Donning balaclavas and long
johns, and patched from head-to-toe in heating pads, the Owen Sound Canadian Tire
Jr. Attack Tykes staved off two days of bitter cold temperatures to advance to
the quarterfinals of Peterborough’s outdoor Under the Lock tournament this past
weekend.
Held on six outdoor rinks on the historic Trent Canal from Feb. 8-9, the Under the Lock is the only tournament sanctioned by minor hockey for play on a body of water in Canada.
The Tykes, who finished with a round-robin record of 1-1, advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday to face a chippy Wheatfield AAA Blades team hailing from New York state.
Leaving everything on the ice, Owen Sound skated and battled hard for three periods before admirably falling to their American counterparts, 7-1.
Jaren Pirie notched Owen Sound’s lone goal in the quarterfinal loss, with assists provided by linemates Maddox Burgess and Brian Corbett.
“The kids played really well against some very good teams,” said Jr. Attack head coach Rick Corbett. “The confined space of the narrow ice surface worked against us, with our overall size being smaller than most other teams and our stronger skating skills not being able to be used.”
The Tykes opened the unique tournament on a frigid Saturday morning by dropping a 9-5 decision to the host Peterborough Petes. Owen Sound received goals from Burgess, Corbett, Nolan Edmonstone, Bennett Carr and Hunter Stewart, with helpers supplied by Corbett, Ethen Williams, Keltan Berner, Jacob Gole and Michael Smith.
Faced with a must win situation to earn a playoff berth, the Jr. Attack passed the test with flying colours by downing the Brock Wild 5-2.
Burgess, Edmonstone, Corbett, Stewart and Leighton Hurst all found the back of the net in the win, while Pirie (2), Corbett (2), Carr, McMillan, Cohen Taylor, Lucas McManaman and Percey “Clutch” Roney, who went two for two in shootouts (used prior to each round-robin game as a tiebreaker rule in the standings), chipped in with the helpers. Netminders Ryan Cooke and Alyssa Barnard shared the win.
“The extreme cold temperatures of the early morning games was a big test for all the players on both teams,” said Corbett. “It was, for sure, a once in a lifetime weekend that nobody in attendance will ever forget.”
The Tykes (1-0) will spend this week thawing out before hosting the Creemore Novice Valley Hawks (0-1) for a Georgian Bay Minor Hockey League playoff tilt on Saturday. The puck drops at the Bayshore at noon.
In other GBMHL playoff news, the Coldwater Wildcats improved to 1-0-1 by edging the Shelburne Wolves 2-1 on Sunday.