Mar 12, 2013 | SCorrigan | 1072 views
Leafs Have a Blast in St. Catharines
In the midst of our heated playoff schedule this year in Minor Atom the Leafs participated in the Kevin Fegan Memorial Tournament held in St. Catharines. In the first two games the Leafs played as well as they have at any point in the season but in the third game hit a wall against an outstanding team.
Kudos first go out to the coaching staff of Ken Jones, Dino Delegianis, Bill Meadus, Jason Braganca and Stan Bacchus. These coaches kept the kids motivated and were super in terms of their ability to keep the atmosphere fun while educational. Leaf nation should be grateful for the efforts and their dedication.
The first game pitted the Leafs against a London team that came in to the tournament with an impressive 23 wins and a mere 5 losses, including 2 tournament championships. however, the game was dominated by Leafs. Their back end of Braedan De Man, Evan Kilpatrick, Brayden Braganca and substitute Zach Braga was like a wall. A bad bounce put the London team up a goal but the Leafs tied it in a gritty fashion. Once again another bad bounce late in the game and then an empty net sealed a loss. To outplay such a good team certainly energized the Leafs.
The second game saw the Leafs take on St. Julia and they kept up the pressure. In this game the goaltending of Dakota Bacchus at times was a show stopper. The offense also stepped it up. All the three forward lines were skating hard and were forechecking with intensity: Conor Jones, Ethan Soares and Josh Kublek (who was on a heart stopping break away when the final buzzer sounded); Carter Lynch, Eric Martens and Brady Read; Nick Delegianis, Luke Meadus and substitute Dylan Corrigan. St. Julia relied heavily upon one very talented player who played 2/3 of the game and he single handedly preserved a tie in a game that the Leafs once again dominated.
The third game was a different story. In both prior contests the Leafs had played minor Atom teams, both with excellent records and in both cases the Leafs carried the play. This third opponent from Hamilton though was a Major Atom team. Their size and their speed were tough to match and they were fully deserving of finishing first overall.
Many of the Leafs had went to Great Wolf Lodge on Sunday evening. Then all the players who went to the tournament shared a raucous night in a hotel on the Monday night, complete with pool time antics, a pizza party and loads of mini sticks games. These moments of bonding between the kids and between the parents may very well be something all remember more than the highs and lows on the ice.