Jan 27, 2014 | gbailey | 873 views
Another Silver Stick SUCCESS for the BrokerLink Atom Reps
The BrokerLink Atom Rep team had an awesome weekend at the International Silver Stick Finals in Forest, proudly bringing home another Finalists banner.
Day 1: The Express had a great day Friday with a close 3-2 loss to Lambton Shores, a 2-1 win over Kemptville, a team lunch and some fun group activities between games. Highlights of the day were trading pins with the other teams, a penalty shot goal by Ben Brown, an awesome two-goal effort (and an A+ on a weekend homework assignment) by Evan Hopson, and amazing teamwork on the ice by the entire squad.
Day 2: Saturday's game was a nail-biter before the puck even dropped, with the winner heading on to the semi-finals and the loser heading on home. Great fan-support helped to pump the team up for a win, including support from Nathan's brand new niece, who was watching her first live hockey game.
When we scored... Bad call by ref... When the other team scored...
Super-fans...
The Express were focused and determined to take this game, and also wanted to stay in a hotel Saturday night, so buckled down and pulled off a 2-1 win over Clinton NY!! This win contributed to a round-robin first-place finish for the Express, and set up a re-match with Petrolia, the team who beat the Express in the Championship game at the Regional Silver Stick a month ago. It was starting to feel like payback time...
Day 3: The semi-final showdown between the Express and Petrolia was bright and early Sunday morning. It's hard to describe the atmosphere in the arena that morning...it was like everyone was holding their breath in anticipation of this feisty re-match. The Express came out on FIRE, and I mean scoring goals like in the old days BAM BAM BAM and we were up 3-0 before we knew it! Petrolia managed to find the back of the net once, but no matter, the Express were pumped, the fans were pumped, and everything was going our way. After netting another goal, the Express were up 4-1 in the 3rd, full of confidence and momentum. Then a turning point...Petrolia took a shot at the net, Carter raised his glove and deflected the puck up at the crossbar, it hit the underside of the crossbar and fell to the blue ice in the crease, where it was smothered. The referee signaled a goal...? With no evidence of the puck crossing the goal line, the Petrolia team was awarded a goal?!?! This cut the Express lead in half and worse, crushed their momentum. You could see and feel the shift in the game, like the wind was knocked out of their sails. But the Atoms showed resilience, and even after Petrolia scored another, the Express pushed on, and with almost desperate effort at times, managed to pull off a 4-3 victory over a great Petrolia team, and earn a spot in the FINALS! Amazing effort Express!!!
Happiest kids in the world...
After another team lunch, the gang was back at the arena to prepare to skate for the coveted SILVER STICK. The final battle of the weekend was against Simcoe, who had not lost a game in the tournament. Things did not go our way from the start. It was a valiant effort on the part of the Express, but the team just could not muster the strength they showed in the previous game. Simcoe was up 3-0 after the 2nd period, and despite holding them off in the 3rd, the Express was unable to find the back of the Simcoe net. After the game, our team was presented with the Finalists banner and Finalists pins. Great accomplishment this weekend guys & gal!! We are all very proud of you. And a special congratulations to Max Branderhorst and Alex Schuett who were named to the all-star lineup!
