The
U13 AAA Soo Jr Greyhounds (“Hounds”) traveled to the Hamilton Steel AAA
tournament on the December 6-8 weekend.
The Hounds first opponent was against the Guelph Gryphons. The Hounds brought
early pressure and had a number of chances in the crease, but game was tight
throughout and the Hounds ultimately squeaked away with a 2–0 victory.
In Game 2, the Hounds had a late start time of 9 PM against the Oakland Jr
Grizzlies. The Hounds were leading 2-1 when a last second shot ultimately found
its way to the back of the net with 6 seconds left, thereby denying the Hounds
a victory and leaving the Hounds at one win and one tie after day 1.
Saturday brought about further important games, with the
Hounds winning a resounding victory against the Windsor Jr Spitfires by beating
them 8–0.
In the final game of the round robin, the Hounds played the Buffalo Regals and
could have advanced directly to the semifinals with a win. The Regals played the Hounds very tough,
wanting to “Beat the Soo” and pucks were not bouncing the Hounds way, resulting
in a 3–2 loss.
This led the Hounds in the quarterfinals rather than a bye to the semifinals
directly. If the Hounds wanted to hoist the championship, it was going to take
3 games on Sunday.
The quarterfinal matchup was against a very strong and talented Waterloo Wolves
team that the Hounds beat earlier this year 3 - 2. The Hounds were ultimately
successful in winning the quarterfinals 2–0 in a hard fought and tight affair.
Having not received the automatic semifinal bye, this left the Hounds playing
the highly ranked and very talented Don Mills Flyers. Don Mills was undefeated
in the round robin and was the number one seed. In an extremely tough matchup,
the Hounds converted a power-play goal and were able to hold for a 1-0 victory.
The Hounds still had worked to do and the well rested Guelph Gryphons were
waiting for them in the finals. In the
finals, the Hounds were able to jump to a 2–0 lead before Guelph came storming
back with 3 goals and little time left in the 3rd period. With about 2 minutes
left, the Hounds were able to get a puck on net, which was tipped once or twice
before hitting the back twine, leaving the game at 3-3 and headed for overtime. The Hounds, tired and worn down from more
than 9 periods of hockey in less than 9 hours, were able to convert an
incredible double overtime to win the coveted AAA Hamilton Steel tournament.
It is quite the incredible accomplishment to say the least.
The players and coaches and families will remember this day and these wins for
a long time. The Hounds played 7 games in 48 hrs and 11 periods of hockey just
on Sunday!!!!
