The Blades
headed west to the shores of Lake Huron, not to take part in a polar bear dip
but to do battle with the Kincardine Kinucks 2.
It was a day when winter would rise up making for slippery roads and
poor visibility at times, and starting a week of road and school closures.
Having already beaten the Kinucks the week before to bring their winning streak to four games, the Blades were confident they could repeat that game and come out with the win. It would be the Kinucks that would strike first on the power play scoring just over one minute into the game. Both teams would battle hard for the remainder of the period and the Blades would get the equalizer on the power play with seventeen seconds left in the first.
The Blades would strike early in the second period to take the lead for the first time in the game. Not to be out done the Kinucks would battle back to tie the game less than four minutes later. Both teams would continue to battle hard but the constant pressure of the Blades would pay off as they would force the turnover in the Kinucks end resulting in the Blades second lead of the game. The Blades would find themselves in trouble late in the second period as they would head to the penalty box with just over one minute to go in the period. The Kinucks would capitalize on the power play to tie the game with thirty five seconds to go in the second.
After some confusion about a flood or no flood the Blades opted to forgo the rest and keep the game going. In hopes the Kinucks were starting to tire, the Blades would use their numbers to keep the pressure on. It seemed to be a good strategy as the Blades would get the first goal of the period to regain the lead five and a half minutes in. Not fazed by the goal the Kinucks would tie the game on the next shift. Finding themselves in the penalty box once more the Kinucks would exploit the Blades penalty kill again to take the lead in the game for the second time. Not ready to wave the white flag just yet the Blades team dug deep to tie the game for the fifth time with just over two minutes to go in the game. With the puck deep in the Kinucks zone and a strong fore-check the Blades would gain control and get the go ahead goal with a mere twenty-one seconds to go. The Blades just had to find a way to keep the puck out of their end for twenty- one seconds for the win but the Kinucks would find a way to penetrate the Blades blue line drawing a penalty at the same time with 2.6 seconds remaining. Not winning the draw cleanly the puck found its way to the Kinucks defense with a shot on net beating the Blades net minder to tie the game. Do I think the goal was good? No, but I have yet to ever have a referee change his or her mind. Did the kids play hard and have fun? I believe they did!
Point getters for the game were Chris M., Tyson D., Owen S., Travis S., Spencer B., Shawn B., Jon E., Kyle H. and Nolan S. and another strong performance between the pipes by Dan S.