May 11, 2009 | Terry Whiteside | 1788 views
Lessons Learned
The Major Atom Quick Feet Team took part in the OTTF Spring Classic this past weekend in Toronto and played in 4 very spirited games. The team showed a lot of hussle and effort in all games.
In our 1st game vs Pro Prsopects from Toronto we were in the game from start to finish and with a bounce or two the end result may have ended in our favour. This game showed the players that they could compete at this level if they work hard.
Game 2 would put us up against the Toronto Bullfrogs. They are made up of many of the top players from the Toronto Jr Canadians and the Toronto Marlies, two of the top AAA organizations in Canada. The skills of these players were very evident and half way through the game they had capitalized on our miscues seven times. The Quick Feet boys were able to play a much stronger second half of the game and kept them off the scoreboard. Our guys learned in this game that each player has a position and a job to do on the ice and when you get "running around" at this level, it will cost you.
Game 3 was a similar game to the 2nd game. We were up against the CT Yankees. They are a team that plays together year round and are on the ice 5 times a week. They were a very skilled, smooth skating bunch. Our players played a strong game with tons of effort, but when we were caught out of position, it ended up in our net. Another great game for the boys to really learn about each other's roles.
In game 4 versus the Upstate Lakers, our guys were fired up and took the attack to the Lakers for a good part of the game. The Lakers goaltender held them in the game throughout much of the contest. The lakers were up on us 3-0 with minutes left in the game when we finally broke the bubble and put one in the net. With a continued strong forecheck we scored again and really put on a display of forechecking to end the game. We had several chances to tie the game up late with the goalie out and the extra attacker on the ice, but to no avail.
As the coach, I was impressed that our players didn't quit once all weekend. We knew we would be playing teams that have played AAA for years and teams that play together all yeat long, but that didn't stop our guys.
We can and will take what we learned from our experience in our first tournament and apply it to our future games. Thanks to our players: Owen O'Donnell, Jorden Reaman, Derick Acheson, Owen Routheut, Justin Donnelly, Lucas Bester, Blake Lewis, Logan Freiburger, Cole Hodgins, Braeden Marshall, Nic Whiteside, Curtis Biesenthal, Tyler Sutter, Alec Tiley, Kallen Macumber and Ryan Bester. You all showed great effort.