Thanks to all
the Kitchener Lady Rangers U18 “A” ladies for their Mississauga Hurricanes
Winter Classic tournament weekend!
On behalf of James, Ken, Sarah, and Tim, I wanted to thank all the ladies for the Mississauga tournament weekend. Starting slow in game #1 against Mississauga 5879, you showed some great perseverance in the third. Down by two is never easy (for some unscientific reason, it remains the worst lead in hockey) and your comeback was amazing. Game two against Mississauga 5881 bore no resemblance to game one. A strong 1st period start was rewarded with several good scoring opportunities and a first period lead. With much more “compete”, the Lady’s came away with their second “W” of the weekend. The Lady’s had a great start in the first period in game three against (you guessed it) Mississauga 5886. After several missed net shots, a rocket top shelf shot after some sustained pressure put the Lady’s up by one. Some good “digging” as well as an “every shot on net is a good shot” goal had the Lady’s securing a trip to Sunday’s semi-final. The final round robin game against Cornwall was a spirited affair. A good game from start to finish gave the Lady’s their final “W” of round robin play.
Just because something happened “one day” previously does not mean that same thing will happen today, and the life lessons of sports should not be overlooked. In 2012, on the final day of the regular season, the Los Angles Kings clinched the final playoff spot finishing 8th in their conference. The Kings then went on to become only the second team to eliminate the first, second and third seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason (and the first team to do so in that order), to win the Stanley Cup. Moral of the story, you just have to make it to the (insert whatever you want here ….playoff’s, playdowns, job interview etc) and anything can happen.
Playing the fourth-place finishers, Mississauga 5881, the Lady’s experienced one of those life lessons. Despite out shooting, out chancing, and out playing Mississauga in the first three periods, an early overtime opportunity was all the Hurricanes needed to finish an otherwise great weekend of Lady Rangers hockey.
Remember what the tournaments are for. Yes, hardware is nice, but putting yourselves in a better position for playoffs and playdowns is what is most important. Yes, you had a few periods of ugly hockey, but these were more than offset with some amazing choices and options in all three zones. There can be no turning back from the good puck movement, generated opportunity, pressure, and systems of play that you displayed this weekend. The expectation is to carry this controlled, responsible play forth into the next two thirds of the regular season.
Thanks to Mississauga 5879 (3-2), Mississauga 5881 (2-0), Mississauga 5886 (3-0), Cornwall (3-0) and Mississauga 5886 (0-1) for five well-played games of hockey. Keep up the hard work ladies. Finishing top four in the regular season depends on it.
On behalf of the Kitchener Lady Ranger U18 “A’s” we would like to congratulate the Waterloo Ravens on their tournament Gold. Well done!
Daryll