International Silver Stick champs
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Tillsonburg Ward’s Automotive novice reps checked another item off their list of goals for the 2012-13 season winning the North American International Silver Stick ‘A’ championship in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Jan. 25-27.
“We talked about our goals – our milestones – throughout the year,” said Ward’s Automotive novice coach Trevor Lamb.
“We talked about where we wanted to end up in the tournaments and the Regional Silver Stick. This one, the International Silver Stick, we sort of exceeded our goals/expectations.
“I think this team likes the challenge that’s ahead of them. We played some exhibition games and challenged them with better competition. We challenged them at the Regional Silver Stick, playing as a team and using what they’ve learned at practice in a game. And then the International Silver Stick. Our next challenge will be the OMHA BB playoffs, that’s next on the horizon. They seem to rise to the occasion of the challenge. It’s a pretty special group that we have, it’s a good group of kids to coach.”
RULE CHANGES
The Tornadoes had to adapt quickly to USA Hockey rules at St. Clair Shores. Instead of using standard black vulcanized rubber pucks, the novices used a light – 33 per cent lighter – blue plastic puck.
“It’s a lot lighter and it bounces around a lot,” said Lamb. “We had practiced with the blue pucks a few times, but game situations are a little bit different. It took a little while for the kids to get used to the puck – shooting, and passing, and pretty much carrying it on their sticks because it’s so much lighter. Just the feel of it is a lot different on your stick.”
The major American rule change was offsides.
“We have delayed offsides, but they blow it down immediately. It was a huge strategy change for us especially because we’re a pressure team. We like to get on the puck. Dumping it in when we’re clearing the zone gives us a chance to put more pressure on their defence and attack the puck. This weekend, we didn’t have an opportunity to do that.
“We didn’t really want to change our game all that much and put more pressure on the kids. We talked about maybe passing a little bit better, defence to defence, or winger to winger, and maybe taking one or two more seconds before they did dump it in. There was a lot of offsides, but it gave us an opportunity to changes lines if we needed to. Kids weren’t out there for long shifts. It worked out well.”
Part of their normal game plan, however, is not to automatically dump it in if they have a chance to skate or pass the puck into the offensive zone.
“We give our defence the opportunity to go with the puck if they can. We’d rather have it on our sticks. That’s what I tell them in the dressing room – we want the puck on our sticks, rather than on their sticks, because we have an opportunity to do what we want to do with the puck.”
Tilllsonburg 4, Uxbridge Stars 3
The Tornadoes met Uxbridge in the tournament opener, 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 25. Uxbridge, finalists in their Regional Silver Stick tournament, went ahead 2-1 in the first period and kept the lead until late in the third.
“We probably put about 40-45 shots on net,” said Lamb. “It was one of those games where the goalie makes a big difference, and their goalie (Aidan Cavanaugh) stood on his head to keep a lot of those shots out.”
The Tornadoes, trailing 3-2 in the third, never gave up and eventually scored two late goals to win 4-3. Hayden McLean scored with 1:43 left, then Brandon Balazs netted the winner with 48 seconds remaining.
“We took the play to them for the entire game, we just weren’t getting the right bounces to get it past him (Cavanaugh). We give him a lot of credit – he played awesome. We couldn’t find the holes until near the end of the game. We stuck with it and pulled that one out.”
Ward’s Automotive scoring:
1. Beau Jelsma (Hayden McLean)
2. Elijah Newson (Liam Hicks)
3. Hayden McLean
4. Brandon Balazs (Michel Laundrie).
Tillsonburg 7, California Cougars 1
“We pretty much dominated that game,” said Lamb, recalling a Friday afternoon game against a San Jose area team.
The Ward’s Automotive novices gave up the first goal, but recovered to lead 2-1 going into the third when the after-burners kicked in.
“I think we were still getting used to the blue pucks,” said Lamb, “and they were a little tired playing their second game of the day. But they seemed to re-energize late and get their legs in the last half of the second. The puck was mostly in the California end in the third.”
Seven different Tornadoes scored unanswered goals.
“The boys thought it was pretty cool that a team would get to fly to a tournament. I think they’d like an opportunity to do that,” Lamb laughed.
Ward’s Automotive scoring:
1. Elijah Newson (Beau Jelsma)
2. Beau Jelsma (Nolan McCrossin)
3. Brandon Balazs
4. Liam Hicks
5. Nolan McCrossin
6. Mallory Collins (Brandon Balazs, Brandon Homick)
7. Hayden McLean (Beau Jelsma)
Tillsonburg 6, Innisfil Winterhawks 3
Tillsonburg took a 3-1 first-period lead in their third preliminary game.
“We came out of the gate flying,” said Lamb, noting the 8:30 a.m. start.
“Our team seems to get up for those morning games,” he laughed. “It was a really good game.”
Penalty-free in the first two games, the Tornadoes found the box playing against Innisfil. But so did the Winterhawks.
“It was a rough game.”
Ward’s Automotive scoring:
1. Nolan McCrossin (Beau Jelsma)
2. Michel Laundrie (Owen Harris)
3. Nolan McCrossin
4. Beau Jelsma (Travis Lamb)
5. Beau Jelsma (Liam Hicks)
6. Beau Jelsma
QUARTER-FINALS
Tillsonburg 6, Northwest Chargers 3
A quirk in the Silver Stick schedule had the Tornadoes playing the Chargers, a Chicago-area team, late Saturday. Scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m., they didn’t get on the ice until 9.
“We had almost 12 hours between our Innisfil game and the quarter-finals. We had to keep them busy, but also keep their energy up.”
With a team of 7-8 year olds, most of their normal bedtimes are before 9… but this time they were just beginning the game.
“It was a little different,” Lamb smiled, noting it was their latest start time the season.
Northwest took a 2-0 lead, scoring the first goal on a penalty shot, but Tillsonburg replied with a four-goal second to lead 4-2.
“We had some different scorers, and some multiple scorers. It was nice to see – all weekend our scoring was spread out.”
Ward’s Automotive scoring:
1. Elijah Newson (Beau Jelsma)
2. Michel Laundrie (Devin Hawley, Hayden McLean).
3. Hayden McLean (Devin Hawley, Michel Laundrie)
4. Hayden McLean (Travis Lamb)
5. Hayden McLean (Owen Harris)
6. Elijah Newson (Liam Hicks).
SEMIFINALS
Tillsonburg 3, London Bandits 2
It was a late night Saturday – most of the novice Tornadoes didn’t get to bed until 11 p.m. – and they had to be back on the ice 9:30 Sunday morning for semifinals against the London Bandits.
“We had played the Bandits in an exhibition game… and they’re a pretty good team,” said Lamb. “They beat us 5-2 here in Tillsonburg. They had two really good players, and I think one of them scored four out of the five.”
Tillsonburg’s game plan did not change. They did not try to shadow London’s two best players.
“We told the kids, ‘just continue playing our game.’ We sort of focused on those two kids, but not really. We wanted to play the way we’ve been teaching the kids all year. We didn’t want to change our strategy.”
The focus was playing hard, attacking the puck, and keeping possession.
London took a 2-0 lead with a pair of power-play goals late in the first period (2:41 and 0:12), but the Tornadoes stormed back in the second.
“They knew, they way it was going, they didn’t want to lose that game.”
Tillsonburg killed off a five-on-three power play and that, said Lamb, might have re-energized the team.
“London scored on the first two power plays, but not on the five-on-three.”
Penalties were a bit lopsided – Tillsonburg took five penalties in the game, London none.
Hayden McLean scored early in the second period (9:24), then with 1:46 left Beau Jelsma (Nolan McCrossin) scored to knot the score at 2-2 going into the third.
“The third period was back-and-forth and our goalie, Tyler Bouck, made some unbelievable saves. They had a couple breakaways and he was able to stop them. I think our kids gained some momentum from that.”
In the final minute, with just 53 seconds left on the clock, Brandon Balazs (Nolan McCrossin) scored the game-winner.
“We were able to hold them off for the last 53 seconds. It was pretty cool – it was a very good game,” said coach Lamb. “It was one of those games where everyone was playing to the best of their ability. We did it as a team.”
FINALS
Tillsonburg 5, West London Hawks 4
Tillsonburg and West London had met earlier in the final of the 2012 TMHI Roy Beechey Memorial Tournament.
“I think it was 7-6,” said Lamb, “It was a really good game for both teams.”
Sunday afternoon in the International Silver Stick A championship, the Tornadoes were flying early – Tillsonburg scored three goals in less than four minutes.
“It was our normal attack, a puck-pursuit game, and we were buzzing around in their end. I think it sort of threw them off guard, they didn’t expect that out of us.”
Tillsonburg had a 4-1 lead after one period, and a 5-2 lead late in the second with Beau Jelsma’s third goal of the game.
“We were playing really great… and I think we sort of ran out of gas going into the third. Our kids were pretty tired playing so many games in three days, plus the time of the game Saturday night. So, yeah, I think we ran out of steam a little.”
Goalie Tristin Zeller played the entire final, like Bouck played the semifinal.
“Tristin did really great. He made some saves when we needed them… late in the game especially. When we were getting tired, he made some big saves for us.”
West London pulled within a goal scoring twice early in the third, and it was back-and-forth right to the buzzer.
“Pretty stressful for the coaches,” he said, adding with a laugh, “and I’m sure there were some stressed out parents and grandparents, too. I think it was pretty exciting for the fans… it made for an exciting hockey game.”
An International Silver Stick A banner – Tillsonburg’s first – was presented to the Ward’s Automotive novices after the 5-4 championship victory, along with the Novice ‘A’ Trophy. A silver stick was also presented for the team’s post-game celebrations, but the famous stick stayed in St. Clair Shores.
“They all got to see it and touch the stick. We had some great support throughout the weekend, a lot of family and friends came and supported the team. They were able to come on the ice and take pictures of the kids with the banner, the trophy, and the silver stick.”
Ward’s Automotive scoring:
1. Beau Jelsma (Nolan McCrossin)
2. Beau Jelsma (Michel Laundrie)
3. Brandon Balazs (Brandon Homick)
4. Nolan McCrossin (Travis Lamb, Elijah Newson)
5. Beau Jelsma (Brandon Homick).
Ontario teams dominated the 2013 novice Silver Stick divisions – two Ontario teams played in the A final, two in the B final (won by Ingersoll) and one won the C division (Belmont).
“We’d like to thank all the people who sponsored the team to go,” said Lamb. “It was a little costly, and a tournament we weren’t expecting, so we did some fundraising. A lot of people chipped in, donated some money and helped us fund-raise in the community. We’d like to thank and recognize them, and especially our sponsor, Ward’s Automotive.”
OMHA PLAYDOWNS
The quest for an OMHA BB championship is underway. Tillsonburg has won games against Glanbrook and Caledonia, and the preliminary round-robin series continues Feb. 6 and Feb. 10 (at home).
Southern Counties league playoffs also start soon, but the Tornadoes did not have a schedule yet.
“We still have a lot of hockey left,” said Lamb.