The Smith Industrial Sailors ventured North East to Colborne for a their 2nd Tournament of the year. They did very well, winning 2 of 3 games and finishing as The Colborne Frozen Toes Pool Champions.
The weekend started with “The Drive” to Trenton. Unfortunately, “The Drive” was the most stressful stretch of the trip. Yes, it was a journey across the top of Toronto on a Friday afternoon. It was a slow go, but we all got there in one piece to take on whatever the Hockey Gods were going to pass our way.
The first night was a great time had by all who made the trek on Friday with many laughs shared amongst good friends from great families. However, Saturday morning came along where we found 8 inches of snow dumped onto our cars for the venture into Colborne.
Our first game was against the Kingston Carry Plumbing Canadians, and the score reflected the hardships of the early morning travel for some, and the late night of fun and excitement by the others. Kingston opened the scoring, but two minutes later, Darius scored the only goal for the Sailors with a shot that found the back of the net from the high slot. The only assist was given to Charlie. Kingston added a short-handed goal in the 2nd period and another even strength marker in the 3rd period to clinch the 3- 1 victory. The Smith Industrial Sailors just didn’t seem to have their sea-legs that early in the morning, but they knew that they had to get a boost because they had two more games to play during the day.
So…In between the first two games, most of the team went to The Big Red Apple for some breakfast, and that seemed to wake them up for the last two games. Their next opponent was the Fort Henry Red Wings where Ryan played an extraordinary game to earn his first shutout of the day. He made a many great saves to keep his team in the game during the first two scoreless periods. Then, a minute and a half into the third stanza, Jack jumped all over a juicy rebound and stuffed the biscuit into the gaping 4 X 6 opening. Charlie got got the only assist on that goal. Then two minutes later, Evan made an end to end rush, and at the last second while falling to the ice, he managed to make a dynamite pass to Conner who was at the top of the crease. He slammed the puck into the wide open net to seal the deal. The kids played great defensively for the rest of the game to secure the shutout win for Ryan and themselves.
The stage was now set for the Championship game for the Frozen Toes Pod. It would be the high flyin’ Sailor facing off against the Erin-Hillsburgh Devils. This game was explosive right from the start because as soon as the puck was dropped, the Smith Industrial Sailors skated hard into the Devils zone where Conner plugged the puck into the net with authority just 13 seconds into the game. Charlie earned his 3rd assist of the tournament, and then they lined up at center ice where Conner won the face-off again; Charlie picked up the loose puck, and skated into the Devils zone fast and untouched where he blasted a hard shot towards the net forcing the goalie to make a save; the rebound then found its way onto Kyle’s stick as he was skating hard to the net without the puck, and without hesitation, he buried the puck into the gaping woven twine. Twenty-four seconds had passed in the game, and we were up by a score of 2 – 0 and on our way to an impressive win. With just over three minutes left in the 1st period, Charlie scored his 5th point and first goal of the tournament with helpers going to Kyle and Eric. One minute later, Jack stuffed in a juicy rebound to give the Sailors a comfortable 4 – 0 lead going into the 2nd period. Helpers went to Conner and Dillan off a fantastic passing play.
With two and a half minutes gone by in the second period, Evan scored a power-play goal when he skated up the near side and went in on goal on a partial breakaway lifting the puck over the pad of the Devils goalie on the short side. Jack and Alex got the assists on that goal, and then with a little more than 4 minutes remaining in the period, Darius got his second goal of the tournament. Evan earned the only assist on that goal.
The third period only surrendered one goal; that goal went to Charlie who led the team in scoring for the tournament with 2 goals and 4 assists. Great job Charlie!!! Alex and Lukas got the helpers on Charlie’s goal and Ryan earned his second shutout of the day long tournament where he was called upon to make a few real testy saves.
Another fantastic effort put forth by a classy group of peewee performers who represented Port Colborne with pride, respect, discipline, and commitment. On behalf of all the parents and the coaching staff, we are very proud of all your accomplishments, and for the way you all behaved during the whole exciting escapade. Many compliments were directed your way by your opponents as well as the tournament directors. Awesome job kids!!!!!