The Atom AE Clippers kicked off March Break with 2 back to back must win games in their round robin play against rivals Newmarket and Richmond Hill.
March 7th had the boys spanked out in whites, hosting Newmarket and looking for a repeat win to finish this 2 game showdown. Play was tight in the first, ending in a 0-0 match up. Nowaskey foiled the Redmen, giving the Clippers the fortitude they needed to push through to the second.
The break finally came as Jesse (55) assisted by Cal (15) made good on the play, and netted the first tally. This seemingly broke the spell, as the Clippers pounced ahead again in the next shift, with Even (67) assisted by Charlie (91) and David (9) two and a half minutes later. Next up was a fantastic pass from Connor to Ben, who stepped in to the top of the circle and made it 3-0 only 11 seconds after the 2nd goal. The momentum had taken hold and the Clippers continued their assault with Michael (27) taking the next point assisted by Evan.
The second period saw a relentless domination of the play, and the Clippers seemed unstoppable. Give credit to Newmarket, they were not going to go down without making their mark. They put in a goal with 5 minutes left in the second... And Clippers immediately widened the spread again with what turned out to be the game winner on an unassisted goal by Charlie...
Yes, that's right, readers... the game winner was goal # 5. For although the score was then 5-1, the Newmarket Redmen took matters to heart following their coaches' time out, and #6 started piling on the points, with goal #2 at 4:40 of the 2nd, and #3 at 8:37 of the third, and yet again at 2:30 of the third. Nice hatty to David P. on the Redmen squad. Once called "the Cardiac Kids", the Clippers held on to take the game with a 5-4 decision.
This set-up the next game, March 8th, with even more tension. If the Clippers lost to Richmond Hill, Newmarket might move on in spite of 2 losses to Stouffville, since Newmarket had 2 wins already against RH. If RH, however, beat Stouffville by more than 2 goals, then RH would move on. (BTW this is all hearsay to the author, who, as team manager absolves herself of all responsibility in understanding playdowns, round robins, point schemes and how to set PVRs).
The Clippers headed to Bond Lake on a mission. Richmond Hill took game 1 in a slaughter of 7-1 only one week prior. Game 2 against the Stars would prove to be the Clippers "Play Like a Champion" moment of truth. All season would come to this game. All season the Clippers proved they could compete against some fantastic teams and win - the Clippers even gave top seeded TNT a tough run for their series in round one of the OMHAs. But, like all teams, we had our off-games too. The Clippers would have to fully bring themselves to this game at this moment.
The scoreboard remained quiet throughout the first. The Clippers pressed and re-pressed, putting the Stars on notice, they were here to play and play to win. Ethan, in net, saw virtually no traffic and no action as the D moved the puck out of harm's way and kept a safety in front with great discipline. Point shots abounded from Owen, Matthew, Ben and Alec. Grit and hard work at the net had the Stars' netminder busy. Once again, the spell was not broken until the second, as Owen tossed the puck to the middle, and Dylan lined up a perfect bullet from the slot on a nice one-timer. Up by only one, the Clippers continued to work hard and dominate play.
One would be all they needed in the end, but 67 more than deserved a point, and made good on a pass from Connor behind the net. Another top shelf from the circle, made it 2 -0 at 13:17 of the third. Evan returned the favour to line-mate Connor only 40 seconds later, as Connor slipped one under the goalie pads with a lot of action in front of the net.
The Clipper crowd was enthused and ready for the game to end at this point... But demons were still haunting the team from the day before and everyone knew that things could turn quickly. Ethan looked sharp as the Stars picked it up and broke through with a few shots. Not unexpectedly, some of the play was getting rougher. The Clippers had to battle through some penalties, and there were some tenser moments mounting in the third. With only 4 seconds left, a scrum behind the RH net saw a mini-brawl that the refs unfortunately had to contend with.
The puck drop could not have happened fast enough... but finally the buzzer signaled the Clippers 3-0 victory!!!
Well played, Clippers! The coaches commented this was a fantastic game, and truly demonstrated the depth of play the team has, and the development of team-play, player skills, and a true champion spirit. With each and every player contributing to this win, MVPs can only go to the coaching staff!
Congrats to all and thanks to Coaches Ross, Craig, Marc, Todd and Scott (who's raising kids out there :)
Next series will see a lot of action and grit. Get ready fans.... Because as BTO says:
"B-b-b-baaaaby, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"