Port Colborne #2 v.s. Black Knights
Game 8 Recap
Team Player Star Desmond Leavens (Middle)
Smooth Moves Star Michael Snyder (Left)
Game Grinder Star Collin VanDongen (Right)
On the road again....The Black Knights travelled to Port Colborne tonight for our first game at the Vale Centre this year. Port Colborne #2 played a solid first period and kept us from doing any serious damage despite the fact we spent the majority of the period in their end. The line of Spencer Main, Mackenzie Covey and Desmond Leavens have been on fire lately and are working together supporting each other and the results are starting to show. Mackenzie has brought her game up to another level the last few and is chasing down the puck in the opposition zone, winning battles along the boards and showing the determination we need from everyone. Spencer Main although he missed warm ups :) was right back at it creating lots of chances in Ports end and back checked when we lost the zone covering for his D if they pinched on the blue. Desmond crashed and banged his way through the neutral zone lugging the puck today and most importantly got it deep into Ports end to start the pressure. Des was given the Team Player Star today for his all around effort. Michael Snyder had a workout as the Sailors peppered him with shots and kept digging at the puck around the net. Mike stopped a couple of breakaways today and snatched several shots labeled 'top shelf' with the glove to earn the Smooth Moves Star. Our defence were back pedalling alot today to try and contain a couple of very fast Port players. Landon Gibbs had a good game and had to adjust quickly to move the puck faster to out manouvere the speedy opposition forwards. Grant Sinclair played solid today and had a few good shots at the Port keeper and cleared our zone effectively for most of the game. Eric Edwards pinched at some key times to keep the play alive in the Sailors end. Connor Wright had a nice rush with the puck and made some timely passes to open wings to clear our end quickly. Collin VanDongen used his wheels to angle off the Port forwards for most of the game, joined the rush a few times and cleared our zone to earn the Game Grinder Star. Trent Brogan continued to make better decisions with the puck head manning it and making nice feeds to the slot. Trent also had some shots from farther out to give himself a better angle to score, two things that will pay huge dividends in the long run. Sam Desormiers continues his climb as he kept his feet moving, stick on the ice, and even mixed it up a little in front of the Port Colborne netminder showing he's getting more involved with the play. Blake Silenzi and Jordan Dekoe both had a good game tonight. Jordan is getting more comfortable on the wing and is in the right spot most of the time playing her lane like a veteran. Blake on the other side of the rink is doing the same and is a good first passer from our end on the break. Dylan Elsie had some chances thanks to his wingers hard work in the corners and continues to get the puck deep when we need offensive zone time....he just needs to keep his head up a little more to look for open line mates. Not to sound like a broken record...Kaden Falardeau once again put in the effort that this Coach would love to see from every player on this squad. If Kaden falls down he gets up and skates hard, if a Port player was closer to our net than he was he skated back to put himself between them and our goalie, if he looses the puck he wants it back BAD and doesn't stop till we get possession. We all need to take a page from Kaden's book....this was a good team we played and we had a decent game but...if everyone puts in 100% every shift and leaves it all on the ice we will be successful. We need to start working more like a TEAM not individuals. Some players have bought in... we need the rest to follow...not everyone was giving their all every shift and it's not at all about your personal stats, it's about the team. We have some players....skilled or not so skilled...that are giving it all every shift....some are not...we need TEAM effort...from everyone.