The Quinte Smiles/McCarten Travel/Landtech Design Junior Bulls
have had a roller coaster ride to present day. Our last update was before
our trip to the International Silver Stick tournament in St. Clair Shores ,
Michigan. Long hours of practice were spent in anticipation and
preparation for this tournament, but nothing we could have done would have prepared
us for our experience. To make a long story short, there are A LOT of
really good Novice AE teams out there. We played three of them and got
trounced in two. We were able to keep it close in the third game which
allowed our boys to hold their heads a little higher. We all had a great
time and learned a lot.
Beyond the hotel atmosphere, which our team seems to excel at, the boys’ weekend was highlighted by pin trading with players from other teams. Despite being outmatched on the ice, the boys came home with a mitt full of bounty as our Belleville Bulls pins were the most sought after of the tourny. The overall experience is one that will be remembered for a long time.
After our trip to Michigan, our Bulls boys had to wait another week for the other teams in our loop to finish with their regular season. For reasons not fully understood, we found ourselves facing a Napanee team in the first round of the playoffs. It is said that they were dropping down from a BB loop for our playoffs. To make another story short, our boys got a taste of what it is like to thoroughly outmatch another team. Game 1 on the weekend ended 13-0 and the coaching staff had to be creative to keep it limited to that score. Leading the scorers were Reed Andrus and Connor Kerik with three goals and one assist each. Isaiah More had three and Travis Whitmore had two. Sam Brearley and Joey Bonter chipped in with one each. Other assists went to Tanner Zadworny (2), Noah Roy, Lukas Smith, Ethan Walsh, and Joey Bonter. Callum Decker saw limited action in the net as our defence was able to keep the Napanee shooters to the outside.
In game two of the series, coaching staff focussed on puck possession and allowing the play to develop as a pregame plan. It was a delight to see the boys listen and execute this game plan. Contrary to game number one, every goal had at least one assist attached to it and a couple had two assists. Fans were treated to our players routinely taking to the outside edges of the ice to let trailing forwards enter the zone and set up in scoring positions. Heads were up and all players were skating confidently with the puck. Break out passes were on the tape and passes through the neutral zone advanced our team faster and didn't hold teammates up at the offensive blue line. This patience with the puck will hopefully par lay into greater confidence heading deeper into the playoffs for our Junior Bullies. Travis Whitmore had two goals and Isaiah More had two plus an assist. Tanner Zadworny chipped in with one goal and two assists. Reed Andrus continued his great weekend with two assists and Joey Bonter and Sam Brearley chipped in with one assist each. Final score was 5-1. Callum Decker was in net.
Good luck going forward to a great bunch of hockey players, on and off the ice.