On Saturday, February 11th Minto hosted eight teams for a Bantam LL tournament. Compliments to the Maddogs for a very well run event despite the fact that I did not win the 50/50 draw. Fingers crossed for those Leafs tickets though!!
Game one Mitchell donned white jerseys as they took on the Embro Edge. The teams seemed to be pretty evenly matched and if it weren’t for a few penalties the scoreboard would have seen no action at all in the first two periods. It wasn’t until late in the 3rd period that they were able to get the puck between the pipes. Kole HUNT with the assistance of Basil VOROS and Cole WILTON got the first goal followed by two empty netters curtesy of Carter YOST. With a commanding 3 to 0 lead and the clock rapidly counting down to that last buzzer it was looking like Mitchell was going to shutout their opponents. 5…4…3…2…1...LUCKNOW SCORES WITH "ONE" SECOND LEFT ON THE CLOCK! Who does that?! Thank God for those two empty netters or we’d be heading into OT.
This win put us in the "A" division against the Drayton Defenders. It was a tight game. The winner would be moving on to the finals, so it was no surprise that both teams were giving it their all. YOST immediately scored, but Drayton answered back before the end of the period and there the scoreboard hung, dormant, until OT. Meanwhile in the warm area, the team photographer (that’s me) was busy getting some great shots and taking the opportunity to banter back and forth with the grandpa, of Drayton’s number 17, who was sitting beside me. He took my ribbing like a champ and dished it out equally as well. The clock ran out in the 3rd period and the score was still tied 1 to 1. Tournament rules stated that in the event of a tie there shall be a 5 minute 3 on 3 overtime period, sudden victory. OT commenced, and it really looked like we had this in the bag. Then suddenly, #17 deeked out and around our guys and scored the winning goal. I smashed my hands on the glass and yelled out in disbelief. "That’s my boy!" I heard coming from beside me, and as turned to look I saw a very proud grandpa giving me a wink and a chuckle. Touché grandpa, touché.