After a tough semi-final loss in their home tournament, the
Huntsville Honda PeeWee Rep Otters entered the Bears den looking for gold at the
annual Dan Bell Memorial in Bracebridge over the weekend. With eight strong teams looking to claim top
spot, the Otters knew it wouldn’t be easy, but Coach Farmer was confident his
team was up for the challenge.
And he was right.
The Otters soared their way through round robin play with a commanding 6-2 win over Ennismore, a 6-1 victory over Elmvale and steam rolled their way to a 5-0 defeat of the Dundas Blues. Finishing first in their pool meant the Otters would face-off against the feisty, but familiar, Port Colborne Sailors in the semi-finals.
With a loss to the Sailors earlier in the season still fresh in their minds, the Otters were determined to seek retribution. But despite plenty of pressure from the Huntsville squad early, it was the Sailors that drew first blood late in the opening period to give their team the early lead.
The Sailors goal seemed to light a fire under the Otters, and before the middle of the third period, the Otters had turned the tables on the Sailors and answered with three goals of their own. Port Colborne wasn’t about to give up though and with only minutes left to play, the Sailors capitalized on a power play to bring their team within one.
In the dying minutes of the game, with the Sailors goalie nestled on the bench and the extra attacker on, the Otters netminder came up big, turning away a barrage of shots from every angle, allowing the Otters to score once more to secure a 4-2 victory.
Huntsville's semi-final win meant the Otters would face the Glanbrook Rangers in yet another tournament re-match. Only a few short weeks ago, the Otters stole the gold medal from the hometown team at the Glanbrook tournament and knew the Rangers would be out for revenge.
From the first puck-drop, it was obvious this was going to be a spirited contest between the two teams. The first period was full of exciting end-to-end action, phenomenal saves and lots of hard work by both teams and when the first buzzer sounded, the game was scoreless.
But it would only remain that way until 15 seconds into the second when the talented Otters offense tapped in the first goal of the game. From there, the Otters took complete control of the game and never looked back adding three more goals for a crushing 4-1 championship win.
Be Proud Boys! Way to Go!