SILVER STICK CHAMPIONS, News (Ingersoll & District Minor Hockey)

The Ingersoll Carmeuse Lime Express Juvenile rep team beat the Listowel Cyclones 6-0 on Sunday to win the International Silver Stick Juvenile B division in Mooretown.  This in Ingersoll’s first ever Juvenile Silver Stick championship.

Ingersoll would come out of the gate flying in the final game.  Listowel would register the first scoring chance of the game off the opening faceoff that was turned away by Ingersoll goaltender Ryan Calder. Ingersoll would gain control of the puck and after a great display of passing by Carter Franklin and Eric Savoie, Derek Johnson would bury a shot past the Listowel goalie just 21 seconds into the game.  Then just 21 seconds after that, Ryan Cooper and Ethan Hurst would set up Tanner Moon whose wrist shot from the left faceoff circle would find the back of the net to give Ingersoll a 2-0 lead before the game was a minute old. Ingersoll would extend their lead to 3-0 with 2:38 left in the first period on Carter Franklin’s goal assisted by Eric Savoie and Derek Johnson. Tanner Moon with would than take a pass from Kyle Rachar then use his speed to skate into the Listowel zone and fire a wrist shot that the Listowel goalie was unable to handle cleanly and the puck trickled into the net to give the Express a 4-0 lead with 55 second left in the first period.

The tone of the game would change in the second period as a frustrated Listowel team would try to use their physical presence to intimidate the Express.  However, Ingersoll stood up to these challenges and despite some questionable penalty calls against them, would score the only goal of the second period on Derek Johnson’s second goal of the game, a powerplay goal from a sharp angle after taking a pass from Carter Franklin to give Ingersoll a 5-0 lead.  At the end of the second period, there was a scrum behind the Ingersoll net involving several players from both teams.  Somehow out of it all, Ingersoll would end up with an extra double minor penalty to start the third.  A rather chippy second period would see the teams combine for 15 of the games 16 penalties.

Even though Ingersoll would start the third period on the penalty kill, Eric Savoie would score a short handed goal after displaying his exceptional skating and puck handling skills then using his pinpoint shot to score 2:04 into the third.  From then on the game was little in doubt and the teams stuck to hockey with no penalties being called in the third period.  The entire team played well in front of netminder Ryan Calder but he was forced to make some acrobatic saves in the third period to earn the shutout.

In the post game celebration, it was hard not to think about Tyler Arts, especially with his dad Rick returning to the bench this weekend and seeing his Mom in the stands cheering the team on Saturday.  Tyler would have been so proud of the way this team performed can carried itself both on and off the ice.  Tyler would also be very proud of Rick for returning to the team knowing how much the team means to Rick and Rick means to the team.  Rick is instrumental to the coaching staff and to the teams success.  Tyler would also be so proud of his Mom for being there to cheer the team on.   The players, coaches and fans did Tyler proud and are great ambassadors for Ingersoll Minor Hockey.

After watching the effort, determination grit and skill displayed this weekend by this team and when combined with a great coaching staff and passionate fans, the next few months shape up for some very entertaining hockey as the team pursues league and OMHA championships.  There aren’t many teams that can match the depth of skill of Ingersoll’s three forward lines, a strong group of mobile defencemen and solid goaltending.  As evidenced this weekend, the Express are capable of handling any style of play the opposition wants to play.

For anyone looking to catch some of the best hockey Ingersoll has to offer, the next game for Ingersoll comes on Saturday January 12 when the Express will host the New Hamburg Huskies at 8:30 at the Ingersoll Memorial Arena.

Post game photos:

Team Photo:


Captain Mike Roteveel accepting Silver Stick:


 
Goaltenders Ryan Calder and James Allison accepting Silver Stick banner:




Captain Mike Roteveel and assistants Carter Franklin and Eric Savoie accepting Silver Stick trophy:




Kirk Meek accepting Most Sportsmanlike Player award:



Coaches Ken Zegers, Rick Arts, Ryan Maurice and Chris Shelton: