The Clippers Atom AA team did Stouffville proud by making it to the finals of the Pittsburgh tournament over the weekend.
The team opened the tourney on Friday morning with a 3-2 loss to the Clarington Toros in a game the Clippers played well enough to win save for a few bad breaks and unlucky bounces. Not getting down about a tough loss, the Clippers rebounded with a determined effort against the Markham Islanders. The squad opened up a 2-0 lead early and then saw the plucky Islanders claw back to even the score. The Clippers responded by retaking the momentum and staking themselves another two goal lead. When the Islanders pulled within one, the Clippers again stepped things up and potted a flurry of goals late in the third to secure an 7-3 victory.
The Clippers only game on Saturday was against a familiar opponent, the Richmond Hill Stars. The teams had traded blowout victories over each other in league play and both teams knew this was a swing game - a must win to have a chance at the finals. The Clippers came to play and solid defensive zone work and puck movement had the team carrying a 3-1 lead into the final seconds before potting an empty-netter to net an important three goal differential victory.
While celebrating back at the hotel later, the coaches were keeping a close eye on the outcome of the Clarington - Richmond Hill game. Our league rivals did us a huge favour by defeating the Toros 3-1 which meant, the Clippers were guaranteed to win the tiebreak in the likely event of a three way tie for second.
Sunday morning the Clippers faced the powerhouse American team, the Carolina Jr Hurricanes who had crushed Clarington, Richmond Hill, and Markham. The Clippers surprised Carolina by taking 1-0 and 2-1 leads before succumbing to the high octane attack of the Jr. Hurricanes in a 10-2 loss.
Sunday afternoon, the Clippers stepped onto the same ice surface to face the same Jr Hurricanes in the finals. To the delight of coaches and families, the Clippers played probably their best game of the season, limiting the potent triple AAA level attack of the Jr Hurricanes. Down 3-1 in the third, the Clippers were able to generate several quality chances around the Carolina net and came very close to closing the gap, but ultimately went down 4-1. Several Jr Hurricanes players were heard post-game praising the Clippers for the great game they played.
The Atom AA squad can hold their heads high at their excellent second place performance in this tournament.