Pee Wees battle through playoffs, News, Peewee Rep, U13, 2008-2009 (Mt Forest Minor Hockey Association)

This Team is part of the 2008-2009 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 01, 2009 | sbowers-peter | 1465 views
Pee Wees battle through playoffs
The first round of OMHA playoff action for the Mount Forest Pee Wee Rep Rams saw them travel to Hanover to face the Falcons.

 
The Rams were able to keep the action in the Hanover end of the first half of the first period. In spite of a Mount Forest goal being waved off, the squad remained focused and Nolan Officer managed to best the Falcon cager. Tight defense by Connor Reeves, Brett Doney, John Bowden and Owen Milne kept the rubber away from Bretton Peter in the guest crease. Connor Kerr was key in spoiling the Falcons' chances with an effective back check.
 
In the second period, the play evened out as the Falcons were ready for revenge. Nathan Reeves impressed with his ability to force the play while Maverick Holliday and Kerr executed a brilliant rush. Officer attempted a thrilling breakaway, but was denied. Finally the Falcons got on the board, with a messy shot through traffic at the Rams crease. With the game becoming very physical, penalties plagued the Rams. They rallied at the Falcon net, but could not break through before the clock expired.
 
Following the flood, the Rams were energized. Bowden advanced the Rams within the first minute of play. The Falcons replied with a goal pushed under Peter's pad, followed by a slap shot deflected off a Mount Forest player to make the count 3-2. Officer and Willson Fisher executed a brilliant drop pass, but the Falcon defense cleared the rebound. Doney issued a punishing slapshot from the point, to tie the count. The fast past continued through the final period, as Kerr steamrolled along the boards to pass up the puck. Cody Stewart was pivotal, feeding the puck into the Hanover end and following up with playmaking skills with Officer.
 
The Falcons were caught short on a Rams attack as a bounced pass around the front of the net bested Peter for the 4-3 final.
 
MF VS HANOVER - GAME II
 
High off their first game win, the Hanover Falcons hit the ice hard in the second match, issuing a near miss on the Mount Forest net, helmed by Dylan Laprade. Cody Stewart diffused a dangerous attack with an impressive back check. Connor Reeves executed his trademark slam from the blue line and Connor Kerr took a Nolan Officer rebound to notch the first point with a tip of the rubber over a pile of bodies at the Hanover net.
 
In the second frame, Willson Fisher, Maverick Holliday and Nolan Officer put together a massive attack, making life miserable for the the Falcon defense. Kerr, Officer and Cody Stewart then executed rapid fire action. But it was the Falcons who scored next with a shot from the blue line. Jackson Francis and Holliday had thrilling near misses before heading to the dressing room.
 
Officer took the puck off the faceoff and worked through the bodies and used a late flip to advance the score 2-1. Fifteen seconds later, Fisher returned to the crease for a 3-1 count. Officer then had the fans on their feet with a thrilling breakaway, popping the shot into the top corner. The entire squad worked well throughout the remaining time, including Stewart digging at the net, and Bowden and Doney creating a virtual wall around Laprade. Before the match expired, Kerr padded the lead with an off balance wrist shot to chalk up a 5-1 final.
 
MF AT HANOVER - GAME III
 
With one game apiece, the Rams and Falcons were ready for a deciding match back at the Hanover Coliseum. John Bowden scared the Falcons cager with a pipe shot early in the first while Macauley Hall followed up with a close shot of his own. Moments after a Falcon penalty, the Rams capitalized on the power play as Nolan Officer received from Willson Fisher from the faceoff. Owen Milne was key in holding the blue line and allowing his forwards to continue their attack. Dylan Laprade was given a thorough working - facing 20 shots in the first period alone. Additional penalties punctuated the period as the squads maximized their physical game.
 
At the top of the second, Bowden, Brett Doney, and Fisher were faced with burning off a seemingly endless penalty. Once back at full strength, the Rams were back on track as Connor Reeves slammed the rubber back into the Falcon crease and Jack Francis dropped back to snuff out the hosts' breakaways. Fisher advanced the cause with a rebound off the Falcon goalie's pads - talk about the right place at the right time! Hall earned a long-due point thanks to a bad bounce off the cager to advance the count 3-0. Hanover was finally able to divide the defense and best Laprade with an impressive breakaway. He continued aggressive techniques to spoil shots with poke checks and dives.
 
Both teams struggled with penalties throughout the final period. Connor Reeves and Doney blanketed their men and worked hard to turn the tide for their forwards. Laprade's second attempt at a dive was not as successful as he was bested by a rebound while he was out of the crease. He regrouped in time for a barrage of rubber from the Falcons. In spite of a Mount Forest time out for a chance to refocus, the Falcons tied it up with a bounce from behind the net out front to a forward in front of the Rams net for a 3-3 count. Unable to break through in regulation time, the squads were faced with 10 minutes of overtime. At 9:43 Officer masterfully wove the puck from the face off to the Hanover red line to give the Rams the second win of the series.
 
MF VS HANOVER - GAME IV
 
The Rams were ready to claim the series with a fourth game at home against the Hanover Falcons.
 
Cody Stewart was robbed a brilliant scoring opportunity as the Rams kept the action mostly in the Hanover end. Brett Doney fed the puck in from the blue line, which proved successful when he fed Nolan Officer for an attempt that was cashed by Connor Kerr for the first goal of the match with 1:03 remaining.
 
Officer was then assisted by Maverick Holliday and Doney for the second point of the game. Again penalties plagued the Rams, but the managed to score shorthanded with as Nathan Reeves passed out to Macauley Hall who set up Officer for the 3-0 lead.
 
Dylan Laprade was solid in the Rams crease, but did surrender one point, a rebound in a flurry of shots with only 2:42 remaining. The Falcons made a last ditch effort, pulling their goalie for an extra attacker, but the clock ran out, handing the Rams the 3-1 win and allowed them to advance to the OMHA Quarterfinals.
 
MF AT WEST LINCOLN - GAME I   
 
For the first time in more than a decade, the Pee Wee Reps advance to the OMHA Quarterfinals, making the trip to West Lincoln to face the Wrath.
Throughout the first frame, the rubber moved end to end and saw both teams eyeing each other up. Finally Nolan Officer executed a staggering slap shot from a foot inside of the blue line, and blasted the Wrath cager to start the scoring.
 
Unfortunately, it would be the only point scored by the Rams as the Wrath dominated from that point on. The second period saw the Wrath match evenly pretty much shot for shot with the Rams, but rebounds bested Dylan Laprade. Before the end of the middle frame, the Wrath had a modest 2-1 lead.
 
In spite of fast end to end action, the Wrath padded the lead with two more points for a 4-1 final.
 
MF VS WEST LINCOLN - GAME II
 
With a strong show of support from Mount Forest fans, the West Lincoln Wrath face the Pee Wee Rams on home ice for the second chapter of OMHA Quarterfinal action.
 
The Wrath exercised the Rams defense, cashing three goals in the first period alone. The Rams seem frustrated, but continued to fight the strong Wrath presence in front of Dylan Laprade's net. Finally in the second period, Brett Doney notched a point thanks to an assist from Cody Stewart. While this motivated the Rams, it could not slow the wave of attack from the Wrath. Three more goals hit the twine before a shell-shocked Laprade retired to the bench with a 6-1 count. Bretton Peter was put between the pipes and immediately put to the test. Within the first few moments, he faced a Wrath attack resulting in a 7-1 count. Once he found his groove, he was able to snuff out several serious shots. Nathan Reeves used the boards to his advantage, while Nolan Officer worked well on rushes and dropped back to help with defense. Before the end of the period, the Wrath chipped in one more goal, a rebound deflected to the side by Peter.
 
The flood did the Rams a great deal of good, as they came out refocused and with a game plan. Jackson Francis had a serious solo attack, followed by a setup with Connor Kerr. John Bowden then paired with Nathan Reeves, but were also frustrated at the Wrath crease. The Wrath forwards cut through the Ram defense and counted their final point, but the Rams were playing like time was on their side. Connor Reeves used a backhand shovel technique to keep the puck up with his forwards while Nathan Reeves was a nuisance around the Wrath crease. Francis had the final word, popping a goal around the pipe, with an assist to Willson Fisher and a 9-2 final.
 
MF VS. WEST LINCOLN - GAME III
 
Once again the Wrath travelled to Mount Forest for what would be the final game in the Quarterfinal series.
 
Play moved end to as the Rams attempted to keep the heat off cager Dylan Laprade. Midway through the chapter, the Wrath got on the board with a messy goal. John Bowden was denied a beautiful slapshot as it missed the net by inches.
 
The contest became more physical in the second period. In spite of penalties to the Wrath, the Rams were unable to capitalize on the power plays. Finally the Rams got on the board, thanks to a messy goal by Cody Stewart off Maverick Holliday. This motivated the team, as Holliday attempted to repeat with Jackson Francis. Connor Reeves worked his slapshot for the Rams forwards while Owen Milne rubbed out his wingers using hip action on the boards. The Wrath caught Laprade on the blocker side to advance the score 2-1.
 
The Rams came off the flood with a mission. Nolan Officer took a pass from Willson Fisher, received by Holliday, to tie the count at two. But within minutes the Wrath regained the lead and padded with a goal for a 4-2 final - ending the Rams OMHA dreams.
 
MF AT KINCARDINE - GAME I
 
Following a thrilled exhibition victory against Arthur, the Rams were ready for the challenge of the Kincardine Kinucks in WOAA action.
 
Bretton Peter was faced with a flukey first goal, as a puck from the corner passed out front hit the Kinuck forward in the chest and dropped in front of him for the perfect chip shot. A second goal moments later was a scramble at the Ram crease. Before the end of the period, the visitor's defense was given a solid workout with a third goal for the hosts. The aggressive play resulted in penalties for both squads. Brett Doney, John Bowden and Connor Kerr attempted an impressive rush, but could not complete the maneuver, thanks to outstanding defense work by Kincardine.
 
In the second, the attack on the Rams crease continued. Peter worked hard to handle the barrage of rubber, and faired well, allowing only two goals for 19 shots in that frame alone. The Rams struggled to get the play out of their end, but a penalty for the Kinuck goalie did help the visitors' chances for a couple of minutes.
 
The flood allowed the Rams to re-energize and focus on their strategy. In spite of excellent efforts, the plays were quickly snuffed out on the far side of the blue line. Peter was solid for his team, allowing few loose rebounds and showing solid pad work. In spite of the best attempts by the Rams defense, including forechecking by Connor Reeves and Owen Milne sacrificing his body, the Kinucks cashed two more points for a 7-0 final. The Rams were seriously out powered - making eight successful shots at the host end, while Peter faced 49 shots.
 
MF VS KINCARDINE - GAME II
 
It was déjà vu as the Kincardine Kinucks visited the Mount Forest Rams for the second in a best of three series.
 
Dylan Laprade was given a thorough workout as the visitors notched two points. The Rams became frustrated early on and spent time in the penalty box as a result.
 
Once in the second period, play was more evenly distributed, however the Kinucks continued to outshoot the Rams, thanks mostly to the outstanding Kincardine defense. Few if any forward lines made it past the blue line.
 
The Rams started the third frame with a penalty and the team struggled with positioning. The Kinucks capitalized on this and crowded Laprade's crease repeatedly. By the end of the match, the Rams faced a 10-0 loss, with Laprade enduring 47 shots to the Kincardine cager's 2.