Island, Soo Extravaganza Tournament winners!
Manitoulin teams as per usual, play well at the annual Extravaganza event last week. The Pee Wee Panthers went 5 and 0 and came home Champions of their, Minor A division.
The team enjoyed a great weekend with hat trick awards, MVP t-shirts, and shutout awards for each of their goalies. The team managed to be successful despite two players who fell sick but managed to bounce back quickly!
Congratulations to: Cole Stack, Jeremy Campbell, Jordan Cheechoo, Brandon Visitor, Delaney Bridgeman, Davin Deschenes, Liam Gray, Brody Pennie, Jared Toope, Cole Hughson, Annie Balfe, Camryn Ramsay, Eli Locke, Jorja Peltier and Lucas Wright. The team’s coaching staff included, Jay Toope, Jon Balfe, Jason Hughson, Nelson Deschenes, Jamie Ramsay and Jamie Gray.
In the Atom division the Manitowaning Wolves got to howl once again at the Extravaganza! They lost the first game 5-2, then won game two, 3-1, game three was a 3-2 finish that secured them a place in the semi-finals.
The semifinals had the Wolves facing the team they lost to on Friday! The team came out strong but so did the opponents. With just 36 seconds left in the third the Wolves scored, breaking the tie game sending them to the finals. In the championship game they won 2-0 with goalie Dane Gibeault getting the shutout. The players in the tournament were: Sapphire Recollet-Case, Jake Smith, Xavier Mara, Andrew Cooper, Ava Fields, Camdon Hoy, Madison McCarville, Kara Peltier, Grace Pitawanakwat, Ryley Wassegijig-Migwans, Matthew Gulyas, Dane Gibeault and Rylan Pennie.
Congrats as well to bench staff: Ron Cooper as head coach, Jamie Peltier and Rob Pennie as assistant coaches and Christine Gulyas as manager/trainer.
Nickel City, (Island) Sons claim “AAA” title!
The Nickel City Sons AAA Minor Bantams, taking on the North Bay Trappers for the NOHA Minor Bantam AAA championship, managed a 2-1 OT victory in game 1 and a 3-1 decision in game 2 to go up 2 – 0 in the best of 5 series. But the Trappers fought their way back into it with a 4-2 victory in game 3 and a 2-0 result in game 4 to square it. The decisive game 5 was on Sunday.
Mindemoya’s Liam Bridgeman, used sparingly as he was a little wobbly after dealing with the lingering effects of a stomach bug, all the way to the rink, notched the game’s first goal on his first shift, slapping in a Wilson Farrow point shot rebound 8 minutes in. AOK’s Sam Assinewai then set up Scooter Rienguette for goal #2 and NCS was up 2 – 0 after 1.
In the game as in the series though, North Bay was not about to roll over. Five minutes into the second they made it 2-1 with a power play marker. The Trappers evened it at 2-2 three minutes into the third, and then five minutes later notched a third unanswered goal. With under ten minutes to go, the Sons had squandered a 2 goal lead and found themselves down 3 – 2.
Turning up his game, Sam launched attack after attack into the offensive zone, turning 1 on 1, 1 on 2 and even 1 on 3 plays into offensive attempts at goal, yet he could not get one past the Trapper’s netminder. Things were looking pretty grim for Nickel City as time wound down, but defenseman Farrow jumped up into the attack and snuck one in five hole to even it at 3’s. The continued dominant defensive play from Wiikwemkoong’s anchor to the NCS defense, Carson Shawana, coupled with some outstanding goaltending from Son’s backstop Noah Beaulne meant the championship would be decided in overtime.
In the first overtime it looked like North Bay’s Nico Laforge had capped the comeback with a wrap-around beauty, but the goal was immediately waived off as the net had come loose. In the second overtime Sam seemed to have ended it, but it was Nickel City’s turn for a “wave-off” as the whistle was determined to have gone before the puck entered the net. Finally, in the third period of overtime action, a tired Trapper winger attempted an ill-advised cross ice pass from his half wall, one that Liam anticipated perfectly. Intercepting it, the former Thunder player broke in all alone, deked wide left, outwaiting the falling goalie and patiently snapped it top shelf over the prone ‘tender. Liam’s second goal of the game was a triple overtime, AAA NOHA championship winner! Congratulations on your well-deserved, Northern Ontario Championship, boys!
Ex-pat, all sport, aficionado!
Hats off to Wikwemikong Band member, Delaney Webkamigad daughter of Colleen. Delaney who is a tall, all-round athlete is a stalwart with the Sudbury Lady Wolves Midget A squad. She is also an important part of St. Charles College, athletics. Among the best of her sports’ expertise is volleyball where her height makes her a strong force. Keep up the hard work, Delaney.
A good sport is good for sports.
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