Southwest Novice Bullets “Lock Up” Tournament Trophy, News, Novice Shamrock, 2012-2013 (Southwest Bullets)

This Team is part of the 2012-2013 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Feb 11, 2013 | rmcalpine | 2303 views
Southwest Novice Bullets “Lock Up” Tournament Trophy
The Southwest Novice Bullets sponsored by the Glencoe Lions Club took home the championship trophy by winning the “Under the Lock” tournament in Peterborough this past weekend.

The Peterborough tournament was highlighted by CBC’s “Hockey Day in Canada” which drew teams from all over the province to have the chance to play pond hockey outdoors on the Trent Canal beside Lock Lift 20. Not even Friday’s snowstorm could stop the parents and kids from making the trek to Peterborough to be ready for Saturday’s early morning game.
The first game for the Bullets began at 8:00am against the Oshawa Hawks but the real opponent was the -20 degree morning temperature. The Bullets battled cold fingers and toes and even a few frozen tears – yet despite the opposition, managed to come out on top by defeating the Hawks by a score of 9-4.
After returning to the hotel to warm up and have some snacks, the Bullets returned to the Canal to play Game 2 against Hamilton’s Coronation team. Thankfully, the temperatures rose to a balmy -8 and the team had no problem in downing the Coronation team 8-3 in that match.
Game 3 had Southwest playing once again at a brisk -20 on early Sunday morning. However, this time the Bullets played like they were thick skinned, seasoned veterans of outdoor pond hockey, crushing Centre Wellington by a 7-1 score propelling themselves into the finals against the Clarkson Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.
In the final game the Bullets came out strong against Clarkson of (Mississauga) taking off to an early 5-3 lead after two periods. The line of Brad McAlpine , Jackson Aubertin & Wyatt Johnson put a lot of pressure on the Clarkson defence while the checking line of Kelvin Huston, Jordan McIntyre & Will Lambrecht did a great job working the corners and driving to the net all game. John Van Bilsen, Evan DeMaiter and Morgan Hutson were the Southwest defence and worked their hardest to keep the speedy Clarkson forwards at bay. Hutson kept all Clarkson players on their toes especially when they tried crossing the blue line with their heads down. The Hurricanes stormed back to tie this game up at the sound of the buzzer at the close of the third period. This put the game into overtime starting with 4 skaters each side, and removing a player after every two minutes. At the start of the first overtime the Bullets had a power play but were unable to finish. So After 4 minutes the each team was down to two skaters. The pressure was on and Coach Roland who had a tough decision to make with this nail-biter rivalry, finally putting Brad McAlpine and John Van Bilsen on the ice against Clarkson’s top two. McAlpine broke free down the middle of the ice and without hesitation, deeked out the goalie and put the puck into the net , sealing the win and trophy for team Southwest. Devin Graham worked his magic between the pipes for all four games and the team celebrated by circling him after the game. Way to go Team!!!
The Bullets played hard all weekend battling the elements and were rewarded not only with the winning trophy, but three fundamentals that all young hockey players should enjoy and remember – forever! Every good tourney includes: playing mini sticks in the hotel hallways, the painful feeling of tingling toes defrosting after a fun game of pond hockey in sub-zero temperatures, and seeing the Stanley Cup in person. Great job Bullets – you can be proud!