The Mooretown Storm PeeWee Rep team closed out their 2012-13 season by participating in the Garden City Warriors Annual Tournament in St.Catharines. The Storm again put on a display of great hockey going unbeaten into the Finals before dropping a hard fought contest to New Hamburg. The Storm had a very successful Tournament Season competing in 5 tournaments, winning 2, and going 18-4-1 overall.
Game 1 - Mooretown 4 Quinte West 2
The Storm faced off with the Quinte West Hawks to open the Major PeeWee A Division of the tournament. Both teams took the 1st Period to work off the rust of a long early morning drive but by the 2nd the pace and intensity picked up. Nolan Farr gave the Storm the early lead and then Greg Hay responded to the tying marker with two late goals to put the Storm up going into the 3rd. The Hawks got to within one with just under five minutes to go but Logan Gardner sealed the win with an empty net goal. Cody Hitchcock was strong between the pipes getting the Storm off to a good start.
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
08:52 - Farr 1 (Hay)
05:37 - Quinte West
03:31 - Hay 1 (Howard, Gardner)
02:51 - Hay 2 (Adams, Farr)
3rd Period
04:33 – Quinte West
00:22 – Gardner 1 (unassisted) EN
Goaltender - Hitchcock
Game 2 - Mooretown 3 New Hamburg 2
The Storm came out flying in their afternoon game but the New Hamburg goalie showed a glimpse of what the Storm would see in the Finals as he was unbeatable in the early going. It would be the Huskies who would score first after some miscommunication beside the Storm net allowed a puck to get wrapped around and pushed an inch over the goal line. This gave the Huskies an energy boost but a devastating open ice check by Tanner Adams brought the game to a standstill as the New Hamburg puck carrier had to be removed on a stretcher after suffering a broken arm. Once the teams returned to the ice after the long delay Hay would tie the score to close out the frame. In the 2nd penalty trouble put the Storm down 2 men for the final five minutes of the period but Kaymond Turner shone in his net before New Hamburg finally put one in with a minute to go. Before the close of the period Adams would send Farr and Hay in on a 2 on 1 with Hay converting to tie the game with 17 seconds on the clock. The 3rd had the Storm buzzing again as Farr popped the winner early on the powerplay off an amazing pass from Hay and the defence in front of Turner took it from there playing excellent in holding on for the victory.
1st Period
06:38 - New Hamburg
01:49 - Hay 3 (Farr, MacDonald)
2nd Period
01:22 - New Hamburg PP
00:17 – Hay 4 (Farr, Adams)
3rd Period
09:15 – Farr 2 (Hay, Adams) PP
Goaltender - Turner
Game 3 - Mooretown 3 Caledonia 0
In their only game on Saturday the Storm met up with the Caledonia Thunder and rode some strong penalty killing to secure another win. Mooretown found themselves shorthanded just twenty seconds into the game after a four minute Head Check penalty. On the tail end they were assessed another penalty forcing the Storm to play the first six mintues of the period down a man. With the penalties almost over Adams followed his shot block at the Storm blueline to race down the ice and get a good shot on goal. The rebound was there for Gardner to snap home just as the teams were back at even strength. The Thunder looked to up the physical play but the Storm gave the better of it and while still having to kill three more penalties took advantage of their opportunities with the man advantage. Hay would convert on cross ice, back door pass from Farr in the 2nd while Blake Howard went high glove in the 3rd after he and Hayden MacDonald dizzied the Thunder penalty killers with some slick puck movement. Hitchcock was again steady and in control in earning the shutout.
1st Period
03:52 - Gardner 2 (Adams)
2nd Period
03:55 - Hay 5 (MacDonald, Farr) PP
3rd Period
01:52 – Howard 1 (MacDonald) PP
Goaltender - Hitchcock
Game 4 - Mooretown 4 Milton 4
With a spot in the next round in the bag the Storm needed a win or tie to earn the bye straight to the Final. In an early morning match up with Milton in a must win situation the Storm carried much of the play but allowed a goal with 8.7 seconds left in the game to have to settle for a tie. Mooretown opened the scoring thirteen seconds into the game on a beautiful play that saw all 5 players touch the puck. Farr won the draw behind him where Adams stepped in and played it back to Howard. A quick pass to MacDonald was then one touched up to Hay who sent a flying Farr in alone to bury the puck by a stunned Winterhawk goalie. To their credit Milton recovered quickly and tied the score a minute later. The Storm would find themselves shorthanded once again and Milton grabbed the lead on shot from the point that deflected past Turner off a Storm skate. Mooretown would carry the play in the 2nd and finally break free with 3 quick goals. Hay went shortside high off a feed from Adams, Farr made a nice deflection off a Hay pass, and Gardner went high glove after being sent in the clear by Jeff Barclay. In the 3rd Milton would get to within one while shorthanded and then tie the score with the goalie pulled as a long slapshot found its way through a maze of sticks and skates to get in off the post behind Turner. The tie gave the Storm the bye to Final where they would meet the winner of New Hamburg and Milton.
1st Period
09:47 – Farr 3 (Hay, MacDonald)
08:37 - Milton
04:36 - Milton PP
2nd Period
05:49 – Hay 6 (Adams, Farr)
02:06 - Farr 4 (Hay)
01:32 - Gardner 3 (Barclay)
3rd Period
10:43 – Milton SH
00:08 - Milton
Goaltender - Turner
Championship Final - Mooretown 1 New Hamburg 3
Earning the bye to the Final meant the Storm had to wait until 4:30pm to hit the ice again while New Hamburg had a 1:15pm Semi-Final match up. The better rested Storm took it to the Huskies and generated some great scoring chances in the 1st. If not for the brilliant play of the New Hamburg goalie the Storm could have put this one away early but only managed to pocket one as Hay snuck home a powerplay goal off a rebound from a MacDonald slapshot. Those early missed chances would come back to haunt the Storm as they were unable to get anything more past the goalie but not for a lack of opportunities. The Huskies would tie the score late in the 2nd off what appeared to be a harmless play as a player skated down the wing but was able to cut in alone at the goal line and sneak one in shortside. After outchancing their opponents the momentum had swung away from the Storm and New Hamburg got a long 2 on 1 break to take the lead with sixteen seconds to go. In the 3rd the Huskies played a smart game, dumping the puck at every opportunity and killing the Storm's flow by bottling up the neutral zone. Knowing they wouldn't be putting any long shots past the Huskies' goalie the Storm had to gamble to get in deep in the offensive zone. This led to a New Hamburg break that brought on a tripping call. The Huskies' powerplay went to work and resulted in a wraparound that just squeaked by Hitchcock. For the remainder of the period the Storm threw everything they had left at the Huskies but just couldn't break through for the win.
In all it was a super tournament for the Storm as they played some incredible and exciting hockey playing up a Division to take on some very strong teams. A special mention goes out to Jeff Barclay, called up to fill a roster spot. Jeff fit in great on and off the ice and was a valuable contributor to the team's success on the weekend.
1st Period
03:07 – Hay 7 (MacDonald) PP
2nd Period
02:01 - New Hamburg
00:16 – New Hamburg
3rd Period
08:55 – New Hamburg PP
Goaltender - Hitchcock