The Amherstburg Stars Select 7 hockey team put on a perfect display of what hard work in practice can result in during a game. Every single player stepped up their game on this evening and battled hard to the very last second to secure an outstanding 3 – 2 victory against a great team in the Belle River Jr. Canadiens.
The first period started with a lot of back and forth play and strong defensive efforts from both teams. Cameron Sinasac highlighted these efforts by thwarting 2 sure scoring attempts from the Canadiens. Hayden Bondy also showed great poise on the blue line holding the puck in on several occasions which lead to numerous scoring chances for the Stars. That first scoring chance came at 4:45 of the first when Colin Cote took a nice pass from Jake Orchard and blasted it at the net. Rees Kozar continued the scoring threat with a hard wrist shot just 20 seconds later. The Stars continued to apply a lot of pressure on the Canadiens in their end of the ice and you knew it was just a matter of time before something good was going to happen. That something came from the hands of this week’s “Hard Hat Award” winner Noah Duggan. Noah accepted a great pass from Drew Booker and raced up the right wing. Noah used his great stick handling ability to elude the Belle River defenseman and then fired a hard wrist shot top shelf past the Canadiens net minder to make it 1 – 0 Stars at 6:02.
The Canadiens quickly evened the score by getting one past the Star’s net minder just 7 seconds after the next face off. The first period ended with the score even at 1 – 1 and more strong defensive play by all of the Star’s players.
Just 12 seconds into the second period, Jayden Duchesne came up with a great save to keep the scored tied at 1 – 1 and quickly covered the puck up to get a whistle. Shortly after this, Kieran Thrasher got a loose puck to Sebastien Tronchin who went racing down the ice and got off a great scoring chance with a Canadiens defender hanging all over him. Drake McGowan followed up this effort with some hard working battles at both ends of the ice and great skating. The Candiens then began to apply some pressure on the Stars again and if not for the quick thinking of Jake Orchard, the score would have been 2 – 1 Canadiens. Jake had a pass deflect off his stick towards his own goal but reacted quickly to stop the puck and slid it under the goalie’s pad to get a stop in play at 3:45. Then the combination of Drew Booker, Hayden Bondy and Alexandra Seagris put on another outstanding defensive display by stopping several scoring threats by the Canadiens. Gavin Meloche made a strong defensive play at the blue line to stop a clearing attempt which ended up on the stick of Noah Duggan who shot the puck past the Canadiens tender but only found the right post. Shortly after this, Jayden Duchesne came up with another huge save and cover up to keep the score knotted at one a piece. Carson Allen, who also played a great game, found himself alone with the puck behind the Canadiens defense. Carson raced in on the break-away and just missed finding the left side of the net.
With the score still tied at 1 – 1, the third period get going with the Star’s forwards and defense putting on a great display of offensive ability and puck handling skill in the Canadiens zone. The Star’s pressed hard in the Belle River zone and sent a flurry of shots at the Canadiens tender. With each shot attempt, the Canadiens would try to gather and clear the puck, but the great positioning and smart play of Layne Sinasac, Andrew Digiovanni and the rest of the Star's defense kept the plays alive in the Canadiens' zone. The Stars kept pressing but were not able to get one past the Canadiens’ net minder. The Canadiens were finally able to get the puck out of their zone and came racing down the ice. With the Canadiens on a partial break-away, Brock Boyko came up with a nice save that deflected off his glove and safely to the side of his own net. Boyko came up with another nice save shortly after this and was able to cover a loose puck that sat dangerously close to the goal line. The Canadiens continued to press in the Star’s zone and got rewarded for their efforts by getting one past Boyko on the power play at 8:37 to make 2 – 1 Canadiens. The Stars would come back quickly though. Right from the next face off, the Stars battled hard for the puck and forced the Canadiens to take a penalty of their own to stop a scoring chance. Once on the power play, the Stars again showed great effort in battling for all loose pucks. Rees Kozar and Sebastien Tronchin battled hard along the boards behind the Canadiens net and were able to get the puck to Noah Duggan who was stationed out front. Noah took the feed, got the puck to his forehand and deposited the puck into the net behind the Canadiens tender to make it 2 – 2 at 9:26.
Now with the Stars continuing to press in the Canadiens zone, a clearing attempt eluded the Star’s defense and a Canadiens’ forward raced down on a clear break-away. Hayden Bondy who was hustling back as fast as he could, dove and attempted to break up the scoring chance. Though he was successful in stopping the scoring chance, he was called for tripping and a penalty shot was awarded. The ref placed the puck at centre ice and off went the Canadiens’ forward. With the puck on his forehand, the Canadiens’ forward got off a hard, high wrist shot but only found the blocker of Boyko who came up with a great save to keep the score tied. Boyko would come up with one more kick save with the right pad which proved to be a huge save as shortly after that, Rees Kozar corralled a loose puck after the hard work from Jake Orchard along the boards, and buried a back hand shot past the Canadiens net minder to make it 3 – 2 with only 24.3 seconds left in the game. That goal ended up being the game winner in a game that was extremely exciting from the opening faceoff to the final whistle.
All of the Stars players should be extremely proud of the effort they put forth during this game. They all showed great hustle and work ethic and made great decisions with the puck. Though this Belle River team did not deserve to lose, the Stars definitely earned the victory. Both teams played a fantastic game.
Congratulations Stars and keep up the great work!!!
This week’s feature player is Colin Cote. Colin has been a great player all season thus far and puts forth 100% effort on every shift. Colin has great puck handling and skating capabilities which make him a valuable asset to this team. Keep up the hard work Colin
Name – Colin Cote
Shoots – Left
Favorite Team – Montreal Canadiens
Favorite Player – Mike Cammalleri
Future Ambition – Hockey Player
Favorite Food – Pizza
What he likes best about hockey – Scoring on break aways
Favorite part of today’s game – Winning
