Almaguin Minor Hockey

by Debbie Rogers

Feb 06, 2008

Almaguin minor hockey action heated up this past week as rep teams continued with playdowns at home and on the road.
The upcoming weekend of hockey starts Friday, Feb. 8 at the SSJ Arena in Sundridge with a big game for the Midgets. They’ll continue with game three – and have a chance to take the series against Coldwater, facing off at 8:20 p.m.
On Saturday, Feb. 9 the Atoms also have a chance to finish off their first round with Coldwater. They play at 1:40 p.m. in Sundridge.
The Peewees have won their first series against Meaford, taking it in three straight. They advance to the second round, with times and dates to be announced.
The Bantams await news of the MPS playdowns while house league teams compete in house play at the local arenas.
There is lots of hockey in the area to enjoy as the 2007-2008 season play continues.
Atom: On Feb. 2 the Atom Ice Devils travelled to Coldwater to resume their series, tied at one game each. The first period was evenly matched with both teams enjoying scoring chances. The Ice Devils were on the board first with a goal by Tyler Young, assisted by Cody Sheldon and Dakota Grant. Just prior to the end of the first Coldwater answered back with a goal and the score was tied.
The Ice Devils rallied strong in the second period with three unanswered goals; two by Tyler Young and one by Simon Holenski. Assists to Dryden Sollman and Dakota Grant, Cody Sheldon and Dryden Sollman and Dakota Grant and Tyler Young.
Early in the third period Coldwater answered back with a goal to set the scene for another exciting finish. The teams battled with key saves being made at both ends. Simon Holenski restored the three-goal lead late in the third, but Coldwater responded with two of their own with a minute left in the game.
This had fans on the edge of their seats for th nail-biting finish. The Ice Devils called a time out to settle the team. This seemed to help as the Devils were able to keep Coldwater away from the front of their net while winning the puck battles along the boards. The puck was fed to Dryden Sollman by Thomas Smith, allowing Dryden to score on the open net, thus regaining the two goal lead to finish with a 6-4 win.
For further exciting Ice Devil playoff action come out Feb. 9 at 1:40 p.m. in Sundridge to cheer on the Atoms Devils as they attempt to close off this exciting series with a win at home.
Peewee: After downing the Meaford Mustangs in the first two games of the Ice Devils OMHA playdowns, Almaguin hosted the Mustangs for game three in Sundridge this past Saturday.
Almaguin was off to a fast start with a goal four minutes into the first period scored by Ralphie Burton, assist to John Mark Penman. Almaguin went up 2-0 before the end of the first period on a goal by Britt Whitehead, assisted by Sam Brown.
Almaguin outplayed the Mustangs from that point on, however there was no more scoring as the visitors tried to contain Almaguin and get some pucks in the net.
Almaguin held on to the 2-0 lead and won the game, sweeping the series.
The Ice Devils await word of the next round.
Bantam: The Ice Devil Bantams OMHA playdowns came to and end Saturday in Sundridge as the team lost to Meaford with a final score of 5-4.
The Devils put their best effort forward but were unable to extend the series past three games.
Meaford opened the scoring just four minutes into the first, but the Devils responded with a perfectly placed wrist shot by Stephen Opatovsky. Opatovsky had positioned himself beautifully, following up on a rush by Niles Sebastian who earned an assist with another going to Jordan Eastman. Almaguin then took the lead with a slapshot from Tyson Whitehead capping an end-to-end rush.

Whitehead scored in every game the Devils played and was the strongest player they had throughout the series.

Meaford took a 3-2 lead going into the third period but the Devils tied the game on a goal by Sebastian, with assists going to Whitehead and Brandon Arnold. Just three minutes later Meaford jumped out in front again and then added another to lead 5-3.

The Devils closed the gap when David Henderson deflected a point shot from Arnold. Pulling goaltender Tanton with just over a minute left the Devils had several opportunities with shots from the point and a scramble in front of the net but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The Bantams will go into league playdowns meeting competitors as they become available.

Midget AE: The Midget AE played game three against Bobcageon on Saturday, Feb. 2 in Sundridge. Dustin French was between the pipes for Almaguin. This game was a must win for Almaguin as Bobcageon was up two games on the home team.

The visitors came to play and netted two quick goals in the first period, making it 2-0 going into the second. Dustin made a beauty save while his team was short handed to try to keep the team in the game. Tyler Anderson picked up on a rebound and Almaguin was on the board as the team put some pressure on the Bobcageon goalie. Assists went to Jordan Leggett and Jeff Conrad.

The goal closed the gap and it was a 2-1game. Bobcageon was not going to give up easily and notched a nice goal with a high shot top corner, short handed to put them ahead 3-1 going into the third. Almaguin was unable to take advantage on the power play and although they had some opportunities they were unable to capitalize.

The visitors were able to put away one more in the third. They took the game 4-1 and the series in three straight.

Midget: The Midget rep team had their Friday night game in Sundridge rescheduled due to the weather and travelled down to Coldwater on Saturday to play their first game of the series.

Almaguin was on the powerplay early in the first with Greg Arnold, Brody Brimacombe, Calvin Jeffery, Zach Attwell and Corey Rogers doing a good job keeping the play in the zone. They were rewarded with a quick goal scored by Corey Rogers, assisted by Greg Arnold. Coldwater took a long hard shot from the blue line and it was a tie game. Darren Stack answered right back, netting a goal assisted by Eric Langford and Almaguin was up 2-1.

Ryan Whitney played a strong game between the twine and made a good pad save on a hard shot. Coldwater took a shot that rang off the post and was bouncing dangerously in the goal crease. Cole Baker made a quick move to clear the puck and save what would have been a sure goal as it landed just short of the goal line.

Jon Dunn played a solid game and made a good move to get the puck out front where Corey Rogers took a shot and put away his second of the game making it a 3-1 contest. Brody Brimacombe was all alone out front on a line change and dangled his way in with a perfect scoring opportunity and put one away unassisted. Josh Decloe and Madison Scott assisted on Darren Stack’s second goal as he put in a beautiful wraparound.

With just two minutes left in the second Coldwater netted their second making it a 5-2 game. Ryan Whitney was called upon to be sharp in net as the hometown team pressed to close the scoring gap. He answered the challenge with some very good saves, limiting the rebounds and squaring up to ensure that Coldwater wouldn’t get another one between the pipes.

Eric Langford netted Almaguin’s sixth goal of the game with help from Greg Arnold and the final score would be 6-2 in favour of the Ice Devils.

All lines contributed to the victory as the whole team elevated their play. With one game in hand the team travelled back to Coldwater on Sunday to play game two in this best of five.

Once again Almaguin was on the powerplay early and it looked like the team would start the game with a goal but unfortunately it was waved off as the net was off. Not to be discouraged, Greg Arnold took a blast from the point that found its way into the back of the net with help from Brody Brimacombe and Zach Attwell.

Ryan Whitney took his place in net once again for Almaguin and made some awesome saves as Coldwater put on some pressure while Almaguin was in the box.

It was 1-0 for Almaguin going into the second but Almaguin struggled in their end and Coldwater put one away to tie the game. Shawn Miller picked up on a rebound on a shot from Scott Hubbert, who earned the assist, on a play set in motion by Greg Arnold, who also earned a helper, putting Almaguin up by one.

Almaguin was shorthanded when Coldwater tied the game but Almaguin answered right back with one of their own as Cole Baker put one away with help from Shawn Miller and Scott Hubbert. It was a close 3-2 game in favour of Almaguin going into the third.

Coldwater managed to beat the Almaguin defence and made a nice play with a beauty pass over in front of the Almaguin net and the Coldwater player made no mistake to tie the game. Brody Brimacombe managed to get a goal by the Coldwater goalie on what looked like a harmless play, with help from Jason Chapman.

With only 46.5 seconds on the clock Coldwater pulled the goalie and Almaguin was able to gain control with Jason Chapman putting away the final goal of the day in the empty net giving Almaguin a 5-3 victory.

With two games in hand the team will face Coldwater on home ice in Sundridge on Friday, Feb. 8 at 8:20 p.m. With a hometown crowd behind the team, game three and the series on the line, it should be a very exciting hockey game.

Come on out and catch some playoff hockey action in Sundridge this weekend.