Midget LL Blue Wins Gold at John Henry Tourney, News, Midget LL Blue, 2013-2014 (Strathroy Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2013-2014 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Jan 01, 2014 | Kkuindersma | 1810 views
Midget LL Blue Wins Gold at John Henry Tourney
The Strathroy Midget Local League Blue Team, sponsored by Doug and Marion’s Bike Sales and Repairs, recently captured the gold medal at the local John Henry Memorial tournament held Dec 27th – 29th. The team posted a perfect 3-0 record in round-robin play to finish first in Pool A before capturing the title by defeating the Pool B champions in a close fought overtime contest.

Strathroy opened the tournament with a key 3-1 victory against the eventual bronze medal winners from Ilderton. Eric Kuindersma opened the scoring for the Jr. Rockets on a pass from Buren before Ilderton tied it up on a screen shot from the point. Aiden Newell would restore the lead for Strathroy, converting a two-on-one pass from Kuindersma to make it 2-1 heading into the third period. With goaltender Chris Glasgow on his game and stopping everything sent his way, Josh Flenniken cemented the win for the Jr. Rockets with a breakaway deke goal mid-way through the third period to make the final score 3-1.

Next up for Strathroy was a game against the Port Stanley Jr. Sailors Team 2. The game was a defensive struggle as both goaltenders were sharp in turning aside several chances. With four minutes left in the third period, Kuindersma broke the scoreless tie with a deflection of a Burgess shot from the point to make the final 1-0. Glasgow was again stellar in net for the Jr. Rockets in earning the shutout.

In winning the first two games, combined with other results for Pool A, Strathroy clinched a trip to the gold medal game. The Jr. Rockets would first complete the round robin portion of the tournament with a game against Grimsby, keeping their perfect record intact with a 6-3 victory. Scoring for Strathroy were Flenniken, Newell, Jacob Carter, Jacob Allen, Gavin Littlejohn, and Travis Harris. Of note was Carter’s one-against-two effort that resulted in a shorthanded goal to put the Jr. Rockets back ahead 3-2 in the second period.

The gold medal game featured Strathroy against a Shamrock league rival, the Mt. Brydges Cougars Blue team. The Cougars advanced to the final from Pool B, also with an undefeated record with wins against Strathroy Red, East Lambton, and Port Stanley Jr. Sailors Team 1. The game would be a tight contest throughout as Mt. Brydges took a first period lead 1-0 on a ‘puck off the body’ deflection in front of Glasgow. The Cougars maintained the lead entering the third period, but Strathroy began to take more control of the flow of play throughout the final ten minutes. The Jr. Rockets were rewarded when Flenniken wristed home a shot from the offensive zone side board to knot the score at 1-1 with five minutes to play. The Jr. Rockets kept up the pressure and nearly took the lead on a late power play but were unable to finish off a number of high quality chances, instead settling for a hit goal post and a trip to a five minute 3-on-3 overtime. The teams traded some chances early in overtime, but it was not until mid-way through the extra period when Flenniken would secure the win for Strathroy, scoring his 2nd of the game on a low, hard shot after beating the Mt. Brydges defenceman at the blue line and walking in alone on the goaltender.

Congratulations to all team members and the coaching staff on a great tournament victory. Special shout out goes to the overall team defensive performance that saw a 4-0 record achieved in which only 5 goals were allowed, led by Goaltender Chris Glasgow and defensemen Craig Buren, Logan Burgess, Malcolm Lamont, Jacob Silva, Caleb Vandenberk, and Collin Wyatt.

Attached picture legend:

Strathroy Midget LL Blue Jr. Rockets after capturing the gold medal at the recent local John Henry Memorial tournament (Dec 27-29th)
Bottom Row - Chris Glasgow
Middle Row (L to R) - Lucas Carter, Gavin Littlejohn, Caleb Vandenberk, Aiden Newell, Jacob Silva, Collin Wyatt, Jacob Carter, Travis Harris
Top Row (L to R) - Pat Flenniken (Manager), Malcolm Lamont, Craig Buren, Eric Kuindersma, Logan Burgess, Josh Flenniken, Jacob Allen, Jeff Cleland, Don Vandenberk (Asst. Coach) Tim Newell (Head Coach).
Absent (injured) is Sam Walls. Missing from photo is Rob Littlejohn (Trainer) and John Buren (Assistant Trainer).
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