Two important home games on the weekend versus league rivals Talbot Trail and Belle River had the boys playing some strong hockey against two rivals that were looking to get road wins.
Birthday Boy Russell is Perfect as the Storm Beat the Blazers 4-0
To say this team plays well at home (Kingsville or Harrow) is an understatement. The smaller ice size is well suited to the strong forecheck and positional play that is the hallmark of this team. It doesn’t give the opposition much room to work with the Storm seemingly in the right place most of the time. The proof is in the pudding as the Storm has outscored the opposition 50-13 in 9 games this season on home ice. However, the Bluewater league continues to tighten up and after a lopsided loss to the boys, Talbot Trail Blazers have been playing some good hockey and are steadily moving up the standings. It was picture day and so getting to the rink early meant spare time before the game where the boys decided to play hide and seek in the park with their equipment on…Gold and mud might be the new team colours, but it does say something about the fun these guys are having. The game started off a bit slowly for the boys and the Blazers were really pushing the play, when the Freight Train, Owen Martin, grabbed the puck and did one of his signature rushes down the boards to put the boys up midway through the first period. While it wasn’t pretty hockey due to the Blazers hard work, the boys continued to push and with one second on the clock, Owen Irvine jumped on a puck in front and put it in after some good work by Sam Hammel and Thomas Larsen who assisted on the goal. The game stayed at 2-0 until the third period and the reason why it did was the excellent play of Carter Russell in net. The birthday boy made a series of saves including a very nice glove stop that kept the Blazers off the board. Midway through the third period, the Storm got some breathing room when Hammel made a nice pass to Larsen who ripped a wrister over the goalies glove to make it 3-0. Things got a little heated between the two teams after that, but the boys stayed focused and with five minutes left in the game it was the red hot line of Autterson-Nantais-Bosveld who put the game on ice with Nantais scoring and assists going to Autterson and Bosveld. For his usual hard work along the boards and two key assists, Hammel won player of the game.
With First Place in Bluewater on the Line, the Storm Beat the Canadiens
The Belle River Hockey organization is a strong one with a good hockey culture. They play a skilled game and are always competitive, no matter the level. The regular season series against the U11C Canadiens, up to this point, stood at 1-2-1 and all of the games have been good ones. Everyone knew heading to the rink that this game was going to be a beauty. The game started off in a seesaw battle with the Storm carrying most of the play, but with Jaxon Keller, who expressed how excited he was to be the goalie in this important game, between the pipes being tested frequently and making important saves. Big time players step up in these types of games and that’s what happened for the Storm. Grayson Fraumeni was doing his best Scott Neidermeyer impression flying all over the ice, breaking up rushes, but also leading the rush. It was his offensive ability that led to the Storm going ahead 1-0. After a pass from Emmett Santarossa, he zigged zagged the puck up the ice and lasered a pass, after a 365 spin, on the tape of Zack Hammond who did a great job to beat the Canadiens goalie in traffic. The game stayed 1-0 until the third period when the Storm got a bit of a break. Raegan Spitse moved the puck up the ice to Thomas Larsen rushed it down the ice and attempted to hit a hard charging Owen Irvine going to the net, but the puck hit the Canadiens defender and deflected into the net making it 2-0. Alessio Incitti made it 3-0 a few minutes later, beating the goalie on a wrister after Larsen and Spitse worked the puck to him. Belle River then struck back on a breakaway to beat Keller high on the glove side. That, coupled with a few penalties, had the team Mom’s in the stands shrieking in nervous tension, but there were no nerves on the bench. The boys killed the penalties backed by Keller and after the Canadiens pulled the goalie, Owen Martin moved the puck to Cooper Autterson who carried the puck up the boards and made a very key and simple play to bank the puck off the boards past the Belle River defender where Patrick Nantais swooped in to retrieved it and put it home to make it 4-1 in the final minute. The boys never stopped playing, leaving no chance of a comeback, getting a few more good chances to score, but after the buzzer went they flew down the ice and off the bench to congratulate Keller on a well played game. For his great play, Grayson Fraumeni won player of the game. In his post-game speech, a very proud coach Woolgar relayed how pleased he was for the boys after a good weekend of hockey, but that there is still work to do and skills to work on.
The two wins on the weekend has the Storm at the top of the standings. Belle River has a game in hand and so continued strong play is required to remain at the top with three games remaining in the regular season.
Article by Coach Larsen