Walkerton Capitals 2 - Kincardine Kinucks 9
The Novice Kincardine Kinucks completed their final game prior to the Xmas Silverstick Tournament, with a team performance as impressive as the score line suggests. With one eye on the upcoming tournament, this performance left the on looking crowd hopeful that the Kinucks would carry this form forward and make a good account of themselves in the regional competition. The game against Walkerton would prove to be a genuine hard-working team display with positives in many areas; from the solid goaltending of Kwade Beisel through to another one goal and one assist performance provided by, the French Connection, Jesse Pagé.
Noah Swann was supposed to be feeling unwell as the team
prepared for this game. Well, despite this, it would be Swann who would again lead
the way with an excellent four goals and one assist. Equally as impressive was the all
action contribution provided by Jared Houghton who would also chip in with one
goal and one assist, earning him a well-deserved hardest working player award.
Obviously, a good hockey team is more
than just goals and assists. Cody McLelland proved this to be true as he played
this game with heart, speed and skill. However, he miraculously did not get his
name on the score sheet! The same could be said of Carson ‘Teddy’ Fletcher
whose hard skating and skillful wing play shouldn’t be underestimated, as he continues
to be a key part of this team’s success.
Defensively the team is built on
the bedrock that is Holden Stevenson. In this encounter, Stevenson and Noah
Page showed they are again building the on-ice rapport that had proven so successful,
prior to Page’s recent vacation.
Another contribution worthy of a
mention was that of Ryan Tanner. Regularly I find myself writing about the
goalie heroics of both Kwade Beisel and Ryan Tanner. This game would see Tanner
skating out on the wing and it’s easy to forget how talented he is, when
playing as a forward.
The other players who earned
themselves a mention on the score sheet were centre Quinton Pagé (2+1) along with line mate, winger Sam MacTavish,
who scored one goal. Brock Courtney would also claim an assist on the MacTavish
goal. Possibly more impressive was Courtney’s plus / minus rating against the
Capitals. Of note; both Courtney and his defensive partner Cam Fletcher found
themselves racking up +6 totals for this game.
Overall, it was an excellent
display, with positives across the entire team. Here’s hoping that they can
carry it forward into the coming week.