Listowel Minor Hockey To Implement Shoot Outs
The End of Tied Games
Could you imagine? Would the LMHA Executive be so bold to follow in the NHL footsteps and end regulation tie games? The NHL adopted the new rule for the start of the 2005/06 season. The last official tied games were on April 4, 2004. Philadelphia and New York skated to a 3-3 draw, as well Carolina and Florida posted a 6-6 score. The NHL adopted the rule so teams tied late in the 3rd period would not go into a defensive mode to protect the score of the game.
This weekend, the Novice Rep team handed the fans yet another display of “I can’t go pee now, the score is tied” excitement.
Saturday found the team lucky enough to participate in Hanover’s Hockey Days Celebration. Hanover matched up well against Listowel, who was short a valuable player of Chet Crosby. Niko Grabovski fed Carter Crosby to take the short-lived lead in the game. Hanover scored a controversial goal by banging away at the side of the net and forcing the puck to scoot free from a sprawling Josh Kiprosoff to tie the game at 1 all.
Luckily the referees kept the whistles in their back pockets, and both teams escaped the penalty box through out the game. Colin Phaneuf’s “I didn’t mean to do that” face kept him from being the team’s PIM leader.
Defensive moves by Drew, Tayttum, Cole and Colin kept the wingers busy with numerous feeds up the boards. Mika, Brayden, and Ben elevated their games and worked hard against a stingy Hanover defence. Carter Coates, Bret, and Carter Coombs worked hard to make their own scoring opportunities, but Hanover’s net-minder was playing the game of his life.
Listowel’s Josh Kiprosoff held off the charging Hanover forwards over and over to earn him and the team a very well deserved tie. Final score 1-1.
Sunday had the Rep team facing a well-balanced Seaforth team, which handed Listowel a 9-2 loss in October. Little did they know Chet Hudson was back from a try-out with the Niagara Ice Dogs, and it was Drew Wilken’s birthday. Nobody messes with a Wilken on his birthday.
The game had an incredible amount of anxious moments. Tayttum Kessell found himself being hammered into the boards after a race for the puck in the Listowel end. After a few minutes to regain his composure, Tayttum did exactly what his dad Nathan would do, and bounced back with a flurry of incredible hustle on both sides of the puck for the remainder of the game. Drew didn’t let the crowd down, and used his finesse and power to send the Seaforth forwards a message “You will not get past me, not on my birthday”.
Brayden Eberle had the most touches of the puck this game, and continued to shovel the puck in front of the net all game.
Niko Grabovski showed off his incredible balance, and when tied up with a Seaforth player, Niko was the first to skate away. He must have a balanced edge of some sort.
Sorry to hear the try-out for the Ice Dogs didn’t work out Chet, but the team was sure glad to have your end-to-end presence back.
Mika, Ben, and Carter Coates contributed with amazing offensive chances, but were stoned by the Seaforth goalie.
The offensive duo of C&C (Carter C. and Carter S.) dazzled the crowd with an abundance of shots that had trouble finding the back of the net. At the other end of the rink, the defensive duo of C&C (Cole and Colin) showed poise and work ethic that any OHL team would kill to have.
Bret Crosby parked in front of the net was denied chance after chance to bury the puck by the Seaforth defence.
Josh Kiprosoff had another game that left the opposition and their fans wondering just how do you get a puck past this younger version of Kiprosoff. The stick-work, the glove saves, the stacked pads, is there anything this goalie can’t do?
Back to the “I can’t go pee now, the score is tied” excitement.
The dieing seconds had fans gripping the railing, and screaming uncontrollably. Wait. I think that was Dragon looking for an empty coffee cup. Great job guys. Score 0-0
Maybe the NHL Board of Directors should watch a few Listowel games and witness the never-ending effort, and excitement a tie game produces. LMHA Executive has no reason to bring the topic of a shoot out for tied games. Look at the excitement we would miss!