Kincardine Kinucks 5 – Saugeen Shores Storm 2
The Kincardine Kinucks welcomed back Noah Page having completed his walkabout down- under he was available to further bolster the blue line for the Flying K’s. Page was obviously very keen to get back on the ice and he seemed to have really missed his time in the penalty box, taking two early visits in this game. The second of his two penalties was awarded for some sort of on-ice crocodile ‘death roll’, which I presume he picked up during his time in the southern hemisphere?
This might have set the tone for a Novice game that was
fairly physical, with the Kinucks picking up a number of justifiably awarded
penalties, if the truth be known. Strangely, the officiating team, whom I assume
to have been Mr. Magoo and Bubbles, didn’t see any equivalent infractions for
the Storm.
Having gone behind in the first period, the Kinucks fought
back moments later with a goal from Swann, assisted by Cam Fletcher.
The Kinucks then took the lead in the middle of the second
period following a beautifully worked goal between Sam MacTavish and Noah
Swann. Excellent inter passing resulted in the ever impressive Swann claiming
his second of the game.
Goal number three came in the shape of Kwade Beisel, with a
well taken finish following a good build up that involved both Cody McLelland and
Quinton Pagé. This contribution put McLelland back on top of the team assists chart
with a total of 13 for the season for the talented winger. At this time, McLelland is
closely followed by Cam Fletcher and Sam MacTavish with 12 and 11 assists,
respectively.
Talking of assists, the best one, in my opinion, was awarded
for Holden Stevenson’s part in the 4th goal. As the Saugeen Shores
Storm forward sped down the right wing, Stevenson showed the winger down the
boards before taking his space and the puck. The D-Man then slid a perfect pass
onto the tape of Quinton Pagé's stick. The tricky forward stickhandled his way into the
slot, before firing a wrist shot into the bottom right hand corner. What made the
goal even more impressive was the fact it was short-handed, as Jared Houghton
was sitting out two minutes for body checking.
As previously mentioned the game had been somewhat physical
and this was demonstrated no more than by Cam Fletcher. Nicknamed ‘Chara’ by
his coach, he certainly lived up to his name as he stood his ground, when facing a speeding Storm forward approaching the Kincardine net. The result was a bone-jarring collision
which, thankfully, saw both players climb back to their feet, unscathed.
The 5th Kinucks goal of the game was blasted in
by the other member of the ‘French Connection’, Jesse Pagé. This was another
nicely taken goal, as the prolific goal scorer Noah Swann, turned provider for
this one.
The Kinucks did fight through another spell of short-handed
play, following a Brock Courtney two minute slashing penalty. Relying on the
likes of the hard skating Carson ‘Teddy’ Fletcher and the ever reliable Ryan
Tanner, in the pipes, the Kinucks battled through to a well deserved 5-2 victory.