After the long drive
to Ottawa, we didn't know how the kids would respond.
Sometimes they are tired out and have a slow start, and sometimes they are so
excited, they burst out of the gate ready to play. I'm happy to report it was
the later for the BEA Millbrook Bantam Stars!! Not only were they ready to
play, but they dominated. En-route to a 5-0 shutout for Charlie McEldon, we had
2 shorthanded goals (one from the point by Gil Hunter and an absolutely
beautiful end to end rush by Taryn Madill). Corbyn MacDonald added 2 and Brock
Shorting-Smith batted a pass out of the air from Jacob Campell as well. Great
Start kids, now a goodnight sleep and up early for an 8am game.After a late night and up again early for an 8am game, the team was a little slow out of the gate. The opposition was the 1st to score, but Millbrook didn't let that dampen their spirits and shortly after we tied it up with a goal by Cole Simpson. Millbrook then lit it up with 3 unanswered goals, 2 goals in the second, one each by Corbyn and Jacob and one in the third by Cameron Grant. Charlie made some fantastic saves and the kids got their 2nd win 4-1. On to game three.
After the game it was time for some fun and a little break. The whole team had a fantastic time at the Sen's game Saturday afternoon, for some kids and parents it was their 1st NHL game, what a great way to experience it with their hockey family.
Parents and kids were very anxious for our 7pm game on Saturday. We all knew it would be a hard fought battle, but didn't expect it to be one of the most exciting games of the season so far. It went back and forth all game, with both teams having numerous chances to score and both goalies standing on their head to keep their team in the game. With 4 mins to go Millbrook got a 4 min penalty and this would give Temiskaming a power play for the rest of the game, then 20 seconds later we got another penalty and the parents all felt their hearts sink. After such a hard fought game, how could we score with 2 men down? and could the kids keep them away from our net? 3 seconds after our 1st penalty expired we got another. For most of the last 4 mins of the game our kids fought off a 5 of 3 power play and the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
This would give Millbrook 2 wins and a tie, and this tied us for top of our division. Tie breaker is goals for and against and despite only letting one goal in all tourney, we would end up in 2nd. That was still good enough to give us the top wild card spot and a date for the quarter finals at 9am.
The kids were excited for their quarter final game on Sunday morning against Lakeshore Lions. Nine seconds into the game Millbrook opened up the scoring with a beauty from Corbyn, and despite the fact that the Lions tied it up 3 mins into the 1st, Millbrook controlled the game from the start. They were on a mission to make it to the Semi-finals and wouldn't be disappointed. Also scoring for Millbrook were Ben Westlake, Keegan Brown and Jacob Campbell on their way to a 5-1 win.
When we learned that we would be playing Durham Crusaders Blue in the Semi's the team was less than excited, but the coaches and parents knew that our kids from Millbrook were playing the best hockey they have played all season and were up for the challenge. Durham may have been the first place team in the A group of our local league, and we may be the 2nd place team in our B group, but the way the kids played you would never know it. The teams were tied 1-1 after one period, and the Stars kept them to 2-1 after two. You could tell that Durham was getting very frustrated, and our kids did their best to stay in the game with some amazing effort by all players. Despite losing in the Semis our Millbrook Stars were definitely winners in our eyes this weekend. Our overall placement was 3rd out of 16 teams and the coaches and parents could not be more proud of all our players.
Tournament MVP's were Charlie, Cameron, Corbyn, Jacob and Taryn, but the way the kids played this weekend they were all MVP's in my eyes. I have never been more proud of a group of kids that were not my own than I was of this team this weekend. Congratulations BEA Bantam LL Stars on a fantastic tournament!!!