Dec 31, 2019 | Chris Matthews | 346 views
Groundhog Day at the Marlboros Holiday Classic
It felt a bit like
groundhog day this past weekend as the Foley Bus Lines Minor Midgets fell in
the semi-final at the Toronto Marlboros Holiday Classic to the Detroit
Honeybaked. Of the 52 teams competing, the final four teams (QRD, Detroit
Honeybaked, Buffalo Jr. Sabres & Detroit Compuware) ended up being the same
as the Silverstick earlier this season and the results ended the exact same
with Honeybaked taking the final over Compuware.
The divisional round robin play started for QRD on Friday versus the Rochester Selects which saw the game tied twice before the Devils finally potted the game winner before adding another to take game one 4-2. Game two Friday afternoon had the Foley boys up against the Halton Hurricanes where the locals built a four goal lead before finishing the contest with a 4-1 win. After a night’s sleep, the 04’s looked to clinch their division with a morning game Saturday versus the Don Mills Flyers. After a scoreless first, the Devils built up a two to one lead in the second before tacking on a couple insurance goals in the third to take the game 4-1 and lock up their division and a trip to the final sixteen playoff round. The final game of the round robin had the Devils up against the Markham Majors in a meaningless game for both teams and regrettably, the Devils brought a meaningless effort and dropped the contest with a final score of 4-1 in favour of the Majors. Tournament scheduling now had the Devils playing the waiting game as final round robin games were set for Sunday morning so the Devils had to wait until lunch time before finding the next opponent in the form of the London Jr. Knights. Although London got on the board first, the QRD’s tied it up before the first had ended. The locals built up a three to one lead before potting an empty netter to take the playoff contest with a 4-2 final. Next up was a familiar face in the quarters as the Devils faced their ETA rival Whitby Wildcats in a Sunday night quarter finals matchup. In this one, the black/red/white squad jumped all over the Wildcats building a four nothing lead in the first and cruised to the finish with that same 4-0 victory setting up a semi-final matchup with Honeybaked Monday morning. Unfortunately, the bad guys got on the board early and lead by one by the first buzzer. Honeybaked scored early in the second and although QRD got the game within one again, the Michigan boys stretched their lead to three by the end of the second. Quinte scored in the middle of the third frame but could not get any closer and fell by the same 4-2 final as their last meeting. Next Action……No rest for the wicked as the Devils are right back at it before the school break ends with three league games in four nights. Home to Whitby Thursday January 2nd 8:30pm at the Mackay pad, on the road Saturday in Markham 8:30pm and wrapping up in Clarington Sunday afternoon at 5:15pm.