Jan 15, 2012 | Dan Culbert | 1158 views
Toronto Penguins International Winter Classic Recap
The Contractors Rental Supply Midget A 99ers had a successful tourney in Toronto over the weekend. Playing in a Midget senior (94) grouping, the 99ers put together 3 strong games enroute to placing first in their pool and moving on to the tourney semi-final before dropping a decision today and being eliminated from the competition.
Insert Schaeffer
In Fridays game, the 99ers faced the Kitchener Rangers in a very physical and spirited tilt right from the drop of the puck as it took only a few seconds for the first big hit of the game, a trend which continued throughout. The 99ers showed good discipline early and were the recipients of 3 PP's while Kitchener was only awarded 1 in the first period. Both goalies played well as they kept the score at 0-0 until the last minute of the period, when a Brantford forward covering the point for a pinching "D" lost his man and a quick pass lead to a breakaway and a 1-0 Kitchener lead with only 36 seconds remaining. In the second, the pattern of good sound hockey continued, and the CSR midgets connected on a PP when Mike Gotkowski gained the zone on the rush, and dropped the puck for Brent Smolarz and the Captain blasted a shot past the Ranger's keeper to even the score at 1-1. A few minutes later the tables were reversed when Brantford was called for 3 minors in a span of less than 90 seconds putting them down for an extended 5 on 3. They were able to kill off most of penalty time and Ben Beechey made two outstanding stops from in close, but with players unable to return to the ice, the Rangers continued to press and went up 2-1 just as the first expired. The boys killed off the last penalty and were able to gain some momentum in the last few minutes of the period but the second ended with the Rangers up by one. In the third, the 99ers pressed hard for the equalizer and got it when Jesse Stremler's shot got past the netminder and hit the back of the net before the whistle, but the Referee claimed he didn't see the puck in the net and refused to confer with his linesmen who had a clear view of the play. There were chances at both ends as time wore down and even with the goalie out for the last 45 seconds, and a huge goalmouth scramble with only seconds to play, the 99ers were unable to get another one over the line. For the game the 99ers were 1 for 6 on the PP and killed off 4 of 5 penalties of their own.
In Saturday's first game, the boys got off to another good start and were the better team for the most part. As has been the case this season, it seems that nearly every time the team has a bad turn-over, it ends up in their net and as was the case in period one. A winger dropped down out of position, turned the puck over, and then couldn't win the foot race off the wall as the host Toronto Penguins forward stepped into a good shooting spot and beat the Brantford goalie high over the shoulder on the stick side for the only goal of the period. In the second, again the 99ers were the better team, playing strong defensive hockey and generating transition offense as they 't took the play to the Penguins. Unfortunately the host goalie wouldn't crack and he held the 99ers at bay, but Connor Curtin in the Brantford net was equally as strong and the second period end with the score unchanged at 1-0. In the third, the CRS boys kept pressing and were finally rewarded when Mitch McIsaac fed the puck up to Dakota Culbert who beat a Penguin's defender turning a 2 on 2 into a 2 on 1 before sliding a pass over to a streaking Andrew Lombardi who cut across the front of the net going forehand to backhand to then slip the puck into the empty side to even the score at 1-1. Then just over a minute later, the Penguins tried to answer but Curtin came out to challenge a shot from the right side and it hit the crossbar and then harmlessly up into the end screen. The next shift, Culbert and Lombardi teamed up again, this time after some good forecheck pressure by Stremler, the puck turned over and Lombardi was able to pass it out of the corner and Culbert fired one from the right circle off the near post and in to give the 99ers the lead with only 6 minutes to play. The teams both played tight hockey as both had lost their first games, and knew the chance of moving on with two losses was nearly impossible. There were few chances as neither team wanted to give an inch and then with the goalie out, AP player, Brayden Hill picked up the puck just inside the Brantford end and skated it out over centre before hitting the empty net, keeping Brantford's hopes alive and putting the Penguins at risk of being eliminated. For the game, the 99ers were 0 for 2 on the PP and were 1 for 1 in killing off their only penalty
In the second game Sat, the 99ers had to face a big, fast Stitsville Rams team who came into the game 2-0 with wins of 3-2 over the Penguins and 3-1 over the Rangers. The team knew a win would put the into a semi, while anything less would eliminate them from Sunday's play, and the Rams knew that a win would seed them 1st while a loss could potentially put them in a tie-breaker situation and possibly eliminate them. In a great game of hockey, the two teams squared and from the drop of the puck the pace was fantastic. Every player played well and in all honesty, everyone needed to as with all of the low scoring games, every goal was critical for a potential tiebreaker. The 99ers were not without chances, but the Rams had the better scoring chances in the first, but in each case they ran into a red hot goalie in Beechey. The 99ers focus was to go high on the Rams goalie, but given so little time by the swift skating Rams it was a more difficult task than you would think. Penalties added to the chances with Stitsville taking 3 in the first while Brantford took 4 minors yet the game remained scoreless. The second period played out the same with Beechey making two good low pad saves while Smolarz and RJ Huszczo took turns pelting the Rams keeper with point shots on the 99ers PP. Beechey again had to come up big late in the period as the 99ers had to kill off their second double minor and was aided by a strong effort in front of him by the defense corp of Scott Smid, Andrew Schunk, Jacob Ferreira, McIsaac, Smolarz, and Huszczo, as well as good shot blocks by Stefan DeDominicis, Larry Hill and Lombardi, as the Rams pushed hard to get the ever important first goal. Again both teams held their ground and the period ended just as the first with the score 0-0. Everyone knew that Brantford needed the win while the Rams now only had to tie to lock up the top seed, and the competition for every loose puck and race was heightened by this. It was not until with under four minutes to go did someone blink. During a Rams line change, they dumped the puck into the Brantford zone, but not quite deep enough. Smolarz went back into the zone, picked up the puck and lifted a high one out of the zone which the lone Rams defender tried to play on a hop with Culbert applying pressure by forcing him to play the puck early. The puck hit his leg and bounced away, just far enough for Culbert to pick it up, and drive into the Ram's zone then as he was being blocked from cutting to the net and pulling the puck to his forehand by the backchecking defender, he knifed a shot up towards the top corner, catching the crotch of the post and cross bar over the glove hand of the Ram's keeper with only 3:24 to play. It doesn't seem like much time when you are behind by one, but when you are defending a late lead, it seems the clock moves in slow motion as was the case here. The Rams pushed hard to now tie the game, as it was them who were now looking elimination in the eye. The team held and the game ended 1-0 and with a 3-way tie with 2-1 records it was the 99ers who drew top seed by allowing only 3 goals in their 3 round robin games. Stitsville gained second spot, eliminating Kitchener by a single goal as they allowed only 4 and Kitchener 5 in their 3 games.
In the crossover semi on Sunday, like all good things they come to an end. The boys were either out of gas, or just not able to put a fourth straight strong game together as they dropped a 5-0 decision to the Russell River Rats and were eliminated from the tourney. Unlike the three previous games, the team didn't have their legs, or focus on the details as this one got away early as the River Rats carried the play most of the game and held leads of 1-0, 4-0 after the first and second. Tyler Schaeffer was selected as the team MVP for the semi final game.
Up next is a return to league play with home and home games against London Nationals this week before taking on the Stratford Warriors on the weekend.