From November 14-16 the Durham Crusaders U13 LL Blue Team took part in the Canadian Boys Regional Silver Stick Tournament held in Wasaga Beach. The tournament consisted of 10 teams all vying for a chance at a spot in the International Silver Stick tournament in early January.
The Crusaders arrived at a late Friday night game at the Wasaga Stars arena to face a tough Midland Centennials team. Midland came out strong putting the Crusaders on their heels taking a quick 2-0 lead in the first period. With a quick intermission pep talk, the boys in blue knew they had to dig in and answer back….. And did they ever. The second period was all Crusaders with 2 goals of their own to even up the score. Heading into the third period they knew it would be a dogfight but our U13 Team gained position and struck when they had the chance going up 3-2 and sealing the win for the first game of the tournament. A gritty effort by Boland in this opener with all three goals.
After a little team time back at the hotel, the Crusaders rallied for a 12:00pm game time on Saturday to face a struggling Clearview team. With the tournament operating on goal differentials for seeding, DC took this as an opportunity negate some of the goals allowed in the previous night. While they still struggled to start on time, when the second period began, the flood gates opened. Three goals in the second and a whopping 8 goals in the third allowed the Crusaders to cruise to 2-0-0 in the tournament and positioned nicely in the standings allowing for some breathing room in Game 3. Final score 11-0.
Following a team lunch, the Crusaders returned to the ice, this time to face the Penetang Flames who were positioned first in their own league - a clear sign that the team needed to come out strong if they wanted to secure top seed in the standings. Coach Steve noticed that dryland warm up and on ice was a little flat and sensed the players might not be ready for this one. With a final pre-game message, he said, “prove me wrong”. And did they ever. Crusaders went and scored 13 seconds into the first period adding 3 more to take a 4-0 lead. Penetang would respond with one of their own near the end of the second period but that would be all as the Crusaders capped things off with 3 more goals of their own for a convincing 7-1 win. Pending other divisional outcomes, the Crusaders would end up securing top seed heading into the knockout rounds.
In the semi-finals, the Crusaders met a familiar foe….. Durham Crusaders U13 Green! In their last meeting the final score was 5-4 in favour of Blue. This matchup would be far from different as both teams exchanging goals throughout the game. Blue scored first, and Green responded. Blue potted another to open up the second period followed by another equalizer by Green. When Green took a penalty, Blue capitalized and went up 3-2 where Green would later respond with another. 3-3 going into the third. This time, Green got the go-ahead goal first on a powerplay goal. With 2:30 left in the third, Blue took another penalty. Surely this was it. 40 seconds into the penalty Boesch #19 caught a break, with a defenseman losing his footing and a quick deke around the remaining D, he tied it up! This one was going into overtime!
Emotions were running high, tension in the air, parents from the same town cheering for opposite teams, players who were friends were now opponents… this was it. Very quickly, Blue took possession and gained the offensive zone. With a scramble in the corner and a failed centering pass, Green made an ineffective clearing attempt. Back to the point, the D wound up for a shot which was deflected but ended up on a Blue stick. A quick turn and fire through sticks and legs, the puck found the back of the net and Blue took the win and was moving on the the Silver Stick Regional Final. Commendations to DC Green on a hard fought effort. From forward puck movement, to solid defense, and stellar goaltending, this game could have easily gone either way.
The Finals. Campbellford, a team relatively unknown to the Crusaders became the final obstacle in what had been a valiant effort all weekend. Crusaders with a goal differential of +18 in round robin and the Colts with a +17, we knew this game was going to be a challenge, especially following the morning's dramatic finish. Campbellford on the other hand cruised to a 12-0 semi final win. Regardless, the job was still the same.
In the first period, the Crusaders struck first and early. Thirty seconds in they went up 1-0. It would be back and forth for the rest of the period, but the boys in Blue held on to that one goal lead. Early in the second period, Blue was on the power play and a long shot from the top of the circle whizzed past the goalies ears and found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Campbellford would answer back with one of their own before the end of the period cutting the lead to 1 before heading into the flood. Back on the ice for the third, the Crusaders began found themselves on their heels with Campbellford scoring in the first minute. They would later score 4 more to a Crusader one to take a 6-3 win.
Congratulations to our U13 Durham Crusaders Blue who demonstrated incredible resilience and effort all weekend. Not a bad showing for their first tournament of the year. Next tournament: Brighton Bolts. Guess who else is in the tournament?