The CrossFit Belleville Bantams will potentially match up
against the Kingston Frontenacs for the first round of the playoffs. As with
most years, the Whitby Wildcats finished first (potentially) with Quinte being a close second but
there is a difference this year with the team, the team is playing a better
“team” defence going into the playoffs.
Team defence starts and ends with the boys behind the blue line which includes three defence pairings and two goaltenders. The forward grouping can “talk the talk” but do they actually “walk the walk”, so goalies / defencemen …it’s your time to shine. The shining moments for a goaltender or a defence pairing is viewed in the plus minus statistics or goals against average (GAA) and our goalie tandem has a superb GAA in the last half of the ETA season and a stellar GAA in the last tournament.
The old cliché goes… “#Offence wins games but Defence wins Championships”…and your goalie / defence pairings for the Bantam Red Devils goes like this….
#31 Brennan Bush
Brennan improved his win total to 13 this season, his goals against average was also reduced and he covers the net like a goalie beyond his years
#34 Ethan Taylor
Ethan improved upon his win total over last year to 12 games and is technically sound as he shuts the door on opposing players
The Red Devils truly have the best two goalies in the ETA with each of them giving the shooters something different to have to contend with.
#4 Derrick Vos
Derrick took an involuntary hiatus from the Red Devils last season, he was sadly missed last year and his absence is one of the reasons why this team exited in the playoffs to Barrie rather easily, Derrick has the ability to blast up the wing and get the puck deep, crush you with a body check and defends his zone like a young pro
#7 Keegan Hunt
Keegan can fly at the opposition and throw a body check that purely neutralizes the player and extinguishes the offensive pressure from the other teams, Keegan can also hurt opponents with his speed and ability to make a pass to the forward grouping and become part of the play
#9 Connor Kennedy
Connor’s hard work and hitting ability are his key contributing attributes and make him a tough opponent to match up against, Connor also has the ability to keep the other team guessing as to the next play as he utilizes the many “team breakouts” to get the puck deep into the other end
#58 Cameron Supryka
Cameron has the ability to match Forwards speed as they cross into our blue-line and is where Cameron is most comfortable, just as the opposing forward thinks he has him beat … oops there goes the puck the other way, He can jump into the play with speed, has the ability to move the puck quickly and can turn on a dime in the corner to create space
#65 Carden Guerin
This is Carden’s first full year with the Red Devils and could have helped our blue-line stability over the last few years and is another reason why this team’s defensive end will be hard to penetrate, Carden creates space for himself with his speed, punishes the opposition with his hard hits and has the skill set to feed players ahead of him in the play
#72 Zach Uens
Zach has the offensive capability and the skill set to move the puck forward and jump into the offensive play with the intelligence to get back to the blue-line before an odd rush opportunity presents itself the other way. Zach enjoys separating the opposition with the puck and is capable of creating team chances 180 feet down the ice with this talent
These are the players on the Quinte Red Devils Bantam Team that don’t always get the press time as the local newspapers just “key” in on goals and assists, as a side notation they contributed to 26.6% of the team’s offensive point production during the season. With this said people who “know hockey” and watch this team consistently see the little things in our own end that make a HUGE difference in creating opportunities in the other end and more importantly on the scoreboard.
Patrons of the games will appreciate the wins, cheer on the goals and seemingly forget how the puck made it to the other end as the goalies stopped the pucks, the defencemen move it up the ice and collectively they do their job, they do it well and let the forwards take the glory. People who know, know when the team wins, they win because of the defensive efforts of ….#4, #7, #9, #31, #34, #58, #65, #72 … Now with the second season approaching and as the team prepares for the first round, it’s the defensive group’s time …. #Offence wins games but Defence wins Championships.