The Kincardine Miller Insurance Midget Rep team journeyed to
Parry Sound for the weekend of 5-7 December for the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame
Annual Classic Tournament.
After a narrow 2-1 defeat to the Newcastle Stars in their opening game, the Kinucks found their A-game for the remaining opening round match-ups defeating Sault Ste Marie 8-1, the Niagara-on –the Lake Wolves 3-0 and the Dunnville Mudcats 3-1. Those wins and an impressive goal difference put the team in second place in the ‘round robin’ behind the home team Parry Sound Shamrocks.
The semi-final match up saw the Kinucks again facing the Newcastle Stars and looking for revenge for the opening game defeat. This time they got in front 2-0 in the first period and ran out 4-2 winners after an exciting last minute when Newcastle scored to make it 3-2 with 48 seconds remaining before a Kincardine empty-netter 4 seconds from the horn. Scott McFarlan picked up four points in the win, Shane Vollmer two with single points to Brett Burrows, Brad Pickett and Sheldon McBride.
So to the final against the Penetang Flames who had upset the home team Shamrocks in their semi-final and who the Kinucks had edged 2-1 to win the Archie McMillan tourney in October. Despite having the balance of play, Kincardine found themselves two goals behind in the second period, stunned by two Penetang goals in 14 seconds. But they fought back to 2-1 going into the third with a Tyson Rutledge solo effort. In a barnstorming first minute of the third the Kinucks took the lead with two goals in thirty seconds from Brad Pickett, assisted by McFarlan and Skylar Rutledge, and from Brett Burrows, assisted by Sam Culmer and Evan Brown. The excitement wasn’t done because in the next 30 seconds Penetang tied the game up only for Shane Vollmer to net one immediately, assisted by Scott McFarlan, to give the Kinucks the 4-3 game winning lead.
Great all-round team play, excellent passing and some stellar goaltending from Ethan Primeau and Dalton Regier – as well as keeping out of the penalty box - were the keys to Kincardine’s third tournament win of the season. In addition to the semi-final and final point scorers Raven Sharp, Marshall Smith, Ethan Long, Will Graham, Sheldon McBride, Jakob Dunlop and Grant Stevens made big contributions to the team effort and point scoring in the preliminary round. Coaches Cory Hamilton and Brett Binning plotted the victory from the bench.