The Plan
seems to be working!!
The Minor
Midget Otter team, sponsored by Armstongs Honda, has had a rough go of it in
regular season play as they have faced off against all Major teams. Although it
is not ideal, it does come with some benefits when they then meet up with other
Minor teams at tournaments.
This past
weekend the Minor Otters played in the Jim Wilson Winter Classic Tournament in Orillia. They
had 3 wins of 3 in the round robin portion of the tourney which tied them in
first place. Due to the tournament rules and tie breaking formula, the
Otter goal differential bumped them to second place so they had to play in the
semifinal against the 3rd place Toronto Eagles. The first
place team, South Muskoka Bears, received a bye straight to the finals.
Game one in the Round Robin had the Otters playing the host team Orillia Terriers in Gravenhurst Arena on Friday at 2:30pm.The otters game out on fire as 14 seconds after the opening draw Josh Zantingh capitalized on the Terrier defense missing their assignment and netted our first goal. Jared Stevens and Nathan Zantingh assisted befuddling the Terriers. However this was not an indication on the rest of the game. The Terriers beat net minder Teagan Meredith not 3 minutes later in the first period. In the second period the level of play was elevating and with this so were some attitudes on the ice. The Otters had 24 penalty minutes in this period with a player ejected for fighting. Ryan Brunskill , a defensive player, took exception to a non-called head shot. This left the Otters, once again, without the full bench that they have struggled to get back since the beginning of the season due to injuries and suspensions. None the less the Otters did net two more goals in the second period. J Zantingh again scored from N Zantingh and Brunskill (prior to his ejection)as the Otters took possession after the draw then later on in the period Justin Doherty did an end to end short-handed breakaway rush to put the otters up 3-1. However, the Terriers did net another single this period leaving a one goal difference going into the final period. Then early in the third the Terriers tied it up 3-3. With the pressure on both teams, the Otters dug in deep. With some great saves by Meredith and solid defensive Otter play to keep the puck in the Terrier end , N Zantingh scored the final goal of the game. There was only 5 minutes left in the game but the Otters kept up the momentum , giving them the 4-3 victory. J. Zantingh and Jordan Dobson assisted with the final goal. Total game one penalty minutes for Huntsville was 30 minutes to Orillia’s 16 minutes.
In game two the Otters played the Eagles in Rotary Place Orillia at 9pm Friday. The score was close however the play was mostly in Otter favour. Notably the refereeing of the 2nd game was much improved to the first game of the day. The Otters won this game 2-1 with Stevens and J Zantingh scoring the goals and Dobson and N Zantingh awarded the helpers. Trevor Lawson played very well keeping the boys in the game when a momentum shift and small mistakes could have turned the game around for the Eagles. The Eagle’s had 8 minutes in penalties to the Otters 10 minutes.
Game three was a long way off as the team had to wait until 10:15pm on Saturday to play again against the Toronto East Enders. This game was relatively slow paced as the teams were clearly mismatched. The math was done prior to the game and in order for the Otters to not be tied for first place with the South Muskoka Bears they would have to lose the game to be in second place or beat the Toronto team by 48 goals to upset the Bears for first. As it happened the Otters won the game easily 6-1. Treating the game with the respect it deserves and putting some practice plays to work allowed for the victory. Dobson netted a hattie with Christopher Hudson, J Zantingh and Stevens getting singles. The Assists for this game went to N Zantingh for 4; J Zantingh for 2; Stevens, Doherty, Hudson and Duke Knox with singles. Huntsville had 12 minutes in Penalties to Toronto’s 8 minutes.
Onto the Sunday Semi Final game. Due to the point system and format of the tournament Huntsville met the Toronto Eagles in the Semi final game set for 1:15pm.
When asked to comment on the team’s success from Head Coach Rocky Clarke, this was "one of the best games they have played yet" . All thought the game sheet doesn't show all the contributions from the entire team and often the same names are repeated that is Only because of the full contribution the entire team makes to function as one unit. This was achieved in the semi-final game where the Otters downed the Eagles 3-1. An otter goal was scored each period by Doherty , Stevens and Cody jones respectively. Trevor Lawson did well minding the net with only one slipping by him the entire game.
Now we are at the final game against the minor south Muskoka Bears. Although the Otters have beaten this team 2 times this year in exhibition games, quite handily, they haven't had the opportunity to play each other when it meant something. The Bears came out growling and determined to put their best game forward against the Otters. It was evident from the beginning of this game the Otters were not taking the Bears for granted. N Zantingh scored in the first period assisted by Dobson which only poked at the Bearsto aggravate them more.. Thankfully the otters kept out of the penalty box most the game to remain full strength but that was not the case for the Bears. Huntsville had only 2 minutes in the sin bin for high sticking by J Zantingh the entire game. The Bears had 12 min in penalties with most if the calls in the 3rd period, this was after the bears tied the game up in the second period. With the extra man on ice for the Otters, play was dominated and mostly in the Bears end. Accolades must be given to the Bears tender for keeping the game close from the onslaught of Otter shots in the third. Hudson put one in from Doherty early in the third but the Otters couldn't manage an insurance goal the rest of the period. Final score for the otter victory in the championship game was 2-1. All around as it was a great weekend of hockey for this team and Huntsville should be proud of their representation.
