Jack McVicar Minor Atom AE Petes Close Out Season with 2nd Place Finish in Pickering
The Jack McVicar Professional Corporation
Minor Atom AE Petes closed out their season with a second place finish at the
Pickering Spring Thaw tournament this past weekend (March 31 to April 2).
The Petes opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Stoney Creek with Cole Scanlan notching all three goals and assists going to Tristan Lehman (2), Griff Coupland and Rylan Scott. Bradley Montgomery earned the shutout.
After a quick break for lunch, the Petes were back in action to face Halton Hills and again came out on top 3-0 on the backs of goals from Lehmann (2) and Archer Stalteri. Assists during the game went to Tobey Skopelianos, Sawyer Spencley and Jordan Garfat. The shutout went to Brody Carrick.
Saturday action saw the Petes open the morning with a one sided route of the Brampton 45’s where they came out on top 7-0 and Bradley Montgomery only faced one shot on net to earn the shutout. The Petes goals came from Spencley (2), Stalteri (2), Garfat, Lehmann and Coupland, with assists being earned by Caeden Kent (3), Lehmann (2), Skopelianos (2), Scanlan and Olivia Mercer.
The Petes faced their toughest challenge of the prelim round when they faced the Stouffville Clippers in a Saturday afternoon showdown. The Petes controlled much of the play, but struggled to find the back of the net until Stalteri finally managed to sneak one past the Clippers goalie and give the Petes the only goal they would need. Carrick stood tall in net and earned the Petes 4th consecutive shutout of the tournament.
The Petes headed to the semi-finals on Sunday morning where they would face a Halton Hills team that was looking to avenge the earlier tournament loss handed to them by the Petes. The Petes struggled to gain momentum throughout the game and seemed to be fighting off some early morning sleepiness, but managed to get out front in the second period when Coupland took a pass from Scanlan behind the net and managed to wrap it around and beat the Halton Hills goaltender. It looked like this might be enough to earn the Petes the win, but while on a power play in the third period the Petes turned the puck over in the neutral zone and Halton Hills capitalized on one of their rare scoring chances to even up the game. The Petes pressed hard to tie it up, with Skopelianos and Scott hitting posts late in the game, but regulation time ended in a draw.
Overtime for the semi-final consisted of a 3 player shootout. The Petes sent Skopelianos, Lehmann and Coupland out to shoot, while Montgomery was tasked with stopping the Halton Hills players. Skopelianos hit the post on the first shot for the Petes, but Lehmann and Coupland both connected to score and Montgomery shutdown all three shooters for the victory.
The Petes season came to a conclusion in the finals when they saw a rematch with the Stouffville Clippers. It was another tough battle between these two teams, who have met 7 times in the past month. The Petes opened the scoring in the first period when Skopelianos tipped Scott’s point shot in and it seemed like this goal might be enough to earn the win as Carrick was playing amazing in net and the Petes were neutralizing Stouffville’s scoring chances. However, Stouffville would not go down easily on this day and was able to tie the game up early in the third period. The Petes opportunities to go ahead were limited as the ref’s called 3 penalties on them in the third period, which the Petes killed off efficiently and headed to overtime for the second time that morning.
The first 5 minute period of overtime, saw the Petes start strong, but then lose momentum as they were forced to kill off their 5th penalty of the game. Neither team was able to find the net and the next step in overtime was a one minute period of 4 on 4 hockey. The Petes carried the play off the opening faceoff, but a turnover down low in the offensive zone found the Clippers top scorer with the puck on his stick and he went end to end, finishing the game with a blast that beat Carrick.
It was a tough way to end such an amazing season by these kids, but they proved their character again as they took time to skate over to the stands and salute their parents as a thank you for the support they received this year.
Everyone should be proud of what these kids have accomplished. At this time last year, most of this team was still playing house league hockey and now they have gone on to post a season record of 51-20-3, place second in the OMHA, make it to the finals of 4 out of the 5 tournaments they entered and do all of this with class and integrity.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this team this year, we couldn’t have been this successful without the support of our coaches, parents, sponsors and the hockey community.