Regular Season Final vs. Burford #1
The regular season came to end with the Anderson Appliance team boarding the Express Train for a trip to Burford. It's been a great season for this bunch of kids and there has been a tremendous amount of improvement from all players. Covering the games from the "press box" and keeping tabs on the players stats has been a great experience and a bit of an eye opener.
We started the year off with a group of individual players from 3 different birth years. The "hockey knowledge" and skill levels varied and sometimes it seemed like getting through 2 minutes of play without an offside whistle was a miracle. If we had a video from the beginning of the year it would show an amazing difference some of the less experienced players have made over the course of the season. It's the plays that don't make it on the scoresheet that define how the game was played and why it's won or lost.We started the year off with a group of individual players from 3 different birth years. The "hockey knowledge" and skill levels varied and sometimes it seemed like getting through 2 minutes of play without an offside whistle was a miracle. If we had a video from the beginning of the year it would show an amazing difference some of the less experienced players have made over the course of the season. It's the plays that don't make it on the scoresheet that define how the game was played and why it's won or lost.We started the year off with a group of individual players from 3 different birth years. The "hockey knowledge" and skill levels varied and sometimes it seemed like getting through 2 minutes of play without an offside whistle was a miracle. If we had a video from the beginning of the year it would show an amazing difference some of the less experienced players have made over the course of the season. It's the plays that don't make it on the scoresheet that define how the game was played and why it's won or lost.
We started the year off with a group of individual players with varying levels of skill and knowledge. To look back at a video of the first few games it would be amazing to see how far the team has come. In the beginning it seemed like a miracle if we could get through 2 minutes of play without getting a whistle for offside. Player positions seemed to only matter for the face off and passing the puck was only a last ditch effort. Slowly the players learned what their roles where and how to best use their skills to help the team. The players did a great job of showing up to practice willing to learn and do the drills that would increase their skill and confidence. The skills and confidence carried over to the games and multiple players showed tremendous progress in the second half of the season. It's natural as a parent to keep one eye on the play and the other focussed on what your own child is doing... or not doing. It's hard to take a step back and realize the small adjustments the players make as a team, that compiled over the season make a huge difference on how the game is played. These are taught by our coaches in practice and the results are easy to see. The teams success this year couldn't have happened without the dedication of our coaching staff. They volunteer to work with the kids to get the most out of them on and off the ice. The early morning practices to develop their skill to the positive remarks to the kids and the high fives and fist bumps after games (win or lose). I think all the kids have developed a sense of value they bring to the hockey team and that can only help in their personal lives as well. So now at the end of the season the kids have come together as a unit and solidified their spot in the playoffs. Congrats Team and Coaches on a great year!
The weather was great for the ride out to Burford and the players knew a win still gave them a slim chance at taking the top spot in the league. They pulled off a 3-0 win in the last meeting so the sweet taste of victory was still fresh in their minds. #5 Riley Vyse was between the pipes looking to repeat the shut out in net and his great play this season has given him reason to believe it will happen again. The refs showed up on time and the game was underway.
Ingersoll came flying out of the gates from the opening face-off and peppered the Burford goalie with 3 quick shots. The Burford goal stood tall and made some great saves to keep the score at 0's. The Express Train shifted gears and kept the play in the Burford end of the ice with some great defence on the blue line to hold the puck in. The team played great positional hockey and the Burford players had their hands full. After most of the period had passed and the game scoreless, #12 Marshall Karmaris got his stick on the puck and pulled it off the Burford forwards stick. Marshall moved the puck up the centre of the ice to #9 Noah Muller. Noah raced down the ice with fellow Ingersoll forward #6 Kylah Demers charging hard down the side. Noah crossed the blue line with the puck and as he got close to the net he made a nice pass over to Kylah who slammed the puck into the back of the net for the opening goal of the game at 2:01! Awesome goal Kylah and great passes Noah and Marshall! Burford came back strong from the face-off and Riley had his first real test of the game. It was a 2 man breakaway but Riley made quick work of the shot and held it for a whistle. That save kept Ingersoll in the lead and the 1st period ended with a score of 1-0
The Burford players got a little pep talk at the bench and came out swinging to start the second period. The Ingersoll defence had to work to try and get the puck out and the Burford defence was equally determined to hold the zone. The puck found its' way to the front of the net and a hard shot landed against the stretched out leg of goalie Riley who was really on his game! Ingersoll settled down and returned to their earlier play with players in position and moving the puck out of the zone as soon as it got there. The puck moved back into the Burford zone and Ingersoll did a great job of passing the puck to the players in front of the net. #10 Kian Brown narrowly missed a goal on a one-timer off the side of the net. There was a few more chances but again the Burford goalie was there to make the save. Ingersoll managed to get another goal at 3:53 when #14 Dylan Craib got a hold of the puck at the left hand side of the net and fired it over the line. Nice one Dylan! Ingersoll continued to dominate the play for the rest of the period but the score remained 2-0.
The 3rd period started like the 2nd with Burford going full throttle at the Ingersoll net and this time it paid off with a goal at 9:48 cutting the Ingersoll lead in half. Burford didn't let up and the shots came from every angle. Ingersoll did a good job of clearing the puck from in front of the net but the shots kept coming. After a few minutes and a desperate line change Ingersoll caught a break at 7:16. #16 Brayden Ackworth passed the puck up to #14 Dylan Craib who made some great moves with the puck to totally undress the defence man and get a shot on net. The Burford goalie stopped the puck but Dylan was their for his own rebound and put in the backhander! That made the score 3-1 for Ingersoll. Dylan was having awesome game and topped it off with another goal at 6:48. Dylan was again on the left hand side of the ice and stole the puck just inside the blue line. He took a few strides to the hash mark and ripped a shot through the 5 hole for the Hat Trick! Way to go Dylan! The Express was really rolling now and #9 Noah Muller capped off the game with a nice goal at 3:40 after a great move slid the goalie to the other side leaving the corner wide open! The game clock wound down the horn sounded to end the game with a 5-1 final. What a great way to end the regular season and we look forward to the playoffs on Tuesday!