Smith Industrial Sailors are Champions !!!
They defeat the Niagara on the Lake Wolves 2 games to 1 in the NDLL `B`Championships
Tuesday March 25th....Game #1
One night after the kids secured themselves a shot at the championship, they had to play their first game of the Finals against the Niagara on the Lake Wolves at the Vale Centre. The coaches got them all fired up and they came out the gates like a blaze of fire hemming the Wolves in their own end for a majority of the game.
Dillan scored the first goal of the game with 1:17 left in the first period after some tenacious fore-checking and passing that granted Rob and Evan with well deserved assists. The NOTL goalie was tested time and time again with many shots being directed his way from the Peewee #1 Team who were pumped up like they all had Fruit Loops with Mountain Dew for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. They were pumped!!!
The 2nd goal of the game started with NOTL shooting the puck into Port's end , Ryan stopped the puck behind the net and fed a pass to Evan who went all the way down the ice and bagged a goal over the stick side goal pad and into the twine. This goal had everyone up and celebrating as they could smell victory by the way they were playing.
The third period rolled in and Port scored four more unanswered goals to secure the victory. Darius scored the next goal with a wicked wrist shot that beat the goalie high stick side; assists went to Kohl and Dillan. Then Kaleb got a pass from Jack that found the back of the net. For the next ten minutes there was no scoring; with 2:18 left in the game Lukas intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, walked in and scored. Then Dutcher scored his first goal of the playoffs with Charlie getting the assist. Ryan earned the shutout win by performing flawlessly between the pipes when called upon.
Game one was ours.
Wednesday March 26th....Game #2
Game two the next night was a different story. The boys were quite flat for the first two periods, and I guess so, after playing hockey four days in a row. They surrendered 3 goals in the first and second periods with Keatan making some really nice save to keep his team in the game. During the break before the third period, Coach Len made a couple line adjustments and told the kids "There's your spark for the game, now go make something happen."
On the first shift of the third period, they did just that; Lukas scored with helpers going to Kohl and Dutcher. They poured on the pressure all thoughout the period and it paid off with just three minutes left in the game. Darius bagged one from the point off a pass from Kohl to get them within one goal. They kept the pressure on and it paid off once again when Charlie scored ; helpers went to Evan and Darius. The score was tied, but with just :33 seconds left in the game NOTL scored to take away the reward of their hard work during the third period.
Coach Len came into the room at the end of the game and built the kids up where wasn't one negative word said about the loss. He said that the game just played was a bump in the road that was a learning tool that would set them up for the game to come on Friday in their own barn.
Friday March 27th....Game #3
One thing that was mentioned in the pregame speech by Coach Len was that all the games that the team had played before tonight were all practice games. All those games were the games where they learned what works and what doesn't work in order to win any game. It was up to the boys to go out onto the ice and show what they had learned about hockey and many other things through the year. Between what Coach Len said and what Dutcher, Kaleb, Evan, and Dangles said before the game, the kids were pumped up beyond belief. They came to play to have fun and win!!! And that they did !!!
Just over two minutes into the game, Professor Kyle bagged a rebound into the gaping cage off a shot from Evan. On the next shift, Conner scored after Jack fed him a beauty pass. Half way through the second stanza, Eric (aka. Dangles), lifted the biscuit over the outstretched glove and pad of the NOTL tender to take a commanding 3 - 0 lead; the lone assist went to Dutcher. Then with just 21 seconds left in the second period, Charlie scored with helpers going to Dangles and Professor Kyle to seal the deal. The third period was one of the best and smartest defensive periods the team played all year long, shutting down any offensive threats from the Wolves to capture their second shutout win for Ryan to earn the NDLL Group 'B' Championship.
WHAT AND AWESOME GROUP OF KIDS AND PARENTS!!!
Thank you all for such a great year. It was a pleasure for me to coach your boys and even more so to become friends with you all. I hope that the boys can take some of the lessons learned and use them to go forth in their lives and build a great future for themselves.
Thanks
Coach Len