The Bonn Law Major Atom team reached the quarter finals at the Toronto Junior Canadiens Cup tournament this past weekend riding on teamwork and spectacular goaltending.
The Bonn Law Major Atoms travelled to the GTA this past weekend for their second tournament of the season hosted by the Toronto Junior Canadiens. The first game of the Canadiens Cup saw the Devils take on the GTHL's North York Rangers in a very early Friday morning match up. The Devils put on a very impressive display of teamwork while dominating the game and skating to a 5-1 win. Jacob Brown handled the goaltending duties for this game and turned away all but one of the Rangers' attempts.
The second game of the tournament saw the Red Devils take on the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs. It was the Chiefs who struck first as the Devils seemed to be feeling the effects of their early morning. The Chiefs then added another and the Devils scored one of their own, but still found themselves trailing by a goal at the end of the first period. The rest of the game was a different story as the Devils found their stride, and tallied three more to take the game 4-2. Tucker McKichan was solid between the pipes to earn the win.
Next up was the Chicago Young Americans. This was a very fast paced back and forth game that saw both teams getting quality chances. Although Chicago was first to get on the scoreboard, the Devils tied things up and took the lead before CYA added one of their own to tie things up again. The game stayed tied until late in the third when CYA managed to take the lead again and added another with less than a minute left. The Devils continued to work hard, but unfortunately ran out of time and fell to CYA 4-2. Despite the loss, Jacob Brown was sharp in the net for the Devils.
The Devils had to wait until later in the day for their final round robin match up with the Cumberland Grads. After the morning's loss, they knew this game was a must win if they wanted to get to the Quarter finals on Sunday. Tucker McKichan was in net for the Devils this time and although the Grads snuck one by him early in the game, his stunning performance gave his team the opportunity they needed to battle back. The Devils continued a firing on slot of shots on the Grads' goalie until finally with only a few minutes left, their hard work and determination paid off and they were rewarded with a goal to tie the game. Then, in dramatic fashion, they added another for the 2-1 win.
The Devils finished out the round robin play in 5th place overall out of the 16 teams that participated in this tournament. Their finish was enough to secure the first of two wildcard spots in the Quarter finals the next day where they would face the Whitby Wildcats. The Devils are quite familiar with the Wildcats and were looking forward to an opportunity for redemption after last weekend's loss. The game was a tense back and forth battle that saw both teams exchanging scoring chances along the way, but Jacob Brown sure came to play and was phenomenal for Quinte making several highlight reel saves between the pipes. Both teams fought hard, but when the buzzer sounded at the end of the 3rd, the score remained 0-0. 5 minutes of 4 on 4 overtime and 3 minutes of 3 on 3 overtime decided nothing as the match remained scoreless. Ultimately, the game was decided in a shootout with the Wildcats stealing the win.
Overall, the Devils have a lot to be proud of after this past weekend's performance and look forward to next weekend as they will participate in their home tournament, The Quinte Cup.