The Atom A.E. Storm began their OMHA Playdowns this past
weekend, and drew the St. Thomas Jr. Stars in their preliminary round. These 2
teams are quite familiar with each other having played 4 times already in
various tournaments this season.
On paper these two teams match up fairly even and one
could expect a tight, low scoring series based on history. Well the bookies
lost big time on the over/under as the opening weekend proved why you play out
the games instead of going off the scouting reports.
Game # 1 – Friday January 15/2016 – Harrow
The Storm entered the series as the # 1 seed and then went on to show why seeding means nothing in Playdowns. School P.D. days have never been kind to the Storm and this day was no different as the team went out and laid their biggest egg of the year.
A defensive blunder provided an early omen when a clearing attempt around the net beat Tommy clean, top shelf, blocker side. The remaining wheels fell off the cart quickly after that as the Storm found themselves trailing 3-0 five minutes into the game.
The team looked like they might get back into it late in the second period when Mikayla sniped home a shot to make it 4-1. However, any remaining wind in the sails were vanquished when St. Thomas scored on the ensuing shift to put the game away.
Final score: St. Thomas 7 – Storm 2
Game # 2 – Sunday January 17/2016 – St. Thomas
After being served a slice of humble pie in the opening game, the Storm were determined to prove they were a better team than the one that showed up on Friday.
Knowing a loss would put them in a deep hole, the Storm went out and played up to their capabilities with a dominant showing. After killing off some penalty trouble early in the game, the Storm got on the board first when Michael jammed home a loose puck with 4 minutes left in the opening period. The Stars tied it up with 5 seconds left in the period on the Storm’s only major gaffe of the night when a bad line change left Colin helpless as 2 St. Thomas players skated in alone and scored.
The second period was owned by the Storm and they erupted for 4 goals by Keegan, Michael, Mikayla and Brady to give them a 5-1 lead going into the final frame. The Storm did not let up and goals by Ian and Brady with his second of the night rounded out the scoring.
Final score: Storm 7 – St. Thomas 1
The 8 point series is now tied at 2 points apiece.
Next game is Saturday January 23, 2pm at Harrow arena.
Go Storm Go !!