2018-2019 U10 - Minor PeeWee | Nov 18, 2018 | Bruce Schlitt | 2543 views
Minor Peewee AA Powerplay Champions
The Guelph Gryphons Minor Peewee AA's capped off an undefeated weekend with a solid 3-1 victory over the Gloucester Rangers in the finals of the Guelph Powerplay Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the West End Rec Center.
The Gryphons used relentless puck pressure and tenacious backchecking to control the play against the Rangers and cashed in on their scoring opportunities. Guelph opened the scoring 5:48 into the opening period when hard work along the boards by Matthew Stam worked the puck in front where Tanner Bothwell cashed in to make the score 1-0 for the Gryphons. The one goal lead held up through one period of play.
The one goal lead held up through second period as both teams traded chances in the fast paced game. Then with ten seconds remaining in the period, Noah Savery pinched down along the boards to stop a clearing attempt and he slugged it out down into the corner before walking out and roofing a backhander past the Gloucester netminder for a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers refused to give up and after the Gryphons ran into some penalty trouble, Gloucester capitalized by pinning Guelph into their zone when things returned to even strength and blasted a shot front the point to cut the lead in half. But with 6:13 remaing, Tanner Bothwell banged in his second of the game off a scramble in front to restore the two goal lead. For the remainder of the game, Guelph battled for the puck all over the ice and when a scoring chance was allowed, Ale Grousso came up big time and time again. The buzzer finally sounded to trigger the celebrations as the Gryphons were crowned Champions.
Due to an injury to netminder Parker Shany just prior to the tournament, Ale Gruosso was between the pipes for the entire tournament and was sensational only allowing six goals in six games. The Gryphons defensive unit of Nathan Boyle, Xander Speakman, Nolan Chabot, Noah Savery, Nathan Schlitt, and Zac Conroy also all had a strong weekend for the champion team.
The Gryphons went 3-0-1 in round robin play to finish 1st in their division with a 5-1 victory over the Kitchener Jr Rangers, 6-1 over the Copper Cliff Redmen, 6-0 over the Windsor Jr Spitfires, and a 2-2 tie against the London Jr Knights. In Sunday's semi final, the Gryphons defeated the Toronto Royals 3-1.
Congratulations go out to Head Coach Kaine Geldart, Assistant Coach Paul Sinclair, Assistant Coach Dan Conroy, Assistant Coach Greg Wand, and Assistant Coach Matt Shany on an excellent job.
Team Members of the Minor Peewee AA Gryphons are:
Ale Gruosso
Parker Shany
Tanner Bothwell
Nathan Boyle
Ryder Burns
Nolan Chabot
Tyler Chadwick
Zac Conroy
Oscar Johnson
Andrew McMillan
Olan Norton
Carden Rogers-Hickman
Noah Savery
Nathan Schlitt
Koen Smith
Xander Speakman
Matthew Stam