Competition was exactly what the Nickel City Minor Bantam "AA" Jr. Sons were seeking, and competition was exactly what awaited the local team at the International Silver Stick tournament in Newmarket this past weekend.
After earning their berth out of regionals only by virtue of an overtime win over a top-ranked provincial opponent in the form of the North York Knights, coach Rick Poitras and company faced a whole slew of similarly skilled opponents in their most recent southern Ontario trek.
The Jr. Sons opened play late Thursday evening, facing the top ranked American team in this bracket, dropping a tough 2-1 decision to the Flint Jr. Firebirds, with Miguel Renaud burying the only goal for the locals.
Still not a whole lot of breathing room in game two as Owen McKeachnie pitched the shutout and Renaud makes it stand up in a 1-0 win over the York Mills Rangers. The offensive floodgates opened up in their final pool contest as Nickel City doubled the Goulding Park Rangers 6-3.
Renaud maintained his red hot scoring pace, registering a hat trick, with Carson Crane, Billy Biedermann and Kohen Crane adding one goal apiece. A cross-over game would keep the Jr Sons on the winning side of the ledger, slipping past the Newmarket Redmen 3-2 on goals from Renaud, Carson Crane and Mathieu Guillet.
A pair of one-goal games in the semi-finals showcased show how much parity existed in this particular grouping of Silver Stick talent as the gold medal winning Orchard Lake United crew (Detroit) trimmed the Northern Ontario lads 2-1 (Nickel City goal by Cameron Allen), moving on to defeat the Vaughan Panthers 5-3 in the championship affair.
More good news for the Jr. Sons from the weekend as team captain Carson Crane captured the "Skills Competition" during his time in Newmarket. Still ahead, another extraordinary experience for the teenagers, taking part in the Gene Harrington Falls Classic from Feb. 22-24.
The event is one of many that takes advantage of the Buffalo RiverWorks facility, allowing players to enjoy what amounts to the equivalent of an "outdoor classic game".
Coyotes needed more luck in the cross-over game:
The peril of the cross-over game would bite the Nickel City Minor Bantam "A" Coyotes right in the butt as the local crew were forced to play the eventual gold medal winning Burlington Eagles in back to back games, eliminated in the semi-finals of the International Silver Stick Tournament in Newmarket over the weekend.
Competing in Pool "A" (the eight entries were divided into two groupings of four), the Coyotes kicked off play with a solid 3-2 win over the Metcalfe Jets, with Julien Levac, Simon Pominville and Logan Haas all finding their way on to the scoresheet for the winners.
More good news the next morning as Nickel City finds a way to capture another close outing, edging the Orillia Terriers 2-1 and improving to 2-0. The Terriers opened the scoring, getting on the board early in the first, a goal that looked like it would stand as the game-winner for the longest time.
But with under three minutes to play, Landon Doyle and Simon Pominville hit the mark just 28 seconds apart, lifting the locals past the same opponent they edged out in the Regional Silver Stick final in Sudbury last month.
The challenge that still lie ahead was made abundantly clear in game three as the Centre Wellington Fusion outscored the Coyotes 6-2, with Pominville accounting for both of the goals in a losing cause in a match-up that saw Nickel City trailing just 3-1 heading into the final period of play.
Unfortunately, the random draw that selected the cross-over adversary would pit the northern Ontario lads opposite the first place team in Pool "B" in the form of the Burlington Eagles. The team, which surrendered only two goals in their four round robin games, showcased their defensive excellence, defeating the Coyotes 2-0 to close out the preliminary round, 4-0 to move on to the gold medal game, where they posted a 2-0 whitewashing of the Centre Wellington Fusion in the final.
