Dec 09, 2012 | mbalasin | 941 views
Motown Cup A/AA Champions
Over the weekend from December 7th to 9th the Bantam Rep Rockets travelled to Dearborn, Michigan to compete in the Motown Cup A/AA Bantam tournament.
Friday night at the IceBox the Rockets faced off versus the Amesbury 98 Attack who compete in the GTHL (Greater Toronto Hockey League). Both teams opened playing tight defence and were scoreless after one period. The Rockets struck first ten seconds in and followed it with a short-handed goal at 3:02. The lead would be stretched to 3 before the 2nd period ended. The Attack would get one back with 2:38 to go making the final 3-1 for the Rockets.
In game #2 at the Southgate Arena, the Rockets would face the Sault Blackhawks Major AA team. The Blackhawks came out pounding the Rockets physically but neither team could get on the board. Mid-way thru the 2nd period the Blackhawks would strike but the Rockets answered less than a minute later. The teams were deadllocked at 1 after 2 periods. The Rockets took the lead at 7:48 and stretched their lead to two at 5:56. The Blackhawks aggressiveness was countered by great discipline by the Rockets which resulted in many powerplays and the eventual win for the Rockets 3-1.
The Rockets entered game three already assured of a trip to the finals and faced the Etobicoke Canucks Major AA team also from the GTHL. The Canucks opened the scoring at 10:57 and carried the play until the Rockets tied it at 3:31. Etobicoke scored at 1:06 to lead 2-1 after 1 period. The resilient Rockets would tie the game and take the lead in the second period. The 3rd period saw end to end fast paced action with both team trading chances. The Canucks jumped on a loose puck late to make it 3-3 and that would be the end result.
Sunday morning it was a re-match of game#1 at the IceBox and the Rockets faced Amesbury for the Championship. The Rockets hit the ice flying and were determined from the opening face-off and it showed as they controlled most of the play and were rewarded with the opening goal with 15 seconds left in the first. The Attack answered with speed but the Rockets brought the physical side and tight defence and the score was 1-0 after two periods. At 8:27 the Rockets buried their second of the game and quickly followed it with two more with 4:39 to go up 4-0. All that was left was the battle for the shutout and the team defence along with timely saves preserved the shutout and sealed the Motown Cup A/AA Championship for the Rockets.