Millbrook Mid Winter Classic a HUGE MDMHA Success !!
For anyone who may have missed all the excitement surrounding the Mid Winter Classic at both the CMCC and Bewdley Arenas this weekend, here is a summary of an amazing weekend of hockey....highlighted by 2 Millbrook Stars Championship Teams !!!
The Millbrook District Minor Hockey Association (MDMHA) hosted this years Mid Winter Classic for the under 15 and under 18 year olds from around the province at the Millbrook CMCC and Bewdley arena Feb 24 – 26th . Over the course of the weekend 38 teams played 69 games finding one champion for each of the 4 divisions. A tournament of this size is an epic undertaking that requires many volunteers who gave countless hours to ensure the weekend was enjoyable for everyone. MDMHA also could not have had such a successful weekend without the support of the arena staff at both the Millbrook and Bewdley arenas, all of the referees and all of the local businesses that helped to put on a great event.
All teams provided fast paced, high caliber hockey that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats with almost 40% of all games ending in a tie or within one goal!
The Millbrook U15 LL (Local League) team brought home the first championship with what could be classed as one of the most exciting ends to a hockey game in recent memory. Playing the first placed Le Froy Ice Breakers, Millbrook found themselves tied 2-2 after regular three periods and an over time of 3 on 3 hockey period as they entered the shootout. Both young goalies put on an impressive show and battled back and forth until Millbrook’s Brendan Dykman made a timely save on Le Froy while and Rhyse Chambers scored the game winner for Millbrook making it 3-2!
The Millbrook U18 LL Green team had a very busy weekend themselves playing 5 games over 3 days. With a 4-2 win over Honeywood on Friday afternoon Millbrook Green was looking for a strong showing Saturday as the team hoped to qualify for the semi finals. Their mindset was clear with 8-2 win over Faustina and a 5-1 win over Lambeth, the semi final game was set on Sunday morning against a very strong Niagara on the Lake team. If you asked the parents after this game Sunday morning, many would have said it was a little to close for comfort, but again Millbrook Green played strong to the buzzer and squeaked out a 3-2 win.
In a community like Millbrook, we are lucky enough to have a thriving hockey association. At U18, there are large enough numbers to have two Local league teams that share many friends and classmates across them. The ultimate goal of both U18 Millbrook Green and U18 Millbrook White is to meet in the finals to play for the championship against their friends in their home tournament. After an equally impressive set of round robin games, Millbrook White also qualified for a semi final game on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the White team ran up against a strong Caledonia team who after tying Millbrook White 2-2 on Saturday, simply ended up on the right side of the score. All of MDMHA congratulates U18 Millbrook white for a well played tournament and an excellent showing.
With U18 LL Millbrook Green and Caledonia in the finals, the stage was set for what would become a nail biter of a game. It was heartwarming to see players and families from all kinds of Millbrook Teams in the stands cheering on Millbrook Green ! Both teams played a disciplined, fast paced game and the goalies stonewalled the shooters at everyturn. It was not until 4 minutes left in the 3rd period when Dylan Tysick scored for Millbrook Green putting them ahead 1-0. In the last few minutes, the play could have been described as frantic as Caledonia fought hard to tie the game up and Millbrook battled to protect their lead. In the end Millbrook Green won the game 1-0 and again everyone would agree it was a little too close for comfort.
Unfortunately in sports, all teams don’t make it as far as they would have liked. None the less does that take away from the effort and dedication of the players and coaching staff that volunteer their time to these teams. The Millbrook U15 Rep team and the Millbrook U18 Rep teams both found themselves one win short from reaching the semi finals in both of their respective divisions. In both cases, MDMHA is very proud of their efforts and how they represented Millbrook hockey this weekend.
Thank you to all of the teams that participated