The Kincardine Novice House League’s Green Machine took
their talents on the road recently, and skated away as Consolation Champions in
the Greg Dietz Memorial Novice Local League Tournament held in Teeswater,
February 2nd.
The boys and girls in green faced off against the eventual tournament winner, the Ayr Flames in their first game. Despite a valiant effort, Ayr’s top gun scored all of the Flames’ goals en route to a 7-3 victory over the Green Machine. Aiden Renaud had a pair of goals, while Mitchell Hackett chipped in one in the loss.
Undaunted, the group had time to regroup and focus, before taking on one of the hometown South Bruce teams for a ‘win or go home’ match. This one was a much tighter affair, with the green squad taking a 1-0 lead into the second frame via a first period goal from Chase Anderson. Anderson would score two more in the second and Aiden Renaud added one of his own before the Green Machine settled into defensive mode to protect the lead. Curtis Antle emerged as a defensive specialist with his relentless pursuit of the puck, stopping numerous attempts by the Mildmay group to penetrate the Kincardine zone. Jack Anderson stood tall in the net, and backstopped the Green Machine to a 4-2 victory and a trip to the Consolation final.
With barely enough time to catch their breath, the Green Machine found themselves on the ice a little more than an hour later to face Howick in the final. Despite some tired legs, the Green Machine smelled victory. With a much more balanced attack led by Aiden Renaud with four goals, and singles Chase Anderson, Mitchell Hackett and Sasha Spencer, the Green Machine broke a 2-2 tie early in the second period and forged ahead adding two more before the period was out and another two in the third to power their way to a 7-3 victory. Key saves by Jack Anderson, and rock-solid defense from Adam Nasimi and Kaiden Ford solidified the win, but this one was a team victory with each and every member chipping in at key times to make defensive plays and keep the Howick team at bay.
With the bumps and bruises of the day long forgotten after they received their trophies, the Green Machine offers many thanks to coaches Jeff Renaud, Darryl Mullen, Mike McKechnie and Dan Legge.