The Jack McVicar Professional Corporation Minor Atom AE
Petes battled through three long days of hockey and brought home the tournament
championship at the 50th Annual Hespeler Olympics hockey tournament
this past week (December 27-29).
Following a brief layoff for Christmas, it took the team a few periods to get back in sync, but they managed to fight through it and opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over the Streetsville Stingers. Scoring for the Petes were Sawyer Spencley (2), Tristan Lehmann (2), Riley Hagerman and Caeden Kent. Tobey Skopelianos picked up an assist and Brody Bolton earned the shutout. Rylan Scott was named the Petes hardest working player of the game.
The second game of the tournament had the Petes matched up against the London Bandits, looking for revenge of a loss they suffered earlier in the year. The Petes came out flying with two first period goals from Archer Stalteri and Riley Hagerman, but the Bandits weren’t ready to give up and stormed back with three second period goals. The third period saw the Petes and Bandits exchange goals, with Tristan Lehmann picking up the Petes goal, but the Bandits managed to weather a late storm from the Petes and hand the Petes a 4-3 loss. Assists went to Stalteri and Griff Coupland, with Stalteri earning the hardest working player of the game.
Game 3 was the turning the point for the Petes. They were facing their division rival Oshawa Generals and found themselves down 3-1 heading into the third. Up to this point the Petes hadn’t quite worn off their turkey legs and looked to be struggling to find the cohesiveness that we’ve seen from them all year. This all changed in the third period when the Petes stuck to their game plan and increased their intensity. The Petes scored three unanswered goals, with the game winner coming with 33 seconds left in the period. Scoring for the Petes in their 4-3 win were Stalteri (2), Spencley and Olivia Mercer. Assists went to Skopelianos (3), Scott (2), Mercer and Lehmann. Hardest working player of the game was Tristan Lehmann.
As part of the tournament the Petes were challenged to play two games against A teams that wouldn’t factor into the AE standings. In the first matchup against the Southpoint Capitals, the Petes came out and dominated with two goals from Tristan Lehmann in the first shift of the game. The Petes controlled the rest of the hockey game and skated to a 6-2 win with the other goals coming from Kent, Lehmann, Skopelianos and Spencley. Assists went to Scott, Coupland, Mercer and Hagerman, and Lehmann was named the hardest working player of the game.
In their other game against an A team, the Petes went head to head with the Toronto Wolverines. The game would have no impact on the standings for either team, as they had both locked up their playoff births, so the Petes elected to move some players around and try and get some rest ahead of the playoffs. The game was still a hard fought contest, but the Petes found themselves down 3-2 late in the third and gave up an empty netter as they pressed to tie late in the game. Scoring for the Petes were Lehmann and Tye Hill, with assists going to Mercer, Skopelianos and Spencley. The hardest working player of the game was Riley Hagerman.
The semi-finals offered the Petes a rematch with the London Bandits. The Petes looked hungry right from the first puck drop and Lehmann scored what would be the game winner on the opening shift. The Petes added a late goal in the first period from Skopelianos and continued to pressure the Bandits until they finally broke through again in the third on a goal from Spencley. Assists during the 3-0 win went to Mercer, Lehmann, Skopelianos and Scott. Hardest working player of the game was Skopelianos.
The finals saw the Petes matched up with the Vaughan Rangers. The Rangers put up a good fight, but the Petes were in control of the game from start to finish and posted a 5-2 win on the backs of goals from Coupland, Kent, Lehmann, Hagerman and Mercer. Assists went to Hagerman (2), Spencley, Coupland, Stalteri and Jack Pacey. Hardest working player of the game was Caeden Kent.
Next up for the Petes is a home game against the Pickering Panthers on January 4.