The Canadian Tire Atoms played two games on the weekend and
came away with a win and a loss. Both matches could be considered the “rubber-match”
as the Kinucks had a win and a loss against both teams heading into these
highly anticipated tilts against the Saugeen Shores Storm and the Listowel
Cyclones.
The first match of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon in the chilly confines of the Southampton Coliseum against the Saugeen Shores Storm. Having previously beaten the Storm 5-3 and having lost in exhibition 7-5, the Kinucks came out on a mission to get the upper hand and dominated from the get-go, but it was the Storm who opened the scoring six and half minutes in on a rebound tally. The CTC Atoms continued to press and were rewarded with the equalizer with just 17 secs remaining in the opening frame. Jordan Moulton buried a rebound after some fine work by Cameron Renaud and Wilson Shipp in the Storm end. The Kinucks continued to pour it on with Moulton scoring two more in succession before the second frame was four minutes old to claim the natural hat-trick. Not to be outdone, Shipp completed his own hat-trick in the third, and along with two goals from Carson Fletcher, the Kincardine squad skated away with an 8-3 victory. Darcy Scott chipped in with two assists and Jordan Beisel was credited with one. Although the assists were limited on the game sheet, the whole team played with fire and passion, forechecking, passing and defending to control the tempo throughout. The goaltending duties were split between Ryan Tanner and Gordie Reaume with both ‘keepers playing solidly between the pipes when called upon.
After a blustery Sunday afternoon drive, game two was set in Listowel against the Cyclones. Once again a rubber match as Kincardine beat the Cyclones at home but lost to them in the Tillsonburg Tourney. Kincardine was given an early “holding the stick” power-play which despite some fine passing and shooting they failed to capitalize on. This early call and strong Kinuck power-play seemed to intimidate the referee as numerous Listowel tripping and tackling penalties were let go with one missed call directly leading to their second goal. After the Cyclones opened the scoring at the 30 second mark of the second period and with three minutes remaining, the Kincardine forward chipped the puck out of his end and in hot pursuit, was blatantly tripped by the Listowel player. Both referees hands immediately went into the air, and with the whole arena figuring a tripping call was in order, the Kincardine coaches summoned their goalie to the bench for the extra attacker. Lo and behold, both arms went down when Listowel gained control of the puck and they were able to bury the rubber into the gaping cage vacated by the Kincardine goalie. A strange one indeed! The local boys, though not impressed, continued to press but it was Listowel who scored the third goal at the eleven minute mark of the third to almost seal the deal. But, these “never-say-die” Kinucks are not prone to giving in and they weren’t about to now. Two minutes after the third Cyclone goal, Wilson Shipp fed Jordan Moulton in the slot who buried a backhander cheese to cut the lead to 3-1. Although the CTC squad carried large portions of the play throughout the game, the Listowel goaltender and their strong, aggressive back-checking thwarted the Kincardine attack time and time again. Final score: Listowel 3, Kincardine 1. Next up for the CTC Atoms is a home date against the Goderich Sailors on Wed Dec 18 @ 6pm, after which the team will be wrapping Christmas presents that will be donated to local charities by the team.