When our token Canadian Conor Gleason found out we were playing in Ontario he was excited. That is, until he got a look
at the rink. Sunday, the Ventura Mariners Bantam Killer Bees traveled to the toxic wastelands to play the Eagles. This was
the forth game in a row versus a team that dropped down from the "A" division.
The game started
out a little on the slow side, but the Mariners seemed like they were controlling the play. TJ Samual got the scoring started
with a net-crashing rebound. A couple minutes later, the aforementioned Conor started what would be a prolific afternoon,
when he scored. The Eagles came right back and tied it up. Conor, again would give his team the lead, only to see it disappear a
few seconds later. It was a crazy back and forth game that was giving Coach Sergey an aneurysm. The team settled down, got
focused and never looked back.
Jason Hart scored late in the first to start his own march towards
glory. As the clock was winding down, Cameron Torres snuck in from the blue-line and smacked in his first goal of the season.
The boys rolled for the remainder of the game, scoring at will. Both Conor and Jason finished the game with an astonishing 4
goals and 4 assists apiece. Shane Heller had a jaw-dropping 5 assists. Corey Werden popped in a rebound and had an assist.
JB Lovelace had two helpers as did Brian Zacchia. Luke Tickle also made the score-sheet when he set up Corey's goal. The Mariners
won the game 11-4 and did it with utter dominance.
Birthday boy Gianluce Allen started the game,
but was probably thinking more about his party than hockey. If you believe the score-sheet, he gave up 3 goals on 2 shots.
Coach Sergey brought Mark "Butters" Becica in relief, sending a message to both his goal-tender and the entire team. The ploy
worked as the team rallied and kicked butt. When Gianluca came back in the game he was focused and finished strong.
Defensively,
the team played great, not giving the Eagles many quality chances. Blake Burlew and Tom Dobrokhot were stellar on the blue-line,
keeping the puck alive. With the exception of a minor indiscretion, Josh Kuchinskiy played a perfect game, using that big
body of his to essentially destroy everything. Up front, Killian Anderson was the only forward not to get a point, but he
had one of his best performances to date. He finally started showing off some of his skill set as he deked and faked his way
through the Eagles, peppering the goalie with shots.
The boys have now played all four teams that
dropped and they are 2-2. They can compete with all of the sandbaggers and in at least half the time annihilate them. The
team really feels like they've found they're groove and with each week get stronger and more confident.
Last
year, Corey's dad and I coached a tournament team that played an exhibition at the old Ontario rink. Most of the kids ended
up getting sick and a few of them had to be hospitalized. The next day, that same rink made the news when several more skaters
had to go to the emergency room. The rink is full of toxic fumes both from the ancient Zamboni and the antiquated cooling
system. I had hoped they had fixed these problems and was looking forward to joking about it in this report. However, I and
several parents got headaches yesterday. Now, I'm hearing that we a have a few sick kids too. The city either needs to shut
that place down, or force the owner to install an new ventilation system.
Homeboys - Saturday, the boys played a friendly scrimmage against our very own Titan pee
wee AA team. It was a great warm-up between two evenly matched teams. I don't want to brag, but the Killer Bees mounted an
awesome come-from-behind victory. I would like to personally thank the Titans players, coaches, and parents for a fun afternoon
of hockey. I hope we can do more of this type of thing in the future.
Honorable Mention - I told Blake if he went and fetched my notoriously slow son from the
locker room, I'd give him first star of the game. Unfortunately, we had two kids with 8 points each and a defenseman with
his first goal of the season. So, I am giving Mr. Burlew the first and only "Off-ice First Star of the Game." It is even more
prestigious than the "Most Improved Speller" ribbon I won in second grade. Congratulations Blake.
