Midget Rep - Silver for Midget's in Hespeler!
Submitted By Larry Wolfe on Wednesday, January 04, 2012
The Dunnville Midgets participated in the 45th Annual Hespeler Olympics Hockey Tournament over the Christmas Holidays. Facing Major Midget A competition from Hespeler, Waterloo, Innisfil, Mitchell, and Grimsby, Dunnville would undoubtedly face stiff competition.
As the underdog in the tournament, Dunnville opened with a 1-1 tie against the Hespeler Shamrocks, with captain Gabe B. tallying the only marker. Game 2 would result in a 1-0 loss to the Waterloo Ice Wolves. With only the top 4 teams advancing to the third day of competition, Dunnville’s backs were already against the wall.
Dunnville would face the Grimsby Peach Kings and Innisfil Winterhawks on day two, and anything short of two wins would most likely end Dunnville’s chances in bringing home a medal. The first game would see Dunnville face a very strong and favoured Peach King team that after day 1 was leading the standings. Dunnville was determined to make a statement on day two, and did just that by shocking the favoured Peach Kings 5-1. Led by two goals from Dan T., Dunnville also received goals from David S., Josh M. and Brandon D.. The second game of the day and fourth of the tournament would see Dunnville face Innisfil in a must-win game. Trailing 1-0 going into the third period, Dunnville’s Josh M., Chad S. and Ryan H. scored to seal a 3-1 win and third place after the preliminary round robin play. Waterloo finished first, Grimsby second and Hespeler fourth. Mitchell and Innisfil would go home.
As a result, Dunnville would once again face Grimsby, this time in the semi-finals. The winner would go on to the gold medal game and the loser would play for bronze. Waterloo would face Hespeler in the other semi-final. Right from the start, it was clear that Grimsby was determined to even the score against a smaller and younger Dunnville team. Grimsby jumped ahead early with a 2-0 lead, but Dunnville’s Josh P. would narrow the gap to 2-1 late in the period. Entering the third period trailing 3-1, Dunnville’s Millar L. would beat the Grimsby goalie to bring Dunnville back within one. However, Grimsby would score again to make the score 4-2. Dunnville would not quit. Chad S. scored with 6:57 left in the third and David S. would tie it at the 5:35 mark to stun the Grimsby team.
With the score tied 4-4, Grimsby did everything they could to regain the lead. However, goalie Evan W. was in a zone and the entire Dunnville team was giving it everything that they had to knock off the talented Peach Kings squad. With the game still tied at the end of regulation, overtime was next. The first overtime session was 5 minutes of sudden death. Dunnville spent a good part of the overtime short-handed, but Wolfe would not give up the winning goal. The first 5 minutes solved nothing, and the next overtime session would see a 4 vs. 4 format, followed by a 3 vs. 3 format, followed by a 2 vs. 2 format, and finally a 1 vs. 1 format to determine the winner. Each overtime segment was 1 minute with no changes allowed. Each player must play in overtime before a player can be used again. The overtime solved nothing. Thus, the sixth overtime would see a 1 vs. 1 format with no goaltender. In order to take a shot on the empty goal, the player must be inside the opponent’s blueline. Chad would take to the ice for Dunnville. The excitement and anticipation was almost too much to bear, and Chad did not disappoint as he chipped the puck past the Grimsby player and then turned the Grimsby player inside out down low and slid the puck into the empty net for a thrilling come from behind 5-4 win and a berth in the gold medal game.
Dunnville would face Waterloo and Grimsby would meet Hespeler for the bronze medal. However, Grimsby decided to go home after the disappointing loss to Dunnville, giving the hometown Shamrocks the bronze medal. Dunnville had just a few hours to get ready for the gold medal game. Injuries to Gabe, Adam and Ryan made it unclear as to the lineup available to the Dunnville coaches.
In the gold medal game, Waterloo opened the scoring in the first period with a short-handed marker at 5:59 only to see Dunnville’s Brandon D. tie it on a great pass from Millar L. just 18 seconds later. The score would remain tied at 1-1 throughout the second period and into the third. Although Dunnville was giving it everything they had, it was clear that the boys were tired, banged up and simply running out of gas. Goalie Brandon W. was exceptional giving Dunnville every chance to win, making several “10-bellers” to keep the game knotted at 1-1. However, with just over 4 minutes remaining Waterloo managed to get one by White, resulting in a 2-1 final and a silver medal for the hometown squad. Although disappointed with the result, the Dunnville boys were proud of their accomplishment and their “never say die” attitude, and closed the month of December with two great tournament memories, having won the Bobby Orr Challenge Cup earlier in the month.
