Sixteen juvenile hockey teams descended upon
Mildmay last weekend for the 23rd Greg Dietz Memorial Juvenile Tournament. By the end of Saturday, eight of those teams
were heading home. Carmeuse Lime Ltd
Ingersoll Express was not one of them.
Carmeuse Lime Ltd started the weekend with the skills competition, entering a player in each of the three categories: Kirk Meek, Hardest Shooter; Ryan Calder, Goaltender and Tanner Moon, Fastest Skater. Carmeuse would go two for three as Calder and Moon won their respective categories.
An hour later, Carmeuse Lime Ltd was playing their first game of the tournament against the King Rebellion, which turned out to be a very entertaining and disciplined game, proven by the fact that each team had only one penalty.
The Greg Dietz Memorial Tournament is a points based tournament format. Teams earn two points for each period won and one point for each period tied. Game points are four points for a win and two points each for a tie. There is a maximum of ten points earned per game.
At 5:32 of the first period, the Rebellion would finally get the puck around Carmeuse net-minder Darren Robinson, #1. Disciplined hockey continued throughout the remainder of the first and well into the second period. The final two minutes of the second period were counting down as Tanner Moon, #16, exhibited his sudden speed as he carried the puck to the Rebellion end where he made good on the solo opportunity at 1:57. The score was now tied and each team had two points. Less than two minutes into the third period, the Rebellion scored the only goal of the period. Ingersoll would earn and post 2 points on the tournament board and King Rebellion would post 8.
Carmeuse Lime Ltd next met the Goderich Sailors at 9:30 PM. This game boasted two firsts. Carmeuse Lime Ltd wore their white jerseys and was first on the scoreboard when Moon, capitalized on a powerplay opportunity. The goal was barely posted when the Sailors evened the score just four seconds later. The Sailors took the lead at 1:32 of the first period.
The score remained unchanged until 8:07 of the third as the Sailors made the score 3-1. Carmeuse appeared to be undaunted as Moon and Tyler Goyette, #15, teamed up to close the gap just one minute later. Six seconds later Moon scored his second goal of the period, earning a hat trick at 7:02. Moon proved he wasn’t quite finished when he and Kirk Meek, #12, extended their services to Goyette who scored the game winning goal at 3:00. (This will certainly be a line to watch in the future.)
The Goderich Sailors would earn 3 points for the game and finish the tournament with 7 points. Carmeuse earned 7 points for the game and finished the tournament in eighth place with 9 points on the tournament board. They would prepare to meet the King Rebellion Sunday morning in the Consolation Semi-Final. There would be no more points earned, final format was win or go home.
Sunday morning, just fifty-two seconds into the first period, Carmeuse Lime Ltd was in a one-goal deficit to the Rebellion. The lead would be short-lived as Luke Zegers, #3, assisted by Goyette and Christian Johnston, #9, scored at 12:02. Carmeuse would take the lead for the second time in the tournament when Goyette made the score 2-1 with a solo shot at 6:34.
The Carmeuse penalty kill would get tested, just twenty-four seconds after the goal, as Moon earned a four minute timeout for head contact. This was the beginning of an even greater test of the Carmeuse penalty kill.
Moon was not more than just nicely back on the ice when Colin Wellar-Burgess received two minutes for holding. At 1:15 Goyette joined him in the box, the call interference. Carmeuse now faced the Rebellion five-on-three. The test was successfully met by Johnston, Jeff Couse, #4, and Mitch Graham, #8, backed by their net-minder Ryan Calder, #33. The score remained unchanged.
Throughout the second and third periods, Calder demonstrated how he won the goaltender skills competition as he expertly moved and passed the puck, assisting not only the Carmeuse defense but also the offense.
The score remained unchanged until 13:43 of the second period when Johnston, with some support from Goyette, added some insurance on the board. Just two minutes later the Rebellion would play a successful shell game around the Ingersoll net-minder, making the score 3-2.
Mike Rotteveel, #11, owned a front row seat in the penalty box as he watched Moon once again demonstrate his speed and scoring finesse, scoring a shorthanded goal at 5:40. Unfortunately Rotteveel was in the same seat minute later as the Rebellion scored on the powerplay. However it would be Carmeuse who would get the last word at 1:01 of the second period, as Goyette gave his help to Moon, resulting in a goal reminiscent of the final Carmeuse goal against the Goderich Sailors.
In the third period, the final two goals of the game were scored just seventeen seconds apart, the Rebellion at 4:37; answered at 4:20 by Noah Haig, #14, assisted by Dakota Lednicky, #7, and Canden Addley, #19.
The Carmeuse penalty kill was tried and true during semi-final game, finishing with an 89% success rate. The Rebellion powerplay was one for nine. Carmeuse Lime Ltd now prepared to meet the Lincoln Blades in the Consolation Final. It would not be their first meeting. They met four weeks earlier during regular season at the IDMC, when the Blades administered a 6-2 loss to Carmeuse.
Carmeuse was shorthanded when Moon forced a turnover at the Ingersoll blue line and, with some help from Graham, would register the first goal at 6:39 of the first period. Less than two minutes later, Josh Holmes, #6, assisted by Joel Couse, #5, made the score 2-0. The Blades thought they were on the board at 10:06 of the second period, only to learn they were absolutely robbed by Carmeuse net-minder, Ryan Calder. A little over a minute later, Lednicky, assisted by Addley, registered another Carmeuse goal. At 3:06, Moon, with some help from Goyette, would score the last Carmeuse goal of the tournament.
Both teams created opportunities throughout the third period. Solid net-minding at each end would continue to deny the opposition. As the final seconds counted down, the Blades would keep the puck contained in the Carmeuse end, which paid a dividend with only 9.3 seconds remaining. There would be no Carmeuse shutout in Mildmay, but there would a new banner coming to the IDMC.
During the final game, the Carmeuse powerplay was tested to be 100% true.
Tanner Moon was named Tournament Consolation Final MVP.
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