Sep 23, 2015 | Neil Morgan | 1351 views
Pat Larock Memorial Tournament
Pat
Larock Memorial Tournament - Peterborough
With fishing rods and hockey sticks in hands, the Jr. Rangers Major Atom AAA team headed to Peterborough for the Pat Larock Memorial Tournament. It was the first tournament of the year and a chance for teammates and families to bond, renew friendships, and most importantly play some hockey before bidding summer farewell.
Pat Larock Memorial Tournament - Peterborough
With fishing rods and hockey sticks in hands, the Jr. Rangers Major Atom AAA team headed to Peterborough for the Pat Larock Memorial Tournament. It was the first tournament of the year and a chance for teammates and families to bond, renew friendships, and most importantly play some hockey before bidding summer farewell.
It was an early start for the Rangers in Peterborough with an 8:15 am game but the kids were wide awake and energized. They came out strong and skated to an impressive 6-0 victory over the Oshawa Generals. But with 9 hours to kill between games, the fishing, boating, baseball and sun took its toll. Despite taking an early 2-0 lead over the Southern Tier Admirals, the Jr. Rangers ended up with 2-2 tie. Saturday saw the Jr Rangers skate to a 4-2 win over the Brantford 49ers and a third period goal and shut down effort was enough to power the Jr. Rangers to a 1-0 victory over the Cumberland Grads.
Between the action on the ice the kids were busy with the action on the water. A fishing derby was held between games on Friday and Saturday. Teammates faced off against each other to determine who could catch the biggest (and smallest) fish and which group of Jr. Rangers could score the most fish in a certain amount of time. Evenings were equally competitive and adventursome as the boys left no territory of the resort unexplored during manhunt, while bonfires lit the night sky.
Despite reeling in 3 wins, 1 tie and 2 shutouts and finishing third out of 16 teams in the round robin, the Rangers were robbed from advancing to the semi-final round.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for coaches, players and parents who knew a championship trophy was well within their sights. While their disappointment was clear, the boys responded well from an encouraging post game talk by Coach Neil when a chorus of kids belted out “not it” in anticipation of yet another round of manhunt in the dark! What followed was an action packed final evening of charades, cards, roasting marshmellows and manhunt at the cozy familiar confines of our hockey retreat at the Catalina Resort. Definitely fun had by all and some great long lasting memories.