The Atom reps would make the short trip to Alvinston for the
Atom Regional Silverstick Tournament Dec 26 to 30th. The Storm would face the St. Marys Rock,
Petrolia Oilers and North London Nationals in round robin play and exit the
tournament with a 0-3 record.
Game 1 Wed Dec 26th vs. St. Marys Rock
Mooretown would meet up with a familiar opponent after facing St. Marys twice in the Shamrock league regular season. Ben Brant would get the call to start the tourney between the pipes and would face a barrage of shots in the first period as the Rock would garner several chances but would only beat the net minder once halfway through the first. The Storm would garner a few chances but would be down 1-0 after 1. The Rock would notch a second marker in the first minute of the second and strike again just over 3 minutes into the frame to make it 3-0 while the Storm would have trouble getting any pressure on the Rock in their zone. The coaching staff decided to make a goaltending change midway through the second and Colin Gladwish came in in relief. The Storm would get a power play late in the period but could not capitalize. However to start the third Mooretown seemed to play even with the Rock using the failed power play as momentum. The Storm would get a second power play a few minutes later but still could not pot one. It would be St. Marys who would increase their lead to 4 on a rebound goal with just over 6 minutes to play. Mooretown and St. Marys would trade power plays before the end of the game. The 5th goal of the game would lead to controversy. With the play coming into the Storm zone the Ref would blow his whistle but the Rock continued to play sending a one-time shot past Gladwish as the buzzer sounded. The Refs counted the goal despite the objections from the Mooretown bench. Final 5-0 Rock. Hunter Seguin was named player of the game for Mooretown
Game 2 Dec 29th vs. Petrolia Oilers
The Storm would face an old foe for their second game in Silverstick as the played the Petrolia Oilers. Both teams came into the game with a 0-1 record and looked to get themselves back in the hunt for a playoff berth with a win. The game was tight from the drop of the puck. Parker McKegan would get a chance early as would Hunter Seguin as the Storm and Oilers played back and forth hockey for the entire frame. Mooretown would get a power play late in the period but couldn’t make any headway. Colin Gladwish made the saves he was called upon to make and the period would end 0-0. The Storm would continue to press in the second as Jake Booth would get a chance early. 2:41 in the Storm’s captain Hunter Seguin would break away from the Petrolia defenders and make it 1-0 with an assist given to Lucas Rodey on the play. But the celebrating would be short lived as that goal seems to wake up the Oilers who would bang one home against Gladwish 2 minutes later after a scramble in front of the net. Petrolia would start to garner momentum but Jake Booth had another chance in the dying minutes but the score would remain 1-1 after 2. The Storm once again came out hard in the third with chances by Lucas Rodey and Logan Forbes but Petrolia would start to push back as the period continued. The winning goal came on a fluky play as Gladwish went down to stop a low shot with his paddle the puck skipped up hit his blocker and went high in the air straight up and over the net minder falling in the back of the net to put Petrolia up 2-1. The Storm would continue to battle to recover from the goal but Petrolia would again score a minute and half later on a scramble goal to make it 3-1. Evan Turner and Hunter Seguin would get chances before the end but Petrolia added 2 goals in 9 seconds to make the final 5-1. Parker McKegan would be given the player of the game for Mooretown.
Game 3 Dec. 29th vs. North London Nationals
The Storm would face a tough task to garner a final win before bowing out of Silverstick as they would face the North London Nationals who were 2-0 coming into the game after a pair of shut out wins. Ben Brant would get the start for Mooretown and would be tested often throughout the game. London would score right off the hop as they would fire one high to make is 1-0 31 seconds into the game. The Storm seemed to settle down and after a big slot save by Brant would garner an offensive opportunity as Logan Forbes would dish to Hunter Seguin followed by a chance by Lucas Rodey and Seguin. Walker Holmes would go to the box and London would go on the man advantage but were denied by the Strom penalty killers. The Nationals would send Mooretown on a late power play with 19.5 seconds remaining but it was London who would capitalize short-handed as the puck was coughed up in the slot and Brant had no chance to recover making the game 2-0 after 1. As predicted the Nationals slick passing would keep the Storm on their heels through most of the middle frame as Brant would be called on time and again to make big saves. The teams would trade power play opportunities but it would be London who scored an even strength marker with under 2 minutes to play in the middle frame to go up 3-0. The third was all London who scored at will using odd man rushes of 2 on 1’s and 3 on 2’s which left Brant hung out to dry. London would pile it on to a final score of 7-0. Wyatt Knight would receive the player of the game for Mooretown.