Dec 31, 2017 | Nick Lehman | 1154 views
Novice "A" has a strong showing at the Wayne Gretzky tournament in Brantford
The Novice Avalanche competed in the Wayne Gretzky International Tournament of over the Christmas Break.
The boys stepped up and surprised many with a semi-final appearance, loosing a hard fought battle with the eventual tournament winners from Woodstock.
The tournament was off to a rough start as the Avs faced the Woodstock team in the first game. The speedy and talented Woodstock team took an early lead and never looked back with a 4-0 win.
Next the boys were faced with the tough task of facing a Tier 1 team from an AAA Center, the Kitchener Rangers. They came out determined to play hard and walked away with a 4-1 victory. At the end of day 1 the Avs had a record of 1 and 1.
On the second day of the tournament the Avs were up against some stiff competition again facing a tier 1 team from a AAA center in the Waterloo Wolves. The Avs were not intimidated. With speed and puck moving passes the Avs came out on top with a 5-2 victory. With one more win, the Avs would be guaranteed a spot in the playoff round.
The undefeated Meadowvale Hawks were the only team in the Avs way. The boys played hard and with solid goaltending came out and handed the Hawks their first loss in commanding fashion 6-1.
With the win against Meadowvale, the stage was set. On the third day of the tournament, the Avs were in the playoff round, drawing the undefeated Sarnia Sting. What a game. 2-2 and heading into 3 on 3 over time until there is a winner. The Avs dominated the OT period with a number of scoring chances, put pucks were rolling off sticks, shots were hitting posts, until a beautiful pass from the corner from Francesco Montecchia found the stick of Porter Mastroianni in front of the net and no mistake was made. Porter buried the puck past the sprawling goaltender. The Avs win!! 3-2 Off to the Semi Finals where they would meet the undefeated Woodstock team again. Woodstock had played 4 games to this point out scoring their opponents 36-0.
The Avs showed up to play this power house Woodstock. Determined and playing with speed and solid goaltending the Avs potted 3 goals against a team that had allowed zero all tournament, but eventually loosing 5-3, being eliminated by the eventual tournament champions.
The Novice "A" Avalanche player of the game awards were handed out to Francesco DePaola (G), Porter Mastroianni, Ryan Drong, Mason Medeiros (G), Francesco Montecchia, and Finley Holt.
Other Avs include Michael Carson, Evan Collins, Brayden Crevier, Owen Duckett, Lucas Empringham, Ryan Lehman, Cole Murphy, Reece Traver, Luke van den Heuvel, Kyler van den Heuvel, and Tristian Walker.
Special thanks to Steve Traver, Fred Mastroianni, Jason Drong, Brad Walker, and Mike van den Huevel for their work on the bench as well as the time they put into developing these hockey players.
Great job Avs. Playoff start soon!!!