This Minor Atom Red team doesn't bow down to anyone, especially a 16 and 0 London Bandits team staring into the eyes of their first loss of the season!
Our team went into London Saturday night knowing they were facing their toughest opponent to date this season. The London Bandits are 1/3 into the season with a 16 and 0 record as the Ranger Red team came to play "literally."
In the dressing room, you could sense first hand that the boys were completely focused on that game. They stood united along the boards viewing the game ahead of them, entirely relaxed, engaged and ready to play. The skates got laced and you could feel the vibe of energy, they just wanted to hit that ice. Every player was asked to simply give 100% effort...win or lose...this coaching staff does not measure our success by the score in a game, provided each player can
honestly say they gave all the effort they had for the TEAM! The past two games have been the strongest two games of the season. You can feel the confidence they have in one another...the feeling of not wanting to let one another down, it has become about "We" and not "Me." We went out and defeated the strong London team 4-0, while also outshooting them 24-15 Saturday evening. I can't say enough about the complete team effort as the boys genuinely played for one another. They wanted their line-mates to succeed more than themselves. True team unity is a special accomplishment once you get there. We recognize to truly "win" you must first face some adversity in order to develop character in a team. I can tell you, this team is full of character, we couldn't be more proud of those 17 individuals no matter what the result is on the scoreboard.
Our Player of the Game could have been every single player that gave 100% last evening...however, one individual defied all logic and gave 110%. Nathan Ertel battled hard, played a complete game up and down the ice and lead our team by example. Nate drew a couple key penalties without retaliation and remained calm and cool as our team is known for their steady composure.
Thank you to Pita Pit for supporting our "Player of the Game" program. They have donated a free meal to each recipient as well as invited them into the store for a photo to be placed on their restaurant wall. GREAT game Nathan!!!
Not to be outdone by a strong team performance... we have a back 2 back Shut out recipient.
Aiden Leite was rock solid again and put up another zero on the scoreboard to earn the Shut out against London. Aiden has a true sense of calm in the net with a .956 Save percent average and just .864 Goals against average on the Season. Aiden was given the nick name "
Bounty Hunter" earlier this year due to his unwavering ability to track a puck the way this kid can! Congratulations Aiden on receiving your two "Shut out puck awards" as recognition of your amazing performances in the past two games!!!
