Nov 04, 2017 | GeoffRead | 140 views
Hawks Lose Knapp but Persevere for 4-2 Win
The West London Pee Wee Hawks C6 posted a good character win over the Oakride Aeros B6 Saturday afternoon. The Hawks lost centreman Callum Knapp who brings some good face-off, stick-handling, and playmaking skills to the team, towards the end of the first period. Knapp took a hard hit near the boards and writhed on the ice in agony for a good two to three minutes while trainer Liam Walsh made his way a la Tony Verberne to his injured charge. After Walsh examined Knapp the problem was determined to be a contusion to the player's knee and he was pulled from the game.
The bench staff responded to this setback by moving Matt Hodgins, who was slated to play defence, up to centre Knapp's line and the move paid dividends, as Hodgins exploded for two goals and an assist. Hodgins' first goal was a bit of a lucky break as he tried to centre the puck and it deflected in between the goalie's legs off one of the Oakridge defenders. But he got full marks for his second goal, which came off the prettiest play of the game. Pyper Baker started the play picking the puck up in the corner and confidently taking a few strides forward with the puck before passing it smartly to Matt DiCicco who was positioned correctly along the boards and moving his feet. DiCicco used his speed to exit the zone and spotted Hodgins breaking up the middle. With one crisp pass Hodgins was sprung up the right side and had the time and the presence of mind to pull the puck to his forehand for a hard shot to the glove side, finding the twine in the top right-hand corner of the net.
The other goals came from Nathan Senese who went hard to the net for a rebound and popped the puck off a Hodgins shot over the pad of the Oakridge goaltender, and Owen Worby who took a nice feed from DiCicco in the high slot and ripped a hard wrist-shot over the glove of the Oakridge 'tender. Zach Read had a good game along the boards working hard getting the puck out and might have had a goal off a one-timer if the puck hadn't hopped over his stick. Cole Chick played with Read and Worby and showed some intensity in the second and third periods.
The net was minded by Brendan Walsh, who looked poised and in control from start to finish. Walsh did an especially nice job directing the rebounds off low shots to the corners with his stick, as he'd been instructed to do at West London's goalie clinic Friday night. Oakridge scored a very nice goal on Walsh that he couldn't be faulted for as their Mitchell Hutchison wired a back-hand from the high slot into the top corner. It was positively Mats Sundinesque.
But the real heroes of the game were the Hawks' defenders, Baker, Noah Weber, and Jacob Grover. All three played outstanding games and logged a ton of icetime with Hodgins moved up to forward. Grover was especially strong keeping the puck in; Weber used his speed effectively to shut down Aeros' breaks and odd-man rushes, and Baker played her usual intensely competent game earning the aforementioned assist as a reward for her efforts. As a result of their hard work, the defenders jointly received players of the game honours from Coach Mike Worby.
Fans were heartened after the match to see Knapp in the dressing room casually discussing his video games of choice and joking with the training staff about putting some work in on the trampoline. Team officials confirmed they expect him to be ready to go for the Hawks' next contest.
Well done Hawks! Go Hawks go!