Jan 18, 2016 | Carter Knowles | 1293 views
Champions!!!
The Minor Atom Select Hawks brought home the hardware from the Amesbury/Bert Robinson Winter Classic Select tournament this past weekend.
The boys came out of the gate quickly on Friday against the host team the Amesbury Avalanche. They potted 2 quick goals in the first 4 minutes, but the Avalanche answered with 2 quick ones themselves to end the period tied 2-2. The Hawks put the pedal down the rest of the way lead by a hat trick from Roman Caprara to earn a 7-2 victory.
Game 2 was Saturday afternoon against the West Mall Lightning, a back and forth game with stellar defence and goaltending lead the Hawks to a well deserved 3-0 victory.
Game 3 was Saturday night against the Brampton Bulldogs. The Hawks came out strong again with the forwards getting pucks to the net and forcing the play. The defence did an excellent job clearing pucks from our end and making life difficult for the Bulldogs. A total team effort allowed the Hawks goaltending duo of Ben Shewchuk and Austin Knowles to post their second consecutive shutout with a 4-0 win.
Going 3-0 in the round robin, the Hawks advance to the finals early Sunday morning with a rematch against the West Mall Lightning. This was a different Lightning team then the Hawks played the day before as they came out strong and tested the Hawks early and often. The teams exchanged goals and after a hard fought, back and forth game it was tied 2-2 after regulation. A 5 minute sudden death overtime solved nothing so it was off to the shootout. After the first 3 shooters it was tied 2-2 forcing a sudden death shootout. West Mall was first to shoot, but the shooter was denied with a huge pad save by Austin Knowles. That set it up for Emmett Juneau to have the game on his stick, he came down on the goalie with speed and buried the puck to give the Hawks the 3-2 shootout victory and the championship.
The Hawks finished the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. The championship was not possible without a total team effort, the goalies were outstanding, the defense worked hard to clear their zone and the forwards drove hard to the net and back checked strong.
The coaching staff couldn't be more proud of how hard the boys worked through the entire tournament and how they truly came together as a team. We would also like to say a quick thanks to all the parents and siblings who came and supported as we could hear you from the bench, the coaches and players really appreciate it...especially the GO HAWKS GO chant in the final game, that pumped the boys up even more. Well done boys and lets get them this weekend again at our next tournament. GO HAWKS GO!!!