January 22,
2025
Your Millbrook Stars took to the ice for a Wednesday evening rendezvous
with the Kawartha Coyotes in front of a beautiful crowd at the Cavan-Monahan
Community Centre.
With frigid temperatures on the outside, no polar vortex was going to
cool off the Stars on this night. The Stars looked focused and organized from
the puck drop. Crisp passing, smart breakouts, and fast feet, the Stars took
the play to the Coyotes from the onset.
Kasen Poole, in full beast mode on this evening, got the Stars rolling
with a blue-collar marker following a dominant shift by his line. Twenty-two
seconds later, Poole hit twine again, and the Stars confidence was in peak
form. Forward Connor Adams then lit the lamp, following a buzzing shift by him
and his linemates Lochlan Pherrill and Griffin Larmer. When then the clock
struck zero on the period, the Stars had a solid 3-0 lead.
The second period looked much the same as the first period, with strong
forechecking and backchecking, heads-up passing, and good all-around
hustling. Centreman Simon Gillespie
joined the scoring parade early in the period, while Griffin Larmer bookended
the period, vaulting the Stars to a 5-0 lead heading into the second
intermission.
The Coyotes came out in the third with some jump in their step,
narrowing the lead to 5-1 early in the frame. But the Stars re-grouped and
continued their strong play through the remainder of the game. Emery Warrick
added back-to-back insurance markers later in the frame, including a slick
“how-do-you-do” deke on a Coyote defender before making no mistake on the
finish.
The defenders were strong in this game. Harrigan/Harris, Stinson/Brown,
and Hilton/Carney were all steady on both ends of the ice, frustrating the
Yotes all evening with their smart, aggressive play.
In net, keeper Andrew Collins steadied the ship with a solid performance
of his own, turning away opportunities when tested.
This writer might also add the observation of a highly disciplined
performance by a group that is sometimes prone to costly penalties. On this
night, they kept their composure and even took some abuse in front of the net,
smartly electing not to retaliate.
Overall, an excellent outing with strong positional play and some of the
best passing of the season up and down the line-up.
The fellas hope to ride this confidence-booster into their weekend
tournament in Fort Erie. Their first tournament contest will be Friday, January
24, at 11:20 am against the Lambeth Lancers. Looking forward to seeing you all
there.
Go Stars Go.
M. Carney