Oct 05, 2014 | Steve | 346 views
Early Days but, Atom Kinucks remain unbeaten..
The Kincardine Atom Kinucks have had a steady start to their pre-season, going 4 games without a loss. It's very early days but this team look to be full of promise, under the watchful eyes of coaches Doug MacTavish, Chris Wainwright and Len Arnold.
The season started with a solid 5-2 victory at home to the Mount Forest Rams. The Rams are anticipated to be a solid opponent this season, so it was an excellent early test for the young Kinucks. A few note worthy mentions from this game were two outstanding individual goals from Cody McLelland, a four point night for Noah Swann (1+3) and some excellent work between the pipes from Ryan Tanner.
The next challenge would come in the shape of the Walkerton Capitals. The Kinucks would be exceptionally impressive in this one, running out 9-0 winners. With a full quota of players available to him, coach Doug MacTavish decided to change things up a little, going with a younger but talented defensive group of Nate Arnold, Jared Houghton and Casey Beisel. Coupling this with the second year Atom defenseman Holden Stevenson, this group of players provided some top quality defensive play. Cam Fletcher and Noah Page were moved up into forward positions.
Again, some of the more memorable plays of the night were; some exceptional talent displayed by Sam MacTavish, who claimed two goals on the night, the first of which being a dazzling deke, before beating the goalie with a blistering wrist shot. Quinton Pagé would also demonstrate some exceptional skills against Walkerton. Pagé buried one goal having completed an awesome fake on the Capitals goalie Weber. His second piece of skill was possibly even more impressive. As Pagé skated over the blue line, toward the Capitals net, he'd get tripped and a penalty was called. However, this did not stop him, as he slid on his stomach he made an excellent pass to the incoming Cam Fletcher. Fletcher finished off high above the goalies blocker, giving him a 1+3 performance for the evening.
Another thing of note was how evenly spread the Kinucks goal scoring and assists were. Alex Colley-Aquino, Carson Fletcher, Cody McLelland, Holden Stevenson, Jared Houghton, Noah Swann, Nate Arnold and goalie Ryan Tanner, all chipped in with either assists or goals.
The following game was a midweek clash with the Hanover Falcons. Again, the Kinucks would run out 4-1 winners in a closely fought battle. Noah Swann (2+1), Carson Fletcher and Quinton Pagé (1+1) were the goal getters, while Nate Arnold, Sam MacTavish, Cody McLelland and Alex Colley-Aquino all claimed assists. Again, we saw a solid defensive performance from goalie Ryan Tanner and the quartet of Stevenson, Arnold, Houghton and Beisel, in front of him.
One other performance to mention was that of Noah Page who was excellent on the wing. His best performance yet!
Finally, the Kincardine Kinucks would make the drive down to Mount Forest to, again, face the Rams. This was a closely fought game throughout, as the Rams claimed a 5-5 tie in the final minute of the third period. Both short of players and coaching staff, stand in Head Coach Chris Wainwright told his team that he loved to see players get to the net and claim those 'ugly goals'. He certainly got his wish on the first goal, as Cam Fletcher bundled one in, in a scramble around the Rams net, giving him 1+1 for his afternoon of work. Noah Swann (1+2), Carson Fletcher (1+1), Sam MacTavish and Quinton Pagé also found the net, in an end to end match up.
All in all, it's very early days, but there seems to be no shortage of talent in this Kinucks team! Well done!