Nov 29, 2017 | Jeremy Heibein | 895 views
2017 Annual Murray Johnson Local League Tournament
The Nov 24-25 weekend saw the Listowel Atom Red's travel to Hagersville/Caledonia for the annual Murray Johnson Local League Tournament. This was the first ever appearance by a Listowel team at this tournament, and the kids made sure to leave a lasting impression, coming away with the Atom division championship.
Game #1, sat morning, had the kids vs the Simcoe Malo Warriors squad. The Red's came out strong and jumped out to a 1st period lead on a goal from Gavin Falk. The period ended with a last minute goal from Jesse McConnell, set up by Kayden Helmka. Helmka did not stop there, as he added a buzzer beater at the end of the 2nd, scoring with less than one second left on the clock. The defense core took over from there, and the 3-man unit of Reid Terpstra, Maddex Sebastian, and Hunter Donahue were able to shut down any attack Simcoe posed. The forwards also did a strong job, led my a strong forecheck from Lauren Dehaan and Demarcus Anderson. Jaxon McLaughlin was solid between the pipes, picking up the shutout, with a final score of 3-0.
Game #2, Sat evening, was a tight checking match vs the Port Dover Pirates. The game was back and forth, as the teams felt each other out, until Donahue finally found the twine for the Red's. This tally held up the rest of the way, and was aided by Cameron Gibson, who netted his first of the tournament into the empty net. McLaughlin, again picked up the shutout in the 2-0 win.
These wins, put the Red's in the championship game Sunday morning vs the hometown Caledonia Crusaders. The squad was a little short-handed this game, and Blake McConnell did a great job transitioning back to help out the D-squad. Caledonia was able to open the scoring, but J. McConnell was quick to respond, and evened things up at the start of the 2nd period. The Red's took over from there, as goals from Sam Dennis (2), Gibson (2), and Donahue, had the Red's out to a commanding 6-1 lead. Assists on these goals went to Helmka (4), Falk (2), Dennis, Donohue, and Sebastian. Caledonia was able to add a late one, but Listowel took home the championship with a convincing 6-2 win.
The kids played great all weekend, and the coaching staff was proud of the hard work they displayed. Congrats Atom Red's on the hard fought win.
