After
5 days of celebrating, eating and relaxing the Ancaster Avalanche Major Peewee
AE team headed down the 403 to the home of the Great One and his International
Wayne Gretzky Tournament.
The three day event was one last opportunity for the team to sharpen their skills before the long playoff road begins in mid-January.
The Av’s played an impressive undefeated round robin over the first 2 days defeating the Kitchener Jr. Rangers, the Brantford 99’ers and the Oswego Buccaneers and then finished off with a hard fought 1-1 tie against the Cambridge Hawks. The first four games saw the Avalanche outscore their opponents 16-5 with some excellent net minding by Liam Juhaul and Lucas Lisle and a solid 1st place pool finish.
In the semi-final the Av’s faced the host Brantford 99’ers in what proved to be a real gut check for the young Avalanche. Falling behind 1-0 the Av’s battled hard against a determined Brantford squad that had the home town fans frothing with excitement. The Branford goaltender was clearly in the zone and turned away dozens of Avalanche chances until mid-way through the 3rd period when centre Ethan Susi went bar down for the equalizer. Then with just 2:34 remaining in regulation the Av’s broke the tie and took the lead for the first time. With the goalie pulled and the pressure on it was desperation time for both teams. As the final buzzer sounded the Av’s had held on for a 2-1 victory.
The finals were a rematch of the only game the Avalanche had tied against the Cambridge Hawks, 1st vs 2nd in the finals; just like it was scripted for TV. The Hawks were under siege as the game started as their goaltender was peppered with shots from all sides, and then with a friendly bounce and a lucky play at the net the Hawks suddenly had a 1-0 lead. In the 2nd period the Hawks stretched their lead to 2 goals taking advantage of a power play. The Avalanche never gave up and had managed to score twice before the period ended sending the game into the final 15 minutes of action tied at 2 goals apiece.
The game was an intense battle as both teams exchanged chances with end to end action. With just over 4 minutes to play the Hawks threw a puck on net and it ricocheted off a skate, changing direction and sliding past the net minder. The remaining 4 minutes were filled with chances, empty net pressure, diving saves and goal posts ringing….but the final buzzer had to end what had been an amazing game.
The Major Peewee Avalanche family was proud of their accomplishments and excited to receive their silver medal from the Lord Mayor of Brantford himself – Mr. Walter Gretzky.
The coaching staff expressed their pride and congratulations to all their players as they head into a hopefully long playoff season!