The Atom Rep’s and their family’s got away early on Friday Jan. 9th in the middle of some heavy snow squalls, but all arrived without issue and ready to start the tourney opener against the home town Peterborough Pete’s. This was the 57th annual Liftlock Tournament with 97 teams competing in 9 different divisions. The Atoms competed in the C division with 17 other teams.
The first game proved to be one of Listowel’s toughest, as the Pete’s came out on top to win 3-2. Listowel got on the scoreboard 1st, scoring 6 minutes into the 1st period with a top corner snipe by Owen S. that was unassisted. The Pete’s battled back tying the game 9 minutes into the 2nd but it was short lived, 2 minutes later Ben N. buried a feed from Carter C. and Caleb A. to give the Cycs the lead and end the second period up 2-1. The third period scoring was all Peterborough, tying the game 4 minutes into the third than taking the lead with 3 minutes remaining. Cycs losing the opener 3-2.
The second game of the tourney came at 9:00am on Saturday morning after a night of swimming, ministicks and some apple pie to fill everyone up prior to bed. This match was one sided in the Cyclones favour against a much weaker Perth Blue Wing team. The Cyclones opened with 4 unanswered goals in the 1st period, the first goal coming from Brooke B. showing she is not all defence, making a run from the point with a feed from Owen S... The 2nd goal was from Ben N. with assists from Caleb A. and Camden M., The 3rd goal was an unassisted end to end rush by Camden M. followed by another unassisted goal by Ben N. The Second period saw Perth out score the Cyclones 2 to 1, Perth scored two goals and also had a penalty shot that Goalie Jack Z. was able to poke check to keep the Cycs up by 2. With 4 minutes remaining in the second Camden M. took a pass from Reid W. and deked Perths Goalie and put Listowel back up by 3 to end the period. Third period action had Perth score 1 more goal and Listowel score 2. Listowel’s goals were Owen S. with assists to Ben N. and Harrison M. followed by an end to end run by Camden M. that was unassisted. The Cyclones had 7 penalties and gave up one penalty shot but still dominated the game that saw Camden M. receive a trophy for his hat trick.
Game three was Saturday at 1:15 against a strong Loyalist Jets team. The game ended in a 4-4 tie that had Listowel leading the entire game but having to fight off 6 penalties. Ben N. scored the first 3 goals and assisted the fourth goal. Assists came from Owen S., Camden M., Ben S., and Drew W. The forth goal and his first of the tournament went to Ben S. Ben N. was the Cyclones offensive star also receiving a trophy for getting a hat trick, he also added an assist on the 4th goal.
After game 3 the Cyclones were able to go on a tour of the Peterborough Pete’s OHL Junior A change room, the players were able to see the Pete’s lockers and training rooms as well as all of the Pete’s history and memorabilia that surrounds the walls throughout the Pete’s change room.
With no time to spare the fourth game was Saturday at 5 pm for the Quarter Finals against Clarington. The Cyclones took an early lead and never looked back winning 4-1, Clarington had 5 penalties to Listowel's 3. The Cyclones Owen S. opened the scoring 5 minutes into the 1st with assists from Caleb A. and Camden M.. The second ended with one more goal from Ben N. that was assisted by Cole S. and Reid W. In the third period the Cyclones scored two more unanswered goals, first was Caleb A. assisted by Camden M. and the last Listowel goal was an unassisted shot from blue liner Drew W..
Clarington managed to score one goal in the remaining 3 minutes after seeing the Clarington Coach and 2 Assistant Coaches each getting ejected from the game. This advanced the Cyclones to the Semi finals on Sunday.
With three games and a Pete’s tour complete, the Cyclones left the fourth game with big smiles and went off to watch the Peterborough Pete’s Junior A’s beat the top rated team in the CHL, the Oshawa Generals in a hard hitting fast game.
Sunday morning came early, everyone slept fast and tried to get rested to start the Semi Final game against an undefeated Pembrooke Kings . The game time was 7:30am, but that didn’t faze the Cyclones. The Coaches got the team pumped with some pre-game Rock-em Sock-em videos, which proved to bring the team to life. Listowel handed Pembrooke their first loss with a 3-2 win that advanced the Cyclones to the finals. The Cyclones never trailed with goals in each period. The 1st goal was from Caleb A. with assists from Ben N. and Brayden W., The 2nd goal came ten minutes into the second period and gave the Cyclones the lead again to end the period up 2-1. The goal was a top corner snipe scored by Owen S. with assists from Ben N. and Brooke B. The third period was exciting with Pembroke tying the game 5 minutes in, but the Cyclones weren’t done. With two and a half minutes remaining in the third Carter C. took a roughing after the whistle penalty protecting his bruised and battered goalie. Thirty seconds into the short handed penalty kill, Ben N. got a feed from Brooke B. and Drew W. than deked Pembroke's goalie to pot the game winner. It was off to the Finals.
Game 6, the Final was set, Listowel against Oro Thunder. Again the Cyclones struck first, ten minutes into the first period Harrison M. cleaned up a loose puck in the crease after a scrappy scramble in Oro’s end, assists went to Ben N. and Drew W.. That goal would be the only scoring through the first and second periods. The Cyclones found themselves in the penalty box 5 times through the game but managed to keep Oro off the score sheet until the last seven minutes of the game when Oro was able to bat in a rebound and tie the game at one goal apiece. Than in the last minute of play Oro started a drive from their end and with 16 seconds remaining they got deep in Listowel’s end and picked the top corner to end the game. It was a battle all game with Oro out shooting Listowel by a small margin, but in the end the Cyclones just didn’t have any gas left in the tank. Players of the game trophies went to Listowel’s Goalie Jack Z. and Oro’s goalie.
A very proud Coaching Staff reminded the team of what they accomplished. They played 6 hockey games, including 2 early mornings, took in the full Peterborough experience by touring the Pete’s room and attending the game, and they all fought to the end, and left it all on the ice.
The Atom Rep Cyclones next tournament is the International Silver Stick starting Jan. 23rd in Forest.
Go Cyclones, Go
Team Reporter Don Zilliax