Oct 11, 2014 | Steve | 513 views
Kinucks continue with strong start
Kincardine Kinucks 6 - Mitchell Meteors 4
Wingham Ironmen 1 - Kincardine Kinucks 6
The regular season commenced on Friday night and the Kinucks continued on as they had been in their exhibition games... unbeaten..
The Kincardine kids had to jump in the cars and make a Friday night drive down to face the Mitchell Meteors. This might have been game 1 of the regular season, but expectations were high since both Kincardine and Mitchell had been in excellent form in the pre-season.
In 2013 / 2014 Mitchell had won both the Atom Rep and AE divisions, so Kincardine knew they were in for a battle.
In the absence of Jared Houghton this Thanksgiving weekend, coach Doug MacTavish would again have to shuffle the lines. This meant both of the teams 'foreigners' would revert to defence. Australian born Noah Page would drop back into D, along with the Englishman, Cam Fletcher!
It would prove to be a close fought, end to end encounter. Carson 'Teddy' Fletcher would set the Kinucks on the goal trail, picking up two on the night. His second goal was a bullet wrist shot from the hash marks.
Quinton Pagé and Noah Swann would also collect a brace each, as the Kinucks got themselves into a two goal lead with a couple of minutes remaining.
Cody McLelland and Casey Beisel would chip in with an assist each, in what turned out to be a closely fought game, between two strong teams.
An excellent win for the Kinucks, largely built on hard work, excellent goalkeeping from Ryan Tanner, and solid defence in the shape of Arnold, Stevenson, Beisel and the two overseas imports!! This excellent defensive play was even more prevalent when the Kinucks found themselves in a bit of penalty trouble, while Cody McLelland and Noah Swann had themselves a little rest in the Mitchell penalty box.
The next day saw the Kinucks take on the Wingham Ironmen as part of Hockey Day in Kincardine. Again, the Kinucks found themselves short of a couple of players requiring another shuffle of lines. Cam Fletcher would return to left wing in the absence of Carson Fletcher. However, the kids from Kincardine would still pick up a 6-1 win, against a hard skating Wingham team.
This game would also be the first appearance for Kwade Beisel in between the Kincardine pipes, as he put in a solid display when he took over from Ryan Tanner in the second period. Three goals from Noah Swann, two expert finishes by Sam MacTavish and a Quinton Pagé goal (1+1), would be enough to see this game out. Assists would be credited to goalie Ryan Tanner (his second of the season), Alex Colley-Aquino, Cody McLelland (2), Casey Beisel and Cam Fletcher.
Some more solid play was demonstrated by the defensive quartet if Page, Beisel, Stevenson and Arnold. Nate Arnold, in my opinion, having his best game of the season to-date.
Again, it was an excellent effort from each team. Hard skating and tough battling from both sets of players. The tough battling did see players from Wingham and Kincardine, get some two minute 'rests' in the Kinucks penalty box. Noah Swann, Quinton Pagé and Cam Fletcher, all getting some alone time before rejoining their team mates!
Excellent effort Kinucks!!