South Bruce Novice LL2 - WOAA Champions, News, Novice LL 2, 2013-2014 (South Bruce Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2013-2014 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 24, 2014 | rogers | 2272 views
South Bruce Novice LL2 - WOAA Champions
The sirens were blaring, the horns were honking and cheers of joy were heard throughout Mildmay Sunday night, as the Novice Local League 2 team finished the WOAA season as the Champions of the White Division.

What a year for the kids of South Bruce!!!

It seems like an eternity since the hockey season began, since the Coaching Staff was announced and the teams were made.  At the start of the year, we had a large group of kids with different personalities and some were real characters.  The one thing they had in common was a love for our Winter sport - Hockey.

For our Novice team, the Coaching Staff had clear expectations right from the start of the year.  Rule 1 - have fun - Rule 2- try your hardest every-time you're on the ice and boy, did the kids ever listen.  It was evident as the year started that the kids were not familiar with the benefits of positional hockey.  Gone were the days of the bumble bee tykes, buzzing around side to side.  The Coaches made sure that the kids would learn how to play positions.  Practice after practice, game after game, people in the stands would hear the coaches and then the parents yell out "TRAIN TRACKS".  Yep, we got some real odd looks from opposing players, coaches and parents alike, but in two simple words, the kids began to understand that the rink was divided into three different zones and that they better be in the ones they belong in.  Often the Coaches would tell the kids, remember, being in the right position will allow the puck to find you and it sure did.  By the time we hit play-offs, the Coaches rarely had to remind the kids where to be.

The season started off rough, with the kids only winning 1 game in the first 10 games played.  The Coaches weren't worried, but I'm sure some parents were, but the team stuck with the game plan and then suddenly, the Local League 2 kids got a real nice Christmas present, called the Wingham Novice Tournament.  This Christmas Tournament was the first tournament for the kids this season and you could feel their excitement.  Maybe it was because Christmas just ended or maybe it was because they knew something was special in the air.  Game #1 - the kids played really well, but the trend continued and they lost this one.  Game #2 is when it clicked, that special moment when everything they were learning seemed to come together.  The kids were passing hard, dumping the puck when needed, and skating, skating and skating hard the whole game.  Wow, our first win in a tournament and off to the finals.  We were worried about how tired the kids would be playing 3 games in 1 day, but once the puck dropped, the kids picked up where they ended the last game and came out with a decisive victory to win two games in a row for the first time all year and also won the tournament.

This was the turning point of the season and the kids started to play some real good hockey in 2014.  Listowel came to South Bruce with a perfect record for the season thinking they could walk away with a win, but not this day as South Bruce was victorious giving Listowel their first loss of the season.  The wins kept coming and coming.  The next big game was against our rivals from Walkerton, who in our last meeting early in the year beat us by 6 goals.  The game was intense as the Walkerton team was very strong.  The lead was going back and forth and late in the game, the South Bruce kids were down a goal and it looked like our mini winning streak may come to an end. The kids dug deep, kept playing hard, made some great plays, had some great saves and potted two late to shock the Walkerton team for just their second loss all year.  The kids were pumped.

The play-offs began and the Coaches and kids were feeling good.  In our division we were playing Milverton, Drayton and Mount Forest.  The strong played continued and the kids dominated every game, winning 6 and losing none.  The offense was spectacular, and the defence and goaltending were excellent too.  Off to the finals to meet the Champions of the West.

The finals would be held against BCH with Game #1 being held in the beautiful facility in Clinton.  You could see that the kids were a bit nervous, but the Coaches did a real good job keeping the kids light, remembering Rule #1 - have fun!  The game started a little slow, with both teams feeling each other out and out of nowhere, the South Bruce kids found their stride and started peppering the BCH Ice Dogs.  Goal after goal, great play after great play, hard skating and aggressiveness continued and the South Bruce team came out with a decisive 12-1 victory.  Game #2 could be the final if the South Bruce team could pull off another win at home.  BCH knew they were in tough and you could see that their Coaches were working with their kids well, and as the first period ended the score was tied 0-0.  The second period would be much different, as the kids from South Bruce found their wheels and started to really out skate the opposition and being in the right position at the right time got them goal after goal.  The third saw each team exchange goals, but the damage was done and the South Bruce kids would come out with a 6-2 win and were crowned the Champions.

We would like to thank the coaching staff for a wonderful year.  Phil Stroeder - Head Coach and Staff Bill Lorentz, Matt Collins, Greg Weber, Jody Weber, Suzanna Rogers and Jason Rogers.  Without the Coaches and Volunteers, there is no Championship.  We would like to recognize the kids for their efforts.   Forwards: Alex Stroeder, Conner Lee, Austin Gutscher, Kyle Romphf, Emma Lorentz (Goalie & Winger), Ethan Rogers (Goalie and Winger), Griffin Robert & Abigail Ruxton.  Defence: Zach Collins, Dylan Weber, Simon Henry, & Cole Brick.

Good work kids and Congratulations!