FLYERS EDGE MCDONALD'S TO WIN PEEWEE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP!
Date: April 1, 2009 Author: Carla Cranston
Before the game even began, it was a forgone conclusion that it would be another nail-biter….
The Pro Auto Glass Flyers and the McDonalds Bruins finished atop their league after the regular season and faced off on March 31st to play for the Lake of the Woods Peewee League Championship. These two teams had many great games during the regular season including two ties – there was no doubt this would be another classic battle.
From the opening face-off the pace was fast and furious and it was obvious that both goalies were on their game as Bradley Grandbois of the Flyers and Chase Laffin of the Bruins were rock-solid and stingy with the rebounds. The first period was an end-to-end affair that featured great transitional passing and solid defensive play. The score that the end of the first period: 0-0. As expected.
The second period opened up a little more and ended with the Flyers up 2-0 on a couple of goals by defenseman Sage Paypompee. The Flyers also got into penalty trouble and had to kill off a 5-3 shorthanded situation in which the Bruins pressed relentlessly but just couldn’t find the mesh. Defenseman Mark Belanger of the Bruins generated several offensive chances in that period but the score remained 2-0 after two.
The Bruins hard work and relentless work in the offensive end paid dividends early in the third period as Kyle Rodger went hard to the net and slipped a loose rebound past Grandbois to bring the Bruins within one. The Bruins continued to press hard for the tie as Zach Heino of the Bruins had several chances from in close but the bounces did not go his way. At 10:16 of the third period, Paypompee of the Flyers took advantage of an open lane near the boards and rushed the puck from his own and slipped it under Laffin as he spun in a 360 to put the Flyers up 3-1. The Bruins would not go away.
Rolling line after line the Bruins continued to forecheck and pressure down low with Zach Heino ringing one off the post, but not in. Heino’s strong offensive play was finally rewarded a few minutes later at 6:11 of the third when he cut to the slot and snapped a wrist shot into the top corner to bring the Bruins back within one. 3-2. Six minutes to go...
It seemed like a very long six minutes to the goaltenders… who continued their solid net minding despite great scoring chances by both teams. In the final minute of the game the Bruins pulled the goalie and ran with 6 attackers trying to snipe that one last goal. But it was not to be… the Flyers played some smart positional defense in the final seconds and at the buzzer the Flyers were awarded the league championship. It was great game by two teams who worked hard and put on a very impressive show for the many fans who took in the game. Well done boys!
