On Dec
5th and 6th the North Central Predators organization hosted the annual OMHA ETA
Showcase.
The 13 Minor Midget teams
from the ETA(Eastern Triple A), along with 2 NOHA (Northern Ontario Hockey
Association) Minor Midget All Star teams, all participated in games with all games between ETA teams counting
for league standings.
The Orillia Kelseys'
North Central Minor Midget
opened up their weekend when they faced off against the Oshawa Generals.
The Predators got off to a quick start and opened up an early 2-0 lead on the Generals in the first period.
A late goal by Oshawa ended the period with the Predators leading 2-1.
The Predators controlled the play most of the second period and fired 11 shots on the Generals goal and some strong Generals goaltending held the Predators at bay.
The Generals were able to take advantage of some North Central miscues and took a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period.
After the flood the Predators offence awoke and they quickly scored 2 goals to regain a 1 goal lead.
A resilient Generals team fought back and tied the game at 4-4.
A late North Central powerplay goal gave the Predators their third and final lead of the game and the final score at the buzzer was North Central Predators 5 Oshawa Generals 4.
Saturday afternoon had the Minor Midget Predators taking on the Quinte Red Devils. The Red Devils had beaten
the Predators earlier in the season and the home town team was looking to exact some revenge. A high tempo first period would end with neither team on the scoreboard. Early in the second period a Predator powerplay gave the home town fans something to cheer about when they took a slim 1-0 lead over the strong Quinte team. Minutes later Quinte tied the game with their own powerplay goal. A late powerplay for the Predators resulted in another goal for the home team and the period ended with the Predators leading the Red Devils 2-1. The third period was filled with more end to end action and halfway through the frame North Central extended their lead to 3-1. And empty net goal would end the scoring and the North Central Predators defeated the Quinte Red Devils by a score of 4-1.
Sunday afternoon the North Central Predators were looking to finish their weekend with a total of 6 points. The highly ranked Kingston Jr Frontenac team was the only obstacle in their way. The Predators powerplay could do no wrong on this day and 3 first period powerplay goals had the Predators up by a score of 4-0 after 1 period of play. The goal scoring continued in the second period and the North Central team lead the Frontenacs by a score of 7-1 after 2 periods of play. The Frontenacs were not going to give up and they came out in the third period and fired 13 shots on the Predators goal but once again it was the Predators who found the back of the net and the game ended with the North Central Predators scoring 9 and the Kingston Jr Frontenacs netting 1 goal.
The Kelseys Orillia North Central Minor Midget Predators are back in action at their home rink, The MASK in RAMA when they face the Richmond Hill Coyotes at 5:30pm on DEC 12th. The Minor Midget Predators would like to thank all the volunteers and the North Central Predators organization for the exemplary job done in hosting the OMHA ETA Showcase and allowing them to demonstrate their talents in front of the large number of spectators.
Written by Doug Sweeney