Oct 09, 2012 | Brian Burnley | 846 views
Finalists in Cleveland! Go Blue!
Congratulations to MD Blue for reaching the finals of the Cleveland, Ohio Rock and Roll Cup!
Some early starts and a rainy weather didn't slow the guys down in our pursuit of a championship in Cleveland over the Thanksgiving long weekend. On Friday evening the boys travelled to Winterhurst Arena in Lakewood Heights, Ohio to defeat the combined aged Canton-Akron Penguins 5-1 with Antoine potting 4 of our 5. After a bit of sleep the Famington Hills Fire played us a scrappy game as we won 3-1 to move to 2 and 0 (thanks to some strong work by Fergie in the net and some heads up passing by our D). Later that night, at Gilmour Academy, the guys really came together to systematically dismantle the Summit Plastics to a 10-0 final. A sleepy 7 am semi-final matched us against Famington again where the boys were able to eek out a close, but well earned, 3-2 win to advance to the Championship game. The mixed age Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles are a top 25 ranked AA team in NY state and the guys opened up a 3-1 lead with 3 breakaway saves by Adam helping our cuase. Ultimately Niagara's speed proved to be too much as they pulled away to an 8-4 win in a game that was closer than the score indicated. Every forward is now in the goal column and it's safe to say that a lot of very good learning came from that loss. Not second to the hockey was the polite and respectful manner in which the boys carried themselves all weekend long with not one single breach of team rules being noted. Thanks goes to all boys, their parents and families for sharing the Thanksgiving holiday with us, team staff (OktoberMarc the sausage man) and Guy Exley (a.k.a. OnStar)for his hard work keeping everyone organized.
I remind the guys that 6:30 am practices win 7 pm games so be ready to go 5 minutes before each and every scheduled practice start time. Congratulations and thanks to our supporters.
"Hustle and Heart Sets Us Apart"