Nov 10, 2016 | Ron Sartor | 2078 views
Chicago Bauer Invitational Quarter-Finalists
Sault Ste. Marie’s Atom Major AAA Sault Jr. Greyhounds had a very productive weekend in Chicago.
On a busy weekend in Chicago, where the city hosted a parade of 5 million people to honour the Cubs on their World Series championship, the Sault’s Atom Major AAA hockey team strolled into town and secured a place in the final 8 of the 32-team AAA division tournament.
On Friday, the club opened up with a 3-1 loss to the Affton Americans, a very well disciplined team from St Louis.
The boys then rebounded and found their gear coming up with a huge 5-2 win against the Lakeland Hawks out of north Detroit. Lakeland plays out of the Little Caesar’s Hockey League.
Then at 7:30 am Saturday morning, the boys answered the call again and kept the train rolling, in giving the Cleveland Barons their first loss of the tournament. The Sault crew turned in a stellar performance and defeated a very fast Barons club, 5-3. With the win, the team qualified to enter the Sweet 16 round.
Saturday night would see the Jr. Greyhounds face off against the Indianapolis Strong. The Sault crew again played solid hockey and downed their opponent 3-1. With their third win in a row, they secured a spot in the quarterfinals to be played at 7:00 am Sunday morning.
The quarterfinal game was played against the Highland Park Falcons, a very fast puck moving club. The Sault boys played hard but just couldn’t seem to get their feet moving in the early morning game and fell 4-1 (empty netter) to the eventual tournament finalists.
All in all, it was a great tournament with a great effort! The experience had by the team, staff and parents will be remembered for quite some time.
Thanks to the Bauer Invitational committee and all who ran the event! A tournament with 500 teams is quite a spectacle to see!