apr 03, 2014 | atomrep | 1456 views
It's the end of the (hockey) world as we know it
and we feel fine!
The atom rep team finished off a strong year by falling just short of their goals when they lost in both the OMHA and Southern Counties semi finals. The disappointment of those losses still lingers but now that the season is over the team can look back at their season with pride and realize what they accomplished was impressive. But first the game reviews.....
In the Southern Counties playoffs, the Stars faced Simcoe and Aylmer to finish off the round robin before meeting Ingersoll in the semi finals. In the game against Simcoe the Stars fell behind the leagues first place team twice but battled back to tie the game each time. Unfortunately the team wasn't able to hold on and ended up giving up a late goal to lose 4-3. Sam, Eric and Connor scored with Tyler, Kyle and Michael picking up assists. Jonathan played well in a tough game.
The game against Aylmer saw the Stars playing a team that was missing a few players. The Stars seemed to think that would guarantee a win and didn't come out skating well. After falling behind 3-1, the Stars woke up and fought back to tie the game. Connor, Michael and Kyle scored while assists went to Noah (x2), Connor (x2), Ben and Michael. Jonathan & Colsyn split duties in the game and shut the door to allow the team to come back.
At the end of the round robin the Stars found themselves in second place which secured home ice for the semi finals against Ingersoll. The Stars played well and outshot Ingersoll by a 2 to 1 margin but weren't able to find the back of the net often enough and ended up losing 2-1. Connor scored with assists to Noah and Michael. Jonathan played well in a tough loss.
The OMHA semi finals saw the Stars up against the Mitchell Meteors, a team that hadn't lost a game in the OMHA playoffs. In the series opener the Stars were clearly not themselves. Perhaps still feeling the effects of a tough game against Simcoe the night before, the Stars were outworked and suffered a much deserved 3-1 loss. Zach scored the only goal with Eric grabbing the assist. Colsyn played well without much help from the team in front of him.
Game two saw the Stars come out with a much better effort, outshooting Mitchell but unable to find the back of the net, a common theme at times this season. Despite the improved effort, the Stars lost 3-1 on a late empty net goal. Michael from Noah and Connor gave the Stars their only goal. Jonathan played well in a losing cause.
Game three saw the Stars in Mitchell facing a 2-0 series deficit against a team that had yet to lose in the OMHA playdowns. The Stars showed great character and battled to secure a 1-0 victory in a hostile environment. Tyler scored with Eric grabbing an assist. Colsyn was excellent in the win making a number of good saves.
Game four found the Stars in yet another must win scenario against a team that had not lost 2 in a row all year. The Stars came out with another excellent effort and skated away with a 2-0 win. Alex and Eric scored with Zach and Michael getting helpers. Colsyn put up a wall in goal to snag the win.This win set the team up for a do or die game five in Mitchell.
Game five started with Mitchell carrying the play and the Stars just holding on. The Stars survived the first period to come out tied 0-0. The Stars played better in the second but found themselves trailing 2-0 heading into the third. Connor scored from Tyler and Noah early in the third and the Stars came to life. The Stars started to carry the play as Mitchell began to tire but the Meteors managed to restore the two goal lead with 4 minutes left. As they have all year, the Stars battled to the end with Michael getting a goal with 15 seconds left. Unfortunately it was too little too late and the Stars ran out of time to complete the comeback.
The premature end to the season left the Stars with an opportunity to play in a three game exhibition series against the Kitchener MD Blue. This series included a game on the ice at the Aud and a tour of the Rangers dressing room. The Stars won all three games by scores of 3-0, 2-0 & 3-0. Goals in the series went to Michael (x4), Tyler (x2), Zach, Eric, and Noah. Assists went to Alex (x3), Zach, Eric, Connor & Noah. Colsyn and Jonathan each had a shut out on their own and split the third shut out.
With the end of the season finally here, the team is able to reflect on a number of accomplishments from this year. Among the many highlights for the team are:
* they were the only team to beat the eventual CC champion Mitchell Meteors in the OMHA playoffs
* they gave Mitchell their only 2 game losing streak of their season.
* finishing in the A division after the Southern Counties regular season.
* finishing second in the round robin of the Southern Counties A division playoffs.
* every player on the team recorded at least 10 points this season.
* nine players scored 10 goals or more this year.
* the team had 18 shutouts in 60 games this year (almost 1 every 3 games!)
The Stars should be proud of how they represented Twin Centre this season on and off the ice. The team battle hard and not only held their own against larger centres in a strong league; they showed that what really matters is the quality of the players, not the size of your centre. The way the team played made the coaches proud to be associated with such a great group of kids.
Thanks to all of you for a fun season!
Go Stars Go!