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Hespler Tournament Game 1: Waterloo 4 Hespler 2Game 2: Waterloo 4 Welland 2Game 3: Waterloo 5 Duffield 2Game 4: Waterloo 1 Owen Sound 4Semi Finals: Waterloo 5 Windsor 1Finals: Waterloo 1 Owen Sound 2 (2nd OT)
The team put on a near perfect week of hockey to entertain their parents, only to come up short in the second OT. Even in the loss there were so many good things happening on the ice that everyone left the arena with a smile. If nothing else the team pulled together and played better as the week went on leaving us very excited about the second half of the season. The added bonus was that Jessica came back much earlier than anticipated (middle of January .... I'm still laughing...) and our 'rookies' finally got a shot at a championship. More stories below and some pictures too.  Game 1: Waterloo 4 Hespler 2The home side might have picked us for the cross over game back when our record wasn't very impressive. But the end result was that we got goals from four different players, some who haven't been on the scoresheet for a while and it really set the tone for the entire tourney. Mac got the first goal of the game on a shot that might have gone in off of the lone D in front of the net (We have the picture of the shot, but no idea how it went in). Hespler bounced back to tie the game, only to have the Gold line score on a real pretty passing play finished off by Colin "Mr. Chicken Pox" - (we found this out the day after the tourney - tough kid). In the second period Jessica chased down a long dump in and watched as the goalie fumbled a pass to the defenceman in front of her. The puck ended up on her stick and in the back of the net faster than you can say "fractured radial". Great hustle goal. And the final period's marker was a dandy on the powerplay. There is a picture of Colin getting hammered into the boards that resulted in a penalty. Within seconds the Wolves manufactured a great goal by cycling the puck, throwing it back to Eddie (new nickname on the website for Reiter...goes back to ancient days when the same 2 Brian's played together). Number Four fired a high shot at the net and Dom who was high in the slot deflected it down and through the five hole. It should make the next highlite reel. Because we gave up another goal in the third, we lost half a point and won 4.5 of the possible 5 points and Sean was named MVP in the first game. Other highlite was Dom's really tough boarding call late in the third. After chasing the puck handler halfway down the ice he hit him shoulder to shoulder with as good a check as you will ever see. Ref saw it slightly different and Dom spent some time in the sin bin. Game 2: Waterloo 4 Welland 2Our second game was later the same day in the same dingy Preston Gardens (I only say that to excuse how bad the photos are from these two games).  This one had some anticipation built into it once we saw the opponents skate onto the ice. Unofficially they had a six foot one, 212 pounder wearing the "C" on defence. To the credit of the Wolves, everyone who had a chance took a shot at their goliath with varying degrees of success and failure. I think Ben had the most hits and certainly went looking for him every chance he had.
I don't remember much about this game aside from us falling behind in the first only to comeback and win the next two periods and the game. The one notable play was Rhino scoring - it must be an advantage to have two skates with straight blades after spending half the season on a wobbly one!
The Wolves picked up another 4 out of 5 points and Jessica skated off with the Player of the Game award.Game 3: Waterloo 5 Duffield 2 Duffield had a fairly weak team, also with a massive player, and the spirited Wolves made quick work of them before coasting home with a victory. The only negative aspect to the game was they gave up 2 late goals in the third. John Digravio picked up the MVP and the Wolves had another 4 out of 5 on the tournament scoring. And for the record, Rhino scored again! Game 4: Waterloo 1 Owen Sound 4For some reason the Wolves played horrible in their first game at the Hespler arena. Owen Sound jumped out to an early lead and totally dominated the first half of the game. Steve thought he had a short side shot in his glove when in fact it was on its way to a wrap around goal and then watched helplessly as the Attack scored a pp on a perfect pass across the crease. The second period wasn't much better until the coaches decided to warm the bench and then the Wolves started to wake up. It worked as we did end up out shooting them but not out scoring them. Dom supplied a hustle goal to break the shutout, but all we could do was hope for a rematch in the final. Steve picked up the Player of the game banner from a senior representative of Hespler Hockey (lol) and the Wolves clinched the play-off spot. Funny note - the entire Windsor coaching staff sat through our game and took more notes on the Owen Sound team than ours... Semi Finals: Waterloo 5 Windsor 1The Owen Sound parents warned us that their round robin game with Windsor was very physical and rough. We smiled. The game started off to be a great tilt. Both teams had great scoring chances and the Wolves jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead. Unfortunately the Spitfires (no playing with their name!) responded with a cheap rebound goal and the game was tied. But that was all they got as both the defense and Jesse shut down their attack. 
The Wolves scored a couple of more goals, and oddly enough we were being outshot 11-5 at that point (gotta love that scoring percentage!) . Jesse made a couple of huge saves, including the dive shown to the left to break the spirit of Windsor and then it was all Wolves.
While Windsor took several bad penalties, the Wolves showed a new tendancy to ignore the retaliation. As a result we were rewarded with numerous powerplay opportunities. And that resulted in the entire second half of the game being played down in the Windsor end.
Our captain played an inspired game and was instrumental in many scoring chances. Luke was all over the ice with his big stick and caught the eyes of the judges for our Player of the Game.Finals: Waterloo 1 Owen Sound 2 (2nd OT)It felt like Sweden again. Christmas time, championship game, the natives talk funny, and Steph was there! We all knew that Owen Sound had yet to see our team play close to their best (Guelph we were without 2 centres, and in the round robin we were without any inspiration). And the Attack must have thought this was going to be easy until they finished their first shift. Colin led the hit parade right off the bat and finished his shift with another mid ice collision (almost knee on knee). That set the tone for the entire game as the Wolves hustled and grinded out numerous attacks. It seemed to me we hemmed them in their own end and really took it to them in the first period, only to have it end in a draw. Steve in his first ever championship start, turned aside everything until the second when they finally tallied on the powerplay. Again I have the picture of the goal, but no idea if it went straight in or off the unattended player in front of the net. The game continued to have great flow and was fun to watch. Steve made the play of the game with about four minutes to go when their big gun was left all alone in front of the net. He got 2 shots point blank and Stevie turned both aside, which then set the table for the offensive play of the game. The big play for the Wolves came two minutes later, at the 2:02 left to go in the third period when Colin was chopped down at centre, only to have Jordan jump on the loose puck and continue the rush. He too was chopped down but not before he got his shot away. As the mass of players crashed into their goalie, the puck hit the back of the net and the Wolves went wild (a little aliteration). In OT the rules were simple. No changing on the whistle for the first 3 minutes of 5 on 5. Both teams left their big line on for almost half the time as they could not get off and the Wolves had the better chances. The second OT started with 4 on 4 and a minute on the clock. Unfortunately they won the draw, got into our zone with an advantage and their big gun pulled the trigger from the slot. fyi...Jordan walked off the ice with the Player of the Game and the entire team was named WOTW.
Waterloo 1 Kitchener 0 A month ago this looked like it could be the biggest game of the year with the two local teams vying for the final "AA" position. Unfortunately the result of the game had little to do with the final standings, it was a game of pride. One opinion had the turning point of the game being Dom's goal - which was a beaut - but we would have said it was Stevie's play on the break away in the first few minutes of the game. It looked to me like it boosted his confidence immediately and he rode the wave the entire game. While the Wolves played good team 'D', their were some lapses and thats when #33 shone the brightest. Their were a great skate saves, but it was his flashing of the leather that thwarted the Jr. Rangers the most. And then there was the defensive play of the game by Mr. Henderson who in the dying minutes hustled back and prevented a sure goal - again a 'reel' good highlite play (sorry). The goal was a beauty by Dom who scored his second game winning - shutout breaking goal while flying down the left wing. The one play that confused me was Colin's tripping penalty when he hit the Ranger player low. Then there was Big Mac's body slam when their diminutive (as in "diminutive diva") defenceman tried to clear him from in front of the net and ended up looking up at our gentle giant (er, use to be Gentle Giant). Season Stats As a team, we:
The second game of the season ending roadtrip was an odd duck from the perspective that the flow of the game kept changing. The Wolves came out in the first period and played very well, only to fall asleep in the second and part of the third. The story of the game up to that point was some decent goaltending at both ends. Bennie had the best chance to break the shutout but forgot to bury it quickly and their goalie made a nice recovery on the goal line. The TSN Turning point went to Dom's penalty killing - game killing goal. Our speedy 88 put the petal to the metal and streaked down the left wing and blew by their defence. He ripped the goal into the top shelf (... where ya keep the peanut butter ) and then the entire game's complexion. For the rest of the period their goalie and team became very shaky and lost all confidence. Luke came down the left wing a few minutes later and was given half the net on the short side to bury his goal. The final marker came at the end of a scramble around the net as Big Mac got his big stick on the puck and chipped it in. Over all it was a pretty tame game, few penalties and WMHA will be happy to know that no one was injured during the game. Waterloo 1 Hamilton 3 The word on the street is that poor Stephen got left out to dry in this one. In what was reported to me as a snoozer, except for several questionable cheap shots by the home team, we were never really in this game. And, considering the boys had over six minutes of two man advantage and only managed to pot one goal you would have thought they were the ones making the mess at the Oliver's home on Saturday night! (...quick thanks to the host and hostess - we had a great time, except for playing pool vs. Mike...). On Friday night Doc treated the team to a night with the Rangers (...another quick public thanks to the DiGravios for their generous party). Apparently the word was spread that no one was to tell me what happened at the game, but there is some digital proof that they had a riot. Check out the special pics below: Waterloo 4 Brantford 3 After a hectic Sunday our reporting was full of errata and has been partially corrected (i.e. all known errors have been fixed). And again, anyone noticing mistakes - email me so we can correct them asap. thanks. Brian Rrrrrr's mother said it after the first, and Coach Fred said the exact line after the game; "the first period was as exciting as watching paint dry". However a few penalties and some entertainment by JP in net and the game eventually got exciting. As per usual the Wolves started the scoring. And the big news on the first goal was our newest forward, Ryan, picked up an assist - as he tipped Hendie's blast from the point, that resulted in the juicy rebound that John blasted into the net. Nice way for Hendie and Rhino to start in 'new' positions! The second goal was a nice play between Sean and Nolan. Sean put the puck back to the point and Nolan unloaded his wicked shot. Their goalie only got a piece and an alert Sean saw the puck sitting behind the goalie and he knocked it over the line to open the scoring. Shortly after the Wolves jumped to a 3-0 lead with Mac taking a pass out front and burying the puck. After the Wolves built up the 3-0 lead the wheels fell off for a few minutes and the high scoring Brantord team capitalized on a breakaway and a turn over to make it a 3-2 game. Their second goal came during the 'extended' powerplay when the timekeeper forgot to start the clock and Brantford had a 400 second powerplay. (FYI -On Sunday I spoke with Lance Roberts, former NHL ref and he said the goal should not have been allowed.) Our eventual game winner was a smart play by Dom who used their defence as a screen and fired a high shot over the goalie's shoulder. Not sure which shot by Dom was the nicest - the goal or the hit that caught their player skating behind the net with his head down. Both we're highlites. But the story of the third had to be our penalty killing which was almost flawless. And the story of the penalty killing was JP's goaltending. While the skaters kept the puck to the perimeter, Jesse kept the puck out of the net, with one of the saves being a sensational glove save (just like the one in the Malarocupen cup!). Unfortunately they did bury one pp rebound to make the game close but by then JP was in the zone and everyone knew the game was in the bag. Maybe it was playing in the arena named after his great-grandfather, maybe it was the perogies, or maybe it was because he was incredibly grumpy all day, but the WOTW won this one hands up.
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