My apologies for the delay in posting the results for this tournament for which the Montana's Cookhouse Minor Bantam Predators performed very well.
A few weekends ago, we travelled to Buffalo to participate in the Harborcentre Cup. We were playing a variety of teams for which we had not met in the past.
Our first game, we took on Ted Reeve Thunder which a team from a GTHL loop who had an impressive record the previous season. The Preds came out flat and consequently, were handed a 3-1 loss in their first game of the tournament.
For our second game, the Preds bounced back vs the Rochester Storm with a 4-2 Win. They found their legs and their groove and played their style of game which aloud them to be successful.
Buffalo Jr Sabres were the next opponent and were definitely a much faster team. The Preds started a little slower but fought back in the 3rd period to come roaring back to a 6-6 tie. It was a great showing of never say die for the boys!
Coming out of the round robin, the Preds were ranked in 2nd place in our pool and were taking on the Rochester Monarchs who were ranked 1st in the opposing pool in the semi finals. The Monarchs were undefeated and had 0 goals against in the tournament. With their US ranking, the Preds were definitely the underdogs. The Preds took on that challenge handing them not only their first goal against but their first loss. It was a great early morning win for the Preds!
And so we meet the Buffalo Jr Sabres again in the final. The Preds knew that we can play with them and battle hard. The Preds scored first but the game was back and forth and overtime was needed to determine this game. Just before the conclusion of the first OT period, the Sabres scored to end our tournament victory hopes.
This was a successful tournament for the Preds despite the loss in the final. We played some highly ranked US teams, overcame some internal early morning jinxes and had a great weekend in Buffalo. Looking forward to our next tournament!!