Feb 16, 2015 | Todd McIver | 711 views
Game 1 In the Books
With treacherous driving conditions, the Minor Peewee AA Blue team headed to London for their first play-off game in the AA loop. After road closures, white-outs, and a 2 hour drive the boys were antsy to get going.
With relatively no time to get stretched and warmed up before the game the boys had to get themselves into it right away! The first period began fast and Team Blue took it to their opponents from London. Playing a smart forechecking system, Blue caused many turnovers by their opponents and spent a lot of time in the Green end during the first 3 minutes. It would be London who would get on the board first however when a routine shot was redirected by a Blue defenders skate and slid by the Kitchener goalie. The majority of the rest of the period was spent in the Green team's zone as Blue kept coming! Although the period ended with the Rangers down a goal, they dictated the play for most of the frame.
The second period began where the first left off. Much of the first 5 minutes was spent putting pressure on the Green team in their end. A hit crossbar and a few near misses almost drew Blue even but then Green pushed back with some offence of their own. As Team Blue got away from their systems and began to chase, it opened the door for London to have a few flurries in the Blue end. Nearing the end of the period Team blue had the biscuit inside the Green zone but again, 3 forwards chasing the puck deep and a pinching d-man created a 3 on 1 going towards the blue end. After a couple quick passes, the puck found its mark over the glove of the Blue tender and in the waning seconds of the frame London would take a 2-0 lead.
The score would read 2-0 for the first 5 minutes of the third period until Blue got into some penalty trouble. With a 2-man advantage, Green moved the puck around the Blue zone and on a quick shot from the point through traffic, it found the back of the net. 3-0 London. Not giving up Blue again found their form from the first period and mounted an attack of their own. Another few close misses in the Green end now saw London scrambling around. This lead to a Green penalty and with 4 minutes left Team Blue opted to pull their goalie in favour of an extra attacker. During the 6 on 4 in the London end, Blue would finally pot a marker of their own! Good puck movement and overloading the puck created havoc for Green and Blue made no mistake. Although this is the way the game would end, most who watched the game thought Blue deserved a better fate. A few breakdowns in the offensive and defensive zones and a few bad breaks were the difference in this game. Even though a loss would be registered, the way the team played for most of the game was a promising sign. Not bad for this teams first ever game in the AA playoffs!!