After winning three straight regular season games and taking four of their last five, the Devils went 1-2-and-1 on the weekend at the Gloria Rints International Silver Stick Tournament in Whitby. Quinte’s
best outing of the four-day tournament was their first, a 1-1 tie with the GTHL’s Toronto Marlies, then a pair of losses preceded a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
Against the Marlies on Thursday the Red Devils came to within 46 seconds of beating one of the province’s top-ranked teams, but Toronto needed the late-game comeback to equal Quinte in what could have been an eye-popping upset. Toronto pulled their goalie for an extra shooter with 1:20 to go in the game, ruining Lily Reid’s shutout bid 34 seconds later and stealing the 1-1 draw. Chase Cybulskie had Quinte’s goal, scoring late in the second period. Assists went to Blake Munnings and Isaac Tracze.
The Devils played two games Friday, losing to the eventual tournament champion, Huron-Perth Lakers, in an early-morning matchup after giving up a goal in each of the first two periods to get stonewalled 2-0. Ayden Mullen blanked the Lakers in the third, but it was to no avail. Later that afternoon the Niagara North Stars scored four powerplay goals, including one while two men up, as they cruised to a 6-1 win over the Devils. Niagara held period leads of 1-0 and 4-0 before Cybulskie got Quinte on the board just over five minutes into the third. The North Stars went ahead 5-1 with 2:12 left to play as Reid sat on the bench in favour of an extra attacker; they scored again with 30 seconds left after Reid had returned to the net. Jake Gawley and Ryan Foley assisted on Cybulskie’s goal.
During their final game of the tourney Cybulskie scored shorthanded in the first period, Tracze notched one in the second and Henry Fisher put in the third-period winner. Fisher’s goal gave the Devils a 3-1 lead with 4:44 showing on the clock as they held on to shave Buffalo 3-2. Chisholm (2), Rashotte and Munnings chipped in with assists while Mullen tended goal for the winning side.
The Silver Stick, consisting of 120 teams in four different age brackets, concluded Sunday afternoon with Huran-Perth beating the Toronto Red Wings 3-2 to capture the U16 crown. The champions posted a 5-0-and-2 record enroute. Only eight of the 30 teams entered in each age group advanced to the playoff round. The Red Devils finished fourth in their five-team division.
ON DECK...The Devils are on the ice again this weekend for a pair of road games in the Lake Simcoe region. On Friday they’ll be in Barrie to visit the Colts then it's off to Rama Saturday to face the North Central Predators. Infact, Quinte’s next seven regular season games are on the road, five in December and two in January. They won’t see home ice until January 11 when they host the York-Simcoe Express at the CAA.