Feb 16, 2016 | GeoffRead | 667 views
Hawks Have Great Tournament, Lose in Shootout in Semifinal
Sometimes sports just aren't fair. This past weekend the West London Hawks A4 went to the "Families First" Tournament in Windsor and played their hearts out, posting a 3-1 record, but lost nonetheless in the semi-finals to a strong defensive team from Strathroy - the eventual tournament champions - in a shootout. Still, despite the disappointment of losing, there were many positives for the Hawks to take from the tourney.
First, the four players of the game played some outstanding hockey. On defense, Pyper Baker was her normal reliable self, breaking up plays and moving the puck up ice with precision. Baker remains the most graceful skater on the team and she puts her wheels to good use. This year she has added the ability to outmuscle players on the boards and that was on full display in Windsor.
Noah Weber - Baker's usual defence partner - likewise turned in excellent efforts, especially in the second game in which he shone holding the puck in at the opposition blueline. Weber - along with the other defencemen Baker, Josh McCarvell, Cody Michiels, and, for two games, Brendan Walsh, excelled at this all weekend. Weber also flashed his considerable speed breaking up some odd-man rushes and moving the puck efficiently up the boards.
Owen Verberne also had a strong tournament, finishing with two goals and four assists and helping out for one period on defence, where he showed that his team-best hockey sense can be applied to the blueline as well. Verberne got the player of the game nod in the third game of the weekend, in which he picked up four of those six points. Of particular note was a gorgeous pass he made across the net to Theo Enns for a tap-in goal.
The player of the game for the semi-final game was Zach Read. Read did not hit the score sheet that game, though he had two assists in the second game including a beauty, also to Enns, but he did hustle at both ends of the ice, and raced back to break up two odd-man rushes. Read's skating, perhaps like his father's, isn't the most graceful but he has deceptive speed when he bears down. Read also picked up two wins in net, posting a 2.00 goals against average on the weekend and making at least one highlight reel save with his glove.
Aside from the players of the game and the defenders, the rest of the team also had a solid to outstanding weekend. Jacob Bamford was quiet on the score sheet, picking up only two assists, but in the third game he showed what he is capable of dominating on the boards and, heeding his coaches' advice, taking the puck wide around the opposition D to create opportunities for his linemates. Trevor Commanda also had a strong weekend, scoring the first goal of the tournament off a rebound in front, and adding four assists. Commanda distinguished himself with his strong forechecking and net presence all weekend. Theo Enns continued his torrid pace up front, adding to his team-leading points total with 10 goals in four games as well as two assists, including one beauty cross-ice feed to Owen Worby. Enns similarly set up Owen Verberne in front of the net, but, atypically, Verberne failed to convert. Worby also racked up some points with four goals and three assists and flashed his excellent hand-eye coordination with some eye-popping stickhandling and ability to pick the corners. Worby also used that skill to be the team's best turn-over artist, repeatedly creating chances by picking the pockets of the opposition. At centre Callum Knapp continued his strong two-way play and scored a seeing-eye shot from the corner that caught the goalie unawares and squeaked in the short-side. Power forward Matt Di Cicco contributed one assist to the cause and hustled up and down the ice, memorably breaking up an odd-man rush in the semi-final. Finally, Walsh, in addition to his strong play on the blueline, played the second and semi-final games in net, and posted a stellar 1.50 goals against average. Walsh, unfairly, took the loss in the semi-final but showed that the Hawks likely have the best goaltending tandem in the GLHA at the Atom level.
The semi-final game was a heartbreaker, as the Hawks, clearly a bit tired as was the opposition, had a tough time breaking through the excellent defensive play by Strathroy, but managed to take 1-0 and 2-1 leads. Unfortunately, Strathroy tallied with 0.5 seconds on the clock at the end of the second period, and again with one minute left in regulation. The shootout similarly was a nail-biter with the Strathroy goalie flashing the leather to snag Verberne's effort and out-waiting Worby who attempted to deke to his forehand. At the other end, Walsh was beaten by an outstanding deke from Strathroy's first shooter, stopped the second shooter's attempt to go five-hole, and was barely beaten by a deke by their third gunner. Sadly, an excellent weekend ended in tears for the Hawks' players, who, nonetheless, gamely rallied around their goaltender who'd played a superb game to keep the score to 2-2.
On the whole though, the Hawks can take comfort from the fact that they came closest to beating the eventual champion and that, in fact, they carried the play for much of the game. This should set the Hawks up well for their playoff run in the GLHA. Great effort Hawks!