On
Thursday Nov 27th The Kelsey's Orillia North Central Minor Midget Predators
travelled to Whitby for the 2015 SilverStick Finals. The Predators started the
Minor Midget schedule off when they faced off against their ETA rivals and
defending OMHA Champions the Clarington Toros.
With both teams having to face the always strong Toronto Marlies later in the tournament this game was of the utmost importance for them if they were hoping to win the division or secure 1 of the 2 wildcard spots.
The game was a close match with neither team wanting to give up any scoring opportunities and it wasn't until half way through the game that the scoreless tie would be broken by the North Central Predators.
The Predators would take their slim 1-0 lead into the third period.
The final period was again tight checking and the Predators were able to hold off the Clarington Toros and take the 1-0 victory.
Friday morning The North Central Predators had to take on the Windsor Spitfires. With their strong commitment to defense the Predators continued to hold their opposition off the scoreboard through the first period of play and enjoyed a 1-0 lead at the end of the period. The Predators were able to increase their lead to 2-0 in the second and extend the streak of holding their opponents off the scoreboard to 5 periods of play. In the third period the Spitfires abruptly put an end to the streak of the Predators by scoring 3 goals in a 3 minute span taking the lead by a score of 3-2. A late push from the shocked Predators team was unsuccessful as they fell to the Spitfires by a score 3-2.
With a record of 1-1 the Kelsey's Orillia North Central Minor Midget Predators faced a must win situation when they took on the Toronto Marlies in their third game of the tournament.
The Predators came out with intensity and played some inspired hockey in the first period but a late power play goal would put the Marlies up by 1 at the end of the period.
Early in the second some solid fore checking by North Central forced a Marlies turnover and the Predators' would tie the game at 1-1.
The aggressive play of the Predators got them into penalty trouble in the period and the potent Marlies power play once again capitalized and by the end of the second 2 more Toronto power play goals had the Marlies up by a score of 4-1 after 2 periods.
The Predators' continued their inspired play in the 3rd period and managed a power play goal of their own cutting the Marlies lead to a margin of 2. Some late period efforts by the Predators went unrewarded and the final score was Toronto Marlies 4 North Central Predators 2 effectively eliminating the Predators from playoff action.
Saturday afternoon it was the Predators turn to play spoiler as they looked to dash the Niagara North Stars
hopes of making the playoff round. The first period was end to end action and both teams exchanged quality chances. The period ended with the teams tied at 1-1. The second period was more of the same with the Predators taking a 2-1 lead only to have Niagara tie it up moments later.
Late in the period North Central would be the first to take a 2 goal lead when they were able to put a couple more pucks behind the Niagara netminder and take a 4-2 lead. A last minute goal by Niagara made the score 4-3 for the Predators' going
into the third period. The Predators' would again extend their lead to 2 midway through the third period but once again Niagara's late period push resulted in a goal and the score at the buzzer was North Central Predators 5 Niagara North Stars 4.
A record of 2 wins and 2 losses was not good enough for the North Central Minor Midget Predators to move on in the strong field of 30 teams.
The Predators will next be in action at Rotary Place in Orillia when they take part in the Annual OMHA ETA Showcase starting Dec 5th. Come out and Support the Kelsey's Orillia North Central Minor Midget Predators as they face off against the Oshawa Generals at 9 am on Dec 5th and later in the day look to avenge an earlier season loss to the Quinte Red Devils at 2:30pm. On Sunday Dec 6th the Predators will finish their showcase games off when they take on the Kingston Jr. Frontenacs at 2:30pm.
The North Central Minor Midget Predators team consisting of Jared Towns, Brody Read, Patrick Brown, Tyler Gysbers, Jake Smith, Nathan Balkwill, Taylor Stinson, Brody Cadeau, Derek Sweeney, Isaac Emon, Nathan Smilsky, Zach Berriault, Aidan Graham, Casey Stevens, Aidan Dudas, Ethan Priaulx, Mitchell Pellarin and Patrick Musico look forward to taking the ice in front of their hometown fans.
Written By Doug Sweeney