Jan 12, 2014 | SCorrigan | 545 views
Penguins Keep Hot at the Gretzky Tournament
The Penguins recently showed everyone in our division just how good they can be when they went to the finals of the Christmas tournament. This weekend they attended the Walter Gretzky tournament in Brantford and proved once again to any who might have doubted it just how good a team they are and how good the quality of HL hockey in Cambridge is.
Please read the article provided by their coach Jason Braganca:
As the house league entered a break from their schedule the Penguins headed to Brantford to participate in the Walter Gretzky HL tournament. This tournament has brought some of the best HL team around to participate.
With 20 Atom teams attending the Penguins knew they had their work cut out for them but the Penguins were hot as of late and were hoping to continue their winning streak in Brantford. The Penguins started off Friday with an early morning game against the top seeded team in Brantford (12-1-1). The Penguins had not found their legs and before they knew it they were down 2-0. The team dug deep, worked hard and found a way to get back in this
game led by their captain Nick Delegianis (2g, 2a). The offense was too much for the Brantford Lowes to match as 6 different Pens found the back of the net. Dax Laking (1g, 1a), Brayden Braganca (1g,1a), Chase Machin (1g,1a), Tyson Barnhardt and Logan McCubbin (1g,1a) pushed themselves to stay in the lead. The game ended with a 7-5 score favoring the Pens.
The second game on Friday saw the Pens face off against the Ajax AtoMc. This is where the Penguins showed the tournament they are not all about offense. Atticus Vaz stood on his head throughout the game and flashed the leather stopping Ajax on 2 breakaways. Atticus was not alone, since Matthew Lerch, and Eithan Da Costa made sure to clean up any loose pucks or bodies around the net. The solid back end play allowed the Penguins to clear the zone and get the puck to the hot hand Nick Delegianis who had another huge performance (4g, 1a). Final 7-2 for the Pens.
The final game of the round robin had the Pens facing another undefeated team in the Valley East BM Metals. This was by far the hardest challenge for them so far as it was a very strong skating team that they were facing. The Penguins relied heavily on the hard working defensive play of both Kaden Moco and Dakota Laking who made sure the puck did not stay in their own zone. The offence was fired by a pair of goals from Tyson Barnhardt. s a result, the Penguins were able to defeat Valley East in a close game by a score of 4-3.
The Penguins joined four other teams as all the udnefeated teams made the playoffs. During the quarter finals the Penguins were matched up against West London B4. The game was a very tight affair. Neither team wanted to make a mistake that might cost them the tournament, but another stellar performance by Atticus Vaz and
some NHL caliber back checking by assistant captain Chase Machin gave the Penguins a chance to win. The line of Brayden Braganca, Dax Laking and Chase Machin continued to pressure West London in their own zone and simply wore them down. Late in the third period the Penguins found themselves with a man down but Chase Machin was not allowing this game to get away, as he scored a short handed goal to seal the victory for
the Penguins. Final score of 3-2.
The Penguins knew they had their work cut out for them in the semi finals as the were facing the top team in the tournament, the Metcalfe Jet. The Jets had outscored their first 3 opponents by a score of 43-1. The Penguins did everything in their power, with players like Dayton Tyler even sacrificing his body as he dove in front of 3 shots to try and keep it close. However the Metcalfe Jets were too deep and ultimately prevailed on their way to winning the entire tournament.
The entire coaching staff and all the parents are super proud of our boys for their effort, determination and team play.