Sep 27, 2012 | hcosgrove | 286 views
Stars in Exhibition
The St Thomas Jr Stars Midget AE team kicked off their 2012/13 season with a pair of exhibition games versus our local rivals the Port Stanley Sailors. It was a good opportunity for the coaching staff to get a better look at the team in a real game situation and play with some line combinations as we draw closer to the start of the regular season.
In the first game on Saturday, the team found themselves on their heels a bit against the strong skating and aggressive Sailors team who had one exhibition game under their belt already. The play was pretty scrambled but thanks to some fantastic goaltending early on, the boys were able to find their feet a little bit. In fact, it was the Stars who opened the scoring and held a 1-0 lead as things began to click. The Sailors did not relent though and after some breakdowns in our defensive zone coverage, the Stars found themselves ending with a 5-1 loss. The injury bug has already taken its toll with one player unable to play either game and we lost another to a broken wrist at the end of the first game. That and work schedules would leave us short-handed for game two.
In game two on Monday night, the team again found themselves on their heels due to some scrambled play and two consecutive 10 minute misconducts for mouth guard infractions to our defensemen. Two of our forwards were pressed into action on the back end and we managed to get through the period without giving up a goal. Again, thanks in part to some great goaltending the Sailors were kept off the score sheet. As the game progressed, we had flashes of the defensive system we are working to implement and that seemed to keep the Sailors at bay. A partial breakaway though, lead to Port Stanley scoring in the second period and giving them a 1-0 lead. Our boys did not give up though and were rewarded with a goal of our own to tie the game. The game would end tied, but I believe it was a victory for our team, as we worked a little bit harder to keep the Sailors from blowing this game wide open. To summarize, we still have a long way to go, but there are some encouraging signs. When we can get our full roster on the ice, we should be able to tighten things up in our own end and create some more offensive chances. As I told the team in the change room, we are working towards a goal. That goal is in January and February when the games take on more significance and bring the greatest rewards.