On Saturday March 23, the Terry’s Auto Service Mitchell Midget AE’s hosted game #2 of the WOAA series against their league nemesis, the BCH Ice Dogs.
All season the games between this two rival teams have been filled with less than ideal hockey, but last night’s game would prove these teams could actually play clean hockey.
With hundreds of spectators in the stands, you could cut the tension with a knife, everyone unsure what was going to happen and what team would show up to play. As the puck dropped and bounced off the ice surface for the opening face-off, Mitchell would quickly answer the question, they came to play hockey tonight.
Mitchell's starting line of Jackson MacArthur, Evan Morrison, Jake Monden, Joe Hill, and Josh Duncan started lighting the score board up early with just 16 seconds into the first, when MacArthur placed the puck behind the red line of the Dog’s goal line with help from Morrison and Monden. Mitchell would strike again with the line of Josh Eidt, Darren Feltz, Solomon Koert, Josh Bedour and Cameron Hahn when Eidt double the score to 2-0 after receiving passes from Hahn and Feltz. Eidt liked scoring so much he decided to do it again later in the first with assists going to Feltz and Koert, which ended the scoring for the first at 3-0.
A crippling start for our visitors and the second period would only add to their misery as Mitchell completely dominated their guests. Next up to be added to the score sheet would be Monden with MacArthur from Morrison getting the assists. This line would school the competition early in the second on how to cycle the puck quickly around the visitors goalie and score. Just 15 seconds later the line of Kurtis Forest, Connor Louwagie, Caleb Tweddle, Curtis Chaffe and Carter Preszcator, would also school our opponents on the art of scoring when Tweddle from Forest and Louwagie made it 5-0. Mitchell would score again to make it 6 unanswered goals when MacArthur would get his second goal, Morrison his third assist and Eric Dearing his first. Late in the second, the bewildered Dogs finally found a hole in the Mitchells armour and ended Ryan Bell's shut out to end the second period 6-1.
The third would see BCH strike first and start their come from behind, closing the gap to just 4 and making it 6-2, however MacArthur would quickly dash their hopes and responded with a fantastic solo effort to get the “Hattie” for his last game in minor hockey to make it 7-2. With the clock counting down, BCH would score once more, but it would be to no avail as the Terry’s Auto Service Mitchell Midget AE's crush the BCH Ice Dogs 7-3, sweeping the series to become the 2018-2019 WOAA Champions doing it with conviction and style. Congratulations to both teams for giving their fans some exciting and well played hockey!
To take a different group of boys every year, with different ages, different sizes, different skill sets, different personalities and make them champions says a lot for a coaching staff. I would be amiss if I did not mention and thank them, Head Coach Jack Chaffe, Assistant Coaches James Morrison and Jim Tweddle and Trainer Ken Monden for your dedication and time to take these misfits and turn them into the winning team that they were last night. As for the boys, although I have often wondered why you can not play with the Heart and Intensity you all did last night, every night, you did pick the perfect game to play with the Heart and Intensity that we all love watching….thank you. Not mentioned was Devin Fenwick who unfortunately was unable to make the game, but was a big reason for the success of this team this year as well. Special thanks to both Bradley Boville and Steve Daum for being our back up goalies for this series.
We as parents love watching our kids play, and most of the time, we are proud of their sportsmanship and maturity they exhibit both on and off the ice. It is a privilege to be able to watch your son play a game he loves, watch him play with new team mates and form friendships he will have for life, but all good things come to an end. The equipment can be washed and put away, faces shaved and hair cut, weekends are ours again and we can reflect on the past year and wait patiently for fall so we can do it all again.
Thank you all for the good times had, until next year……