The Blue Bombers had lost two in a row coming into this
game. They were hungry to get back on
the ice to show their fans what they were made of. The coaches all noticed huge
improvements in their rookie players over the last few weeks. Their confidence
in the group going into this game was very high.
Maiya was in the net after working very hard in practice to get
used to stopping pucks. More than one parent from other ENS teams commented that she
has a lot of natural ability as a goalie. Without a doubt, she still had her
hands full with a very good Leamington team. The game started with Leamington
getting a sneaky goal early on. However, the Bombers replied quickly after a
little bit of hard work from Matthew to get Thomas the puck and Thomas getting
one back after a nice rush and a nicer shot. Matthew got his very first career point
on the goal. The Bombers continued to push back. Calvin made an incredible flip
pass over the Leamington team to Grayson who went in on the goalie on a break
away only to be stopped. A great shift by the Bash Brothers-Owen and Nathan
announced their presence with a physical shift chasing the puck around the ice
and causing turnovers, like only they can. Owen had a great chance making several nice dekes in the slot before being stopped on a nice defensive play. Despite their efforts, Leamington took
the lead late in the period to go up 2-1. Calvin (aka Flash) continued to be the maestro on
the back end. After a great rush down the boards he threw a
perfect pass to Thomas in the slot for a hard one timer and a goal. Six minutes
after that, he did the very same thing leading to Thomas getting a hat trick.
These two players are best buddies and it is almost certain that they have
played out that exact scenario in the street. Defensively, the Bombers were
very good most of the game. Nate was asked to play defense with Jagger and were
nicknamed the demolition crew based on the fact they blew up most of the
Leamington rushes on the ice. Maya was very sure handed on defense, not making
any mistakes moving the puck. Their efforts translated to the Bombers going out
to a 4-2 lead on a goal that can only be described as the “goal of the year”.
After a bit of a scrambly play in the slot, Jaxon picked out the puck and made
a 4 foot pass to Thomas who quickly passed the puck to Grayson at the side of
the net who put it in. The crowd reaction to that goal was unreal. Pure joy! Leamington
scored to make it 4-3 shortly into the third period. Grayson scored on a breakaway
halfway through the third, after some hard work by Jagger to get him the puck, to
make it 5-3. The rest of the period the Bombers worked hard to keep Leamington
at bay. A great shift by Logan and Blake was characterized by a great rush by
Blake and some tremendous forechecking by Logan and Grayson which almost led to
another goal. Maiya was great in net with some massive pad saves however, in
the last minute Leamington scored two goals to tie it up. Jaxon almost scored
with 5 seconds left but it was deflected wide by their defense. What a great
game!
Goal 1: Thomas; Assist: Matthew
Goal 2: Thomas; Assist: Calvin
Goal 3: Thomas; Assist: Calvin
Goal 4: Grayson; Assists: Thomas and Jaxon
Goal 5: Grayson; Assist Jagger
Golden Jersey: Maiya
Lunch Box: Nate