Mar 15, 2015 | Craig McLaren | 1297 views
All Good Things Come to an End
In a must win game, the Atom MD HAWKS travelled down the 403 to face the Huskies in Hamilton. Although they were short-staffed, the 15 boys who played today played their hearts out.
Facing elimination the HAWKS brought their "A" game today but it just wasn't enough. Although the score was 2-1 for the Huskies the HAWKS needed a win to move on - for that reason Coach Craig pulled starting goalie Danny Rose with a little over a minute left with the game tied. The battle was heated in the Huskies' end with the HAWKS almost pulling out the win but a bad bounce allowed the Huskies to exit their zone and sealed the HAWKS' fate with an empty net goal.
"Losing is tough but I think the toughest thing for me is not seeing these kids for a while" indicated clearly disappointed Coach Craig. "I REALLY enjoyed coaching these kids this season. I couldn't have asked for a better group of players or parents. We had some growing pains along the way but as much as I taught the players they taught me a lot too. There are definitely some things I would do differently, there are some things I did that I regret but at the same time there are a lot of positives. At the end of the day its all about the players and if they weren't willing to listen or be open to learn what we as a staff were trying to teach they wouldn't have learned and improved as much as they did."
Clearly the accolades go to the kids. Even though the season came to a bit of an abrupt ending I said it at the start of the season and I can say the same thing as the season ends...this was truly a special group of players who should hold their head's high. Although the game of hockey measures success through wins and losses I feel there a lot of success stories - 17 of them actually - that are not found in the win and loss column.
"It was definitely the hardest post-game chat we had all season" explained Coach Craig. "There were a lot of tears, a lot of disappointed HAWKS - players and staff. All year we preached the TEAM concept and it's obvious our boys got the message...in fact not only did they become a team but we became a family. I think that one of the biggest disappointments is we aren't going to see each other on Tuesday. That's definitely going to be the hardest thing for me. We had a great group of players and all of the parents should be very proud of their boys. All season they were respectful of the coach's and towards each other. They were a great group and it was truly an honour to coach them."
Well folks there ya have it. I would like to thank all of my loyal readers for reading / following along. I have really enjoyed covering this team this season and hope all of you have a great summer. See ya at the rink next season!
(HSN from the HAWKS' Nest)
HAWKS' Chirps
- So rumour has it a big fella who drives a big black hummer is a crazy bird lover??? Blankets for a bird??? LOL - ummmm what???
- Coach Dave Brown with the shot of the year!!!
- 6 months to stock up on lip gloss and cow bells!!!
- Great to hear the HAWKS faithful being loud in the stands!!
- Hey how about those Leafs!!! HAHAHAHA!!
- Gonna miss you guys - yes even Nelson!