Coming off a great start to the spring hockey season in
exhibition play last weekend, the boys were ready to take on Toronto at the May
Madness tournament. The 2002 Quick Feet team went 6-0-0
and won Gold!
In the first of four round robin games Quick Feet would battle it out with the Ontario Wolfpack Hockey. If the boys were nervous, it sure didn’t show. Less than 30 seconds in Will Black jammed home the first goal of the game and the tournament after a nice set up from Jaden Goldie and Gavin Mikaczo. The lead didn’t last long as shortly thereafter the Wolfpack evened it up on the power play. With just six seconds left in the first period the Wolfpack notched their second power play goal of the game. After the first period, the Wolfpack would lead by one, but that would be all the scoring for them in this game. In the second period, Quick Feet continued to press and half way through the period Eric Black evened the score up with a low slap shot to the bottom corner. With no further scoring in the second, we were off to the third tied at two. It was a pretty even battle through the third period with both teams trading scoring opportunities. Quick Feet defenseman Tatum Behan, Thomas Gangl, Coleson Fischer, Ethan Andrews, Eric Black and Owen Moyer turned away all Wolfpack scoring threats. When Wolfpack did get their chances, goaltender Landon Kinch was solid and shut the door. With just over a minute left in the game it was time for the power play to take over. Nathan Naves picked up a loose puck from an Ethan Andrews point shot and buried a backhand into the top corner. The Wolfpack pulled their goalie for the extra attacker only to be fought off by the Quick Feet team. Jaden Goldie would score the empty net goal to seal the victory on a set up from Brayden Krueger and Thomas Gangl. Final score was 4-2 for Quick Feet. Terrific start to the tournament!
The second game on Friday was against Maksymum Selects. Makasymum Selects really didn’t provide any opposition for this Quick Feet team. There really isn’t much to report on this one folks. We scored a lot of goals and won 14-0. All players were involved in the scoring on this one.
Saturday was a new day with new challenges and first up was BH02. Another quick start to this game as right off the face-off Nathan Naves fed the puck to Luke Eurig who broke in and went five-hole for a quick one-goal lead. Three minutes later BH02 scored shorthanded to even things up. Following that Quick Feet picked up the pace a bit and Owen Rahn scored off an Eric Black rush. Quick Feet controlled most of the play through the second period but couldn’t put one past the BH02 goalie. The continued pressure and hard work finally paid off in the third when just 10 seconds in Gavin Mikaczo scored off a nice pass from Will Black. Shortly thereafter with Quick Feet on the power play Brayden Krueger finished off a passing play from Nathan Naves and Coleson Fischer to make it 4-1. It didn’t stop there as just a minute later Owen Rahn would get his second of the game when he scored off a rebound from a Brody Leblanc shot after a nice set up from Evan Dewar. Two minutes later Gavin Mikaczo scored his second of the game when he broke in all alone and scored a beauty to the top shelf. Final score was 6-1 for Quick Feet.
The final round robin opponent was Capital Hockey. This was a great hockey game from start to finish. Right from the drop of the puck these two teams battled hard with back and forth action and both teams trading great scoring opportunities. With just two minutes remaining in the first, Quick Feet took the lead. Off the face-off Jaden Goldie won the draw to Gavin Mikaczo who fought off the defenseman for his own rebound and tucked the puck under the Capital Hockey goalie. In the second period it didn’t take long for Owen Rahn to use his speed down the boards and then cut in all alone only to go top shelf and a two goal lead for Quick Feet. The two goal lead didn’t last long as Capital Hockey was able to cut the lead in half with a power play marker. A couple of minutes later Quick Feet would get the two goal lead back when Nathan Naves pulled the puck out from underneath a scrum in front of the Capital Hockey goal and fired a bullet into the mid part of the net. Quick Feet goaltender Caden Prues would hold off the remaining Capital Hockey pressure in the third to help secure the win. Final score was 3-1 for Quick Feet. Great game!
With 4 wins in round robin play, Quick Feet finished in 2rd place out of 15 teams and earned a bye into Sunday’s semi-final.
Quick Feet once again faced Capital Hockey in the semi-final game. The boys were all fired up for Sunday’s games. This game was penalty filled and all goals except for one were scored on the power play. Quick Feet took advantage of early Capital Hockey penalty trouble when Will Black tapped home a rebound off an Ethan Andrews point shot. Then less than 30 seconds later Gavin Mikaczo one-timed a pass from Will Black on the set up from Jaden Goldie. Another 45 seconds later Brody Leblanc would get one on a wrap around that went off a few skates and found the back of the net giving Quick Feet a commanding three goal lead. In the second, Capital Hockey would get one back on the power play but the three goal Quick Feet lead was quickly restored when Jaden Goldie tapped in a pass from an Eric Black rush. In the third period Capital Hockey scored their second power play goal only to have Will Black put Quick Feet back up by three goals on a solo effort going top shelf while being chopped down by the Capital Hockey defenseman. Final score was 5-2 for Quick Feet and the boys were off to play for Gold!
The gold medal game would be played on the big ice surface at York University. The game got off to a slow start when just a couple of minutes into the first period Regional Express caught the Quick Feet boys sleeping and broke down the side boards going post and in for a 1-0 lead. That was the wake up call Quick Feet needed and they then turned up the pressure. The hard work paid off with just three minutes to play in the first period when Brayden Krueger fired home a Nathan Naves pass after some good work behind the net to come out with the puck. No further scoring in the first period. The battle continued in the second period and about half way through the second Will Black picked up the puck in the neutral zone and sped past the defenseman to go all alone against the Regional Express goalie and riffled a shot to the blocker side and a 2-1 lead. That goal would prove to be the winner as both of these teams battled hard for the rest of the game but goaltenders at both ends kept the puck out of the net. With the Regional Express goaltender pulled and the face-off deep in our end, Quick Feet won possession and off the glass and out where Gavin Mikaczo out worked the Regional Express player and deposited the puck into an empty net and the championship win. That was it! Quick Feet were gold medal winners!
Great tournament boys! A record of 6-0-0 and tournament champions! This was a full team effort right from goaltending to defensemen and forwards. All the parents are very proud of your accomplishments. Best Mother’s Day present ever.
Keep up the hard work!