ATOM AE CLIPPERS - Go the Distance Taking YS Championship In Game 6, News, Major Atom "AE", 2013-2014 (Whitchurch Stouffville Minor Hockey Association)

This Team is part of the 2013-2014 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Apr 05, 2014 | NathanT | 1033 views
ATOM AE CLIPPERS - Go the Distance Taking YS Championship In Game 6
The Clipper Cardiac Kids never do things easy, that's for sure!  Just ask parents, coaches and die hard fans who stuck it out through 6 riveting games in the YS finals against the well-matched Schomberg Red Wings.

The Clippers Went down in game 1.  As the game played out, it was clear the Clippers and Wings would not be giving up much.  The score remained knotted in a lengthy back and forth 1-1 tie (Clipper goal to 16 Geiger; assisted by 12 Tratnik).  OT seemed inevitable, until at 57 sec remaining, the Clippers lost a battle on the boards and the Wings roofed one over the shoulder of Nowaskey to make it 2-1 with under a minute to go.

It was a hard loss, but the Clippers learned that the little details would matter, and matter they did in each and every game of this series.  Coach Ross repeated, repeated and repeated... "Give them nothing".  When the Wings had room, they were quick to take advantage.  The simple clearing plays saved the day many a time as the fans clenched firsts, hid their faces and held their breath....

Every game was super tight, and for the most part, left in 1 goal decisions either way.  

The Clippers rebounded in a strong showing in Game 2 on home ice, with Atom AA friends there to cheer them on. Clippers struck first with a goal mid way through the first (91 Berry, assisted by 55 Black), and went up to 3-0 through the second (@14:08 goal to 93 Gallagher, assisted by 27 Hume; @ 8:38 goal to 10 Cavanagh; assisted by 15 Edwards and 55 Black).  But Schomberg came back mightily, with #9 unassisted before the end of the second, and nerve-wreckingly again at 9:46 of the third, Schomberg's #9 (Marra) pulled off another goal (assited by 11 and 17).  That left a full 9 minutes and 46 seconds of discomfort as fans witnessed the Red Wings shifting momentum and pressing hard to take game 2 away from the Clippers.  Final decision landed at 3-2 and squared the series with one a piece.

Once again, though, back at the Trisan centre, Game 3 saw an incredible battle of wills and such moves as a goalie has never performed before.  Nowaskey was nothing less than acrobatic holding the team at a 0-0 non-decision throughout 3 solid periods.  Nothing would go in either way.  The Clippers went to OT and while they seemed to have more of the pressure in the offensive zone, the spell finally broke with only 1:17 remaining in period 4... Except the way this ball bounced, it was Schomberg's 2 points instead of the Clippers.  

If you can imagine the tension... Insert the Jaws Reverb clip here... Game 4 was going to be "it".  Convenor Larry Gould trekked up to Stouffville, ready with medals and Cup in tow... Schomberg was poised to take the Championship title, up 2 games to 1. 

No score through the first.  We were getting used to that. Not until mid-second @ 8:24 did #2 in white (Luff), assisted by 93 (Gallagher) light up the board and the crowd.  Clippers struck first, and we all knew one goal was all we needed in any game in this series.  But then again, so did #9 on the Red Wings, and he gave his team the goal they needed to get things tied up before the end of the second, getting by the D and beating out Pacheco.  The minutes passed, 1-1 stood its ground on the board... OT looming again... Until the Clippers 91 (Berry) from 16 (Geiger) made good on a wide angle shot and at 2:34 remaining in a crucial game 4, the Clippers had the lead.  Would it hold???  Well #67 (Prentice) didn't want to chance it, so he put in an insurance goal, at 1:53 (assisted by 9 Nebitko and 91 Berry).  Game 4 tied up the series, forcing another trip to Schomberg to finalize this arduous series.

Fortunately, convenor Larry Gould didn't mind so much, being from Schomberg, having a local presentation of the Cup would be no big deal travel-wise for him.  So he packed it up and wished everyone well, and "See ya Friday"...

Except, Friday did not alleviate the situation afterall.  Schomberg scored first with 21 seconds left in the first, but the Clippers were playing like the Champions they wanted to be.... And #27 (Hume) tied it up mid way through the second.   It's a 1-1 hockey game, as Stompin' Tom would roar out... And so it remained.  And remained.  And remained.  This time there was no way NoWAYskey was blinking in the OT and once again he was spectacular.  I don't think anyone could really believe it.  Cavanaghs quite especially.  They were primed and ready to Party like it's 1999 (ok wrong decade, but Prince was definitely ON TAP) at their place.  But the party would need to wait.

Game 5... and 5 Points to the Clippers and 5 Points to the Red Wings.  And no relief for fans.  But spectacular hockey. Simply more than your money's worth.

Back to Clipper territory for Game 6 on Saturday.  Rod Black intro'd both teams as they snapped onto the ice, and jumped into play.  It was simply startling.  Somehow the Clippers scored after what seemed to be the first face off (43 Lewis) .  And then again (88 Burrows assisted by 91 Berry)... Quickly up by 2 goals to close the first, something seemed... wrong?  Lewis (43) put up another unassisted goal at 11:38 of the second and things were feelin' nothing but groovy. But then it started... Schomberg scored (this time #14).  Then scored again (#9 again!).  Clippers would have closed the period at 3-2, but for Berry (91, assisted by 18 Sindrey)... So the period still had the Clippers up 4-2.  The back and forth and momentum shift once again from in the third left no room for comfort.  By the end of the game, #9 had earned a hat trick, putting in 2 more strikes (at 10:47 and 9:48), but somehow in between these plays, Luff (#2) scored (again assisted by  18).

For a series with such low scoring, somehow the floodgates were repealed in this final final game.  When the buzzer went, the Red Wings had only partially climbed out of a deficit. The Clippers never lost the lead in this game that seemed to be ramping up points following the shut-down kind of play previously played in games 1-5. 
In the end, the Clippers had scored 5 times which was every single goal they needed to be declared

                                                 ATOM AE
                     YORK SIMCOE CHAMPIONS
                              2013 - 2014
schomberg_series_YSL_champs_279.JPG

They battled and earned every point, and they played like a team.  They became the vision they set for themselves.  We all share in their pride and congratulate the team and the coaches for a fantastic series to mark the conclusion of one of the best seasons ever!!!!

CONGRATS CLIPPERS!!!!

CLICK LINK for more photos SCHOMBERG FINALS



GAME DATE LOCATION SCORE W-L-T
 1 Mar 19 2014 Trisan 1 - 2 L
 2 Mar 21 2014 Stouffville A 3 - 2 W
 3 Mar 23 2014 Trisan 0 - 1 L
 4 Mar 26 2014 Stouffville CC1 3 - 1 W
 5 Mar 28 2014 Trisan 1 - 1 T
 6 Mar 29 2014 Stouffville CC1 5 - 4 W