After much deserved rest since winning the Regional Silver Stick the Kincardine Novice Kinucks went on to play at the West Grey Tournament on January 11, 2014. The team was still excited from their win during Christmas Holidays but it didn’t take long for the coaching staff to settle the team and be focused on the next task on hand.
The first game of the tournament came early as the team hit the ice at 8:00am in Ayton, Ontario but that didn’t stop these young athletes from performing well. They faced off against Shelburne and it didn’t take long to get the first goal as Quinton Page scored at the 8:26 mark of the first period assisted by one of the members of the schooner line Dylan Chinnick. The scoring continued with Tyler Johns scoring the next three goals getting a natural hat trick assisted by Quinton, Page, Graeden Colhoun and Nolan Janes. The action continued as Jared Houghton got a pair of goals both assisted by Casey Beisel. Tyler Johns came back for another goal assisted by Quinton Page. Dayle Chinnick who played the third period on Center set up Quinton Page for another goal with a beauty pass. As the game came to a close at 10-0 for the Kinucks we can’t forget about Nolan Janes notching a pair of goals of his own assisted by Graeden Colhoun and Jared Houghton. Great team effort is what won this game as Kincardine Dominated much of the first game of the tournament.
Next Game was played at noon against a familiar team from regular season action, the Hanover Falcons. The Falcons were not to be taken lightly as the host team West Grey had only beaten them 3-2 earlier that day. The novice Kinucks were prepared for a good match up. Again Kincardine didn’t take long to score goal #1 as Kincardine did the first line change on the fly Quinton Page stepped onto the ice just when the puck happened to go by him as he flew up the wing with a couple dekes and scored unassisted at the 9:08 mark of the first period. It took a while for Kincardine to score again as Hanover played a strong defensive game but once Kincardine caught onto their game plan the goals continued with a total of three goals in the second period. First one was a nice goal by Graeden Colhoun assisted by Jesse Page with a nice pass from behind the net. Quinton scored the next two goals to get his hat trick assisted by Nolan Janes and Casey Beisel. The third period saw nice end to end action with Rowan Cherrett making nice saves and also Nate Arnold scored a nice goal shot from the blue line assisted by Quinton Page. This game would finish 5-2 for Kincardine which would advance them to the championship game at 6:00 pm.
The Championship game was played against the host team of the tournament West Grey. With the Kinucks having been in Ayton at the Arena all day while West Grey rested in the comfort of their homes the Kinucks were clearly at a disadvantage for this final game, or one would have thought. Kincardine played like they know how to do as they dominated this game not giving the West Grey players the room they are used to. Quinton Page opened up the scoring assisted by Graeden Colhoun and the next goal of the game was a nice shot scoring five hole by Dylan Chinnick as he rushed up the wing assisted by Quinton. Kincardine was given a too many men on the ice penalty (which some could argue) that allowed West Grey to come back in the game with a power play goal. But this is when it would stop for West Grey as Kincardine got another three goals in this game scored By Graeden Colhoun on a nice breakaway goal, and also Quinton Page and Jared Houghton would add to the scoring assisted by Nate Arnold and Quinton Page. Great work was played by Casey Beisel, Dayle Chinnick and Nate Arnold to kill a 5 on 3 penalty while Jared Houghton and Quinton Page would sit helplessly in the penalty box. And this would end the game with a 5-1 win. So there you have it folks another tournament won by these talented hockey players. Well done team.
It wasn’t much time for Kincardine to move onto the next regular season game as they made the trip to Mt. Forest the next morning after winning the west Grey tournament the night before. It was obvious our little stars were tired and didn’t have the legs for this match up against the fast paced Rams. So Kincardine fell short in a 3-1 loss against Mt. Forest with the lone goal of the game scored by Quinton Page assisted by Brandon Bishop. The Rams now sit tied for first in the standings with the Kincardine Kinucks. Come on out and cheer for the Kincardine Novice Kinucks as their next game is Friday January 17, at 6:00pm against Saugeen Shores Storm at the Tiverton arena.
Written By Perry Johns