Major Peewee Win Gold in St. Thomas
This weekend the search for gold was on in St. Thomas and when it was over the precious metal would be awarded to the Ancaster Avalanche. Over the course of 5 games, the Avs dominated the competition winning 4 games (including a 5-0 victory in the final) and netting 23 goals from 12 different goal scorers.
The highlights too numerous to mention, but here are the Top 10 Moments (in no particular order):
Goaltenders Matt Kong and Quentin DiBenedetto registering 2 shutouts a piece for a total of 4 on the tournament ; Andrew DeGroots’ 2 game-winning goals, the 2nd coming from a nifty deflection off a low hard slapshot perfectly placed from Mark Ferguson ; Jacques Gross with a great individual effort to work himself into the slot and blast a shot past a stunned Hespler netminder; Cameron Pavao and Marc Earls with back to back goals on dekes just seconds apart; Aiden McKague breaking up a great scoring chance and then sending the puck into the opponents zone which resulted a terrific three-way passing play from Hugh Workman to Mitchell Barlow to Akshay Yusuf who popped in an important goal against Centre Wellington; Cameron Lavell’s 3 point performance in the championship game, capped off with a goal in the final frame; having never played the position, our swing man Dylan Dobbs stepping up large on wing and playing it perfectly all weekend; numerous thunderous checks from our bodychecking expert Connor Lalonde; Michael Arth scoring in 3 of the Av victories including the opening goal against the Shamrocks; Liam Coffen showing tremendous speed and accuracy with a beauty goal against Hespler; AND the Bonus Moment – celebrating on the ice as the Major Pee Wee AE Ancaster Avalanche are crowned CHAMPIONS.
The Avs would like to thank our sponsors, especially main sponsor Hair By Nature of Ancaster, for all their tremendous support.
The Avs would like to dedicate the weekend to Joann Marie O'Halloran . A woman who’s courage and strength is second to none, she embodies the Avs creed: What stops an Avalanche…NOTHING!!
Written by Mike Earls
![St_Thomas_Gold_REVISED[2].JPG](https://ancasterminorhockey.com/public/images/teams/1087/tournaments/St_Thomas_Gold_REVISED[2].JPG)
1st Row (L to R) : Matthew Kong, Quentin DIBenedetto
2nd Row : Akshay Yusuf, Liam Coffen, Andrew DeGroot, Mark Ferguson, Michael Arth, Hugh Workman, Cameron Pavao, Aidan McKague
3rd Middle Row : Marcus Earls, Cameron Lavell, Jacques Gross
4th Back Row : Manager David Kong, Coach Mike Earls, Head Coach Greg Coffen, Connor Lalonde, Mitchell Barlow, Dylan Dobbs, Trainer Pete DeGroot, Coach Dave Earls
Not in the picture : Kieren Shannon.
Photography : Bernie Lavell
The Ancaster Avalanche Major Pee Wee AE team handed the Dorchester Dragons their 1st defeat of their 2012-13 season in the championship game in the St. Thomas AE Tournament by the score of 5 - 0 .
In this tournament, teams received 2 points for the win, plus 1 point for each period they win, so it was very important for teams to keep their foot on the gas pedal and not let up at all during the entire game. In the opening round robin series, Ancaster beat the St Thomas Jr Stars 7- 0, and the Centre Wellington Fusion 2-0, then lost a frustrating game to the Dorchester Dragons 3-0, and then made up for it by beating the Hespeler Shamrocks 9-0.
In the championship game, the coach’s reminded the boys that Dorchester hadn’t lost a game this year, so we wanted to give them something to remember us by, and that they did, beating them 5 – 0 and winning the St. Thomas Tournament.
Written by Greg Coffen