A Championship Finals, News, AtoMc Teal, 2016-2017 (Lindsay Minor Hockey)

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Mar 23, 2017 | pdavis | 683 views
A Championship Finals
The final two teams had been decided but the start of the finals would have to wait almost 2 weeks with March Break falling between.
Sunday March 19th would be the first of the best of 3 and Lindsay would play host on Pad 1.
To our benefit..our Muskies would have 3 practices before the finals and they were much needed...we couldn't ask for a more important time of the season for these to be scheduled. 

Game 1 @ Lindsay (March 19, 2017)

The fans packed the Lindsay arena to watch the 1st game of the finals between two evenly matched teams...the Lindsay Muskies Teal and the Mariposa Lightning Blue.
Both teams came out skating hard and the play was back and forth as expected.
Mariposa would strike first with 1:45 played in the 1st period, they worked the puck in our end and managed to get a man alone in front of the net.  The puck trickled out from behind the net and the man in front made no mistake and fired it past our goalie. 1-0 Lightning
It was at this point that I had to excuse myself from the arena to entertain my daughter who was not enthused to be sitting at the arena this morning.  Therefore, I relied on texts from my trusty play by play "fill in" Catherine M. who remained in the seats.
With just 3:14 left to play in the 1st period...Owen D. took the puck in the left corner and passed the puck out front to Sammy T. who fired it just under the glove hand of the Lightning goalie to tie the game. 1-1!
The 2nd period was hard fought again with every inch of the ice battled over and it seemed as though the ice became smaller with the close checking.
The teams traded goals again in the 2nd period; With 6:36 left in to play, Owen V. sniped a beauty goal with helpers going to Kiera W. and Josh G. 2-1 Muskies!!
Mariposa tied it up less than a minute later as they took advantage of a power play.  A melee in front of our net resulted in a loose puck making it across our line. 2-2
I returned just in time with my daughter to witness the end of the 2nd period and she was ready to watch the remainder of the game as well.
We would be called for 3 penalties in the last 6 minutes of the 3rd period!  With 5:53 left in the 3rd period and short handed...Mariposa struck with a great shot that our goalie caught with a piece of his blocker before it found its way into the back of the net.  3-2 Lightning.
A mere 26 seconds later our Muskies drove into the Mariposa zone as Jarrett B. passed the puck to Connor S. who then fired the puck on the net.  Tyler P. was perched on the right side of the net and fired it hard into the net.  
The goalie grabbed the puck and tried to make it look as though he made the save.
Luckily for our Muskies...one of the refs saw the goal clearly and made the call which tied the game.  3-3!!!!
Our Muskies were again called on a penalty with just 4:48 left in the game!!!!  
The Lindsay players would not let this bother them as the penalty killers took to the ice and kept the Lightning players away from our net.
With 3:12 to play and shorthanded...Owen D. grabbed the puck and moved out of our zone and fired a pass onto the stick of Owen V.  Like a replay of Game 2 of the Round Robin...Owen V. moved in on the Mariposa goalie and wired one low and under the glove.  4-3 Lindsay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The calls were not going to deter our Muskies from winning this game
When the buzzer sounded the scoreboard read Lindsay 4 Mariposa 3!!!!!


Game 2 @ Oakwood (March 21, 2017)


Tuesday night downtown Oakwood would be a tough and close fought game again between our Muskies and the Mariposa Lightning.
The puck dropped just after 7pm and the 1st period was a back and forth affair with both teams feeling each other out like a heavyweight boxing match.
Both teams spent the majority of the period in the neutral zone as though both were afraid of making a mistake.
The 1st period went scoreless as the buzzer sounded and both coaches called their teams over to have a talk and to go over strategy for the 2nd.
With only 47 seconds played in the 2nd period...Sammy T. took off with the puck and fired a wrist shot over the Lighting goalie to give our Muskies the lead.  1-0 Muskies!!!!!
Mariposa would not give up and with 4:55 left to play in the game the Lightning managed to get behind our defence and raced towards the net on a mini break before taking themselves and the puck into the crease and bowling over or goalie.  1-1
With only 5.6 seconds left in the period...the Mariposa defence fired the puck up the middle of the ice and the Lightning had their winger playing outside the blueline and they had a 2 man breakaway which resulted in a beautiful pass at the last minute that no goalie would be able to save without a 10 foot arm.  2-1 Lightning
The 3rd period was hard fought and Mariposa shortened their bench to essentially one line.  Their best player was on the ice for the entire period less one short shift.
Our Muskies did not seem bothered by this and the defence shut down the Lightning offence for the most part and began to take control of the game.
Unfortunately, they could not solve the Mariposa goalie a 2nd time this night and there would be a Game 3 on Thursday March 23.


Game 3 @ Oakwood (March 23, 2017)

Thursday night with a start time of 7:30pm would be the final game of the A Championship series with the Winner taking it all.
The arena was packed with parents from both teams filling in and also fans from other Lindsay and Mariposa teams coming to watch the game and enjoy the excitement.
At this point in my write up...I would like to thank all of the Muskies fans who made the trip to Oakwood to cheer our team on and I would also like to thank all the Mariposa fans who made the trip as well.  The arena was electric and there was definitely a great vibe flowing throughout.
With 2:14 left in the 1st period...a puck bounced off a couple of sticks and a couple of skits before literally squirting into our net. 1-0 Mariposa.
Our Muskies outplayed their opponents this night as our defence of Jackson Q, Tyson N. Steven T and Jack E. held our zone and played anyone in front of the net closely and tough.
Our goalies kept the game close by stopping all shots after the 1st goal...it was a great defensive game and one that was required for this game.
The Lindsay forwards dominated the entire game as the majority of the play was in the Lightning end...each line was moving the puck well, passing and skating was on par with one of their best games of the season.
The Mariposa goalie again stymied our offence and swallowed up almost every rebound...the lightning defence also managed to keep our forwards away from the net to prevent any second chance shots on net.
It was pure excitement right to the final buzzer as Coach Jon pulled the goalie and our Muskies had a couple of good opportunities to tie the game.
Mariposa managed to again keep the puck out of the net and the final buzzer sounded.  1-0 Lightning.

There was a great deal of emotions displayed after the buzzer sounded on the ice and in the crowd.  Both teams played tough and it was a fantastic series to watch.
Our Lindsay players and our coaches can hold their heads up high as they made it to the final game of the season and did not let up!!  They played a tough final game and outplayed their opponents and were outdone by a fluky goal that was just "one of those goals".
In my eyes....Lindsay Muskies Teal 2016/17 are Champions and winners..the players, the coaches, the parents and the fans.

Congrats to all on a fantastic season and thank you to all the parents who got up early or put their plans aside to get the kids to the arena.
Thank you to the coaching staff for taking our kids on this fantastic run and teaching them new skills and life lessons.
Thank you to the fans for coming out and cheering on our team during the season

Most of all...thanks to the kids for being kids and for showing all of us adults that sports is fun!!!  Also, thanks for doing your best and for giving it your all on and off the ice this year!!!!!!!


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