Assiginack Public School hockey!
A.P.S. hosted what has to be a rare event last week. They held their inaugural, annual elementary school hockey tournament. The tournament attracted teams from five schools: Pontiac, Assiginack, LCPS, CMPS and AB Ellis. The games had to start at 8 am with APS and Pontiac playing and each school was guaranteed four games. Pontiac beat out AB Ellis in a close game in the semi-final and then moved on to play Little Current in the final. After an amazing game, LCPS came out victorious, taking home the tournament banner.
The tournament drew many spectators and the canteen raised a lot of money for the Grade 8 class trip. A big thank you to the refs, timekeepers, coaches, players, the Township of Assiginack and APS staff. It was a wonderful day and they look forward to hosting again next year! Many thanks to Becky Stewart and crew for giving great and enduring school memories for all these kids.
Off their Rock, hockey!
After winning the regional Silver Stick tournament in Sudbury last month, Jack Bridgeman and his U15AA Nickel City Sons team travelled stateside for the international final this past weekend in Port Huron, Michigan. Opening against the Toronto Aeros Friday morning, the NCS boys came out flying, decidedly outplaying the Toronto team. After dominating the game and spending most of the 3rd period in the Aeros end, outshooting them 29-19 overall, a hot Aeros goalie and a lack of puck-luck stymied the NCS, who finished on the wrong side of a 4-1 outcome. A disappointed but determined Sons side set to work again versus the Oakland Grizzlies Friday night. After a well-played first that ended 1-1, their hard work finally paid off as the Sons blew the game open with a 5 goal 2nd, on route to a 7-1 win, powered by a 3 goal, 5 point game for Jack.
Going into the final round robin game Saturday night, the match-up was for first in the division, and a must win for Nickel City against Pennsylvania’s Mid-State Mustangs, ranked #8 in the US. A loss would see NCS finish in the consolation round, and once again the boys were up to the challenge and came out flying. It was a highly entertaining game, with both sides getting solid defensive play and speedy offensive forays creating numerous goal scoring chances. Mid-State broke through first on the power play with a beautiful cross ice pass one-timer goal. The NCS side had to take some chances on the offensive end, which led to another Mustang power play marker, and at 2-0, frustration with the refereeing meant a continued parade to the box. Though closely played, NCS’s game ended with 9 penalties and the 3-0 loss punched their ticket to the consolation game for 9th place on Sunday.
Sunday morning’s consolation game was against the Eastern Ontario Cobras, ranked #6 in Ontario. Both teams came out slowly, as neither team appeared too thrilled to be out of the running for the championship. After going through the motions for the first couple of minutes, a hit here and a break there, both teams woke up and they went on to play a fast, skilled and exciting game. The Sons though found themselves once again unable to figure out the rules as being called by the American referees, and subsequently spent an inordinate amount of time in the penalty box. Effective penalty killing, including during two extended 5 on 3 deficits, allowed the Sons to hang on for a 2-2 tie, a tie for 9th overall, finishing ahead of teams from Oakland, Santa Clarita, Nebraska and Michigan, among others.
Jack would like to give a shout out of thanks to Mr. Wiwchar and Mr. Doane for helping accommodate exam writing, which allowed him to go to the tournament, something not afforded every Ontario player eligible to go with their respective teams. Congratulations, Jack!
Meanwhile, Greyson Brewer-Case, also a N.C.S. only in the U-16 AA bracket, was on the road this weekend to New Liskeard for a double header against the New Liskeard Lions U18. The Sons won their first game 2-1 and the 2nd game 4-3. Greyson actually put the cherry on top of his weekend with the winning goal with 24 seconds left. The team’s social media page announced that he won the player of the game, dubbing him Greyson “77 mph shot” Case. Way to go, Greyson!
U-18 Panther points
The U-18 Panther schedule has been a bit light over the last couple of weeks due to the NOCA championships being held in Little Current. The team travelled a couple times to Espanola to continue their season of development as well as attending a Sudbury Wolves vs. North Bay Battalion game! Thank you very much to the official provider of all Panther apparel, Greater Sports Branded Apparel Company LTD. for the complimentary tickets. It was a great night out to have some fun and enjoy a fantastic hockey game.
It was back to game play on February 3rd as they hosted the Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds BB team for a double header. The scoreboard showed the Puckhounds victorious in both games with a score of 5-1 but that score was not indicative of how the girls played. Coach Hughson said, “We are using the season to build our hockey skills working towards our goal of playing in the OWHA provincial championships,” and is amazed of the team’s progression thanks to their heart and determination.
The team saw great performances by both of our goalies on Saturday that kept us alive in both games until the end of the game. Hats off to Izzy and Ciera! In game one there was an unbelievable bar down shot by #7 Ava Corbiere on a partial breakaway that showed how hard she has been working on her shooting, away from the rink.
The theme of the past few practices has been a quick release on shots and developing the ability to shoot from an uncomfortable position. Our lone goal in game two saw this executed to perfection as #15 Hara Dube ripped it past the Puckhounds goalie on a great pass from behind the net by #28 Gracie Gibson. Their next game action will be in a couple of weeks when they travel to Sault Ste. Marie for a double header against the Jr. Greyhounds A team.
On a side note, Scot would like to mention, “that the Panther organization will be hosting the U15B NOHA Tournament of Champions coming up at NEMI Rec Centre from March 22 through the 24th. The action will feature some great U15 hockey with teams from Powassan, Iroquois Falls, North Bay, Temiskaming Shores and of course our Manitoulin Panthers. Games will commence Friday at 10:30 am and continue through until the Championship game Sunday afternoon. Please mark this on your calendars and come on out and cheer all teams on. If you would like to do more than just watch some great hockey, please reach out to our Panther organization if you would like to help us out in any way. There is a lot of work and financial commitments involved in running an event such as this. If anyone would like to volunteer to help at this event, it would be greatly appreciated.”
Caught, being active!
Whenever I take someone fishing, the pressure is on but they don’t often catch much. So it was on Sunday taking my nephew and his son fishing, the stress was right at the point of impatience for a child under five when he landed a nice fish on his first-ever ice-fishing trip. Sorry about the “surprise hike” to get there. Congratulations to (grand-nephew?), Felix Tambeau.
