Minor PeeWee AA White are the International Silver Stick Finals Champs!, News, Minor PeeWee White, 2019-2020, AA (Whitby Minor Hockey)

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Jan 13, 2020 | Catherine Bell | 1407 views
Minor PeeWee AA White are the International Silver Stick Finals Champs!
The Whitby Wildcats Minor Peewee AA White team travelled to Newmarket this weekend to compete in the International Silver Stick Finals. Fresh off winning the Chatham Regional Silver Stick qualifying tournament in Chatham in mid-December, the Wildcats opened the tournament on Thursday evening with a tough 5-1 loss to a solid Honeybaked squad from Michigan, the eventual round robin winner of Division 2.   

The Wildcats second game of the tournament was against the Vaughn Rangers, winners of the Whitby Silver Stick Regional qualifying tournament. Knowing this was essentially a game they had to win or tie, the Wildcats dominated Vaughn for three periods, coming away with a 3-0 win. 

The team’s second game on Friday was against the Stratford Warriors. In a must win game for them, the Warriors came out strong, scoring one minute and 23 seconds into the game and adding another goal just 10 seconds later. The shell shocked Wildcats finally gained some momentum late in the first period, scoring with one minute left in the period on a breakaway. After a solid second period which featured plenty of scoring chances but no goals, the Wildcats tied the game a minute into the third period. Despite dominating the game’s final frame, the Wildcats didn’t net the game winning goal until there were three minutes left. 

The final game of the round robin was Saturday morning with the Wildcats playing their crossover game against the top ranked team from Division 1, North Toronto who entered the game with two wins and a tie. Despite playing a solid game, the Wildcats were down 1-0 entering the third period, gave up another goal to go down 2-0 with four minutes remaining and another empty net goal with less than 10 seconds remaining. 

The Wildcats finished the round robin in 2nd place in Division 2, which meant they would face off against North Toronto in a rematch game in the semifinals. The Wildcats came out with a strong first period, scoring just four minutes into the game. With the team’s trading scoring chances, the Wildcats scored again to go ahead 2-0 two minutes into the second period before adding another goal seven minutes later. With North Toronto pressing hard in the third period, they closed the gap to 3-1, scoring three minutes into the period and then made it a one goal game with 42 seconds remaining. With their goalie pulled, North Toronto kept the puck in the offensive zone for the last 30 seconds of the game, failing to score on a wild goalmouth scramble that last for the game’s final 15 seconds. 

With the International Silver Stick Championship on the line, the Wildcats once again squared off in a rematch, this time against Honeybaked, winners in overtime of their semifinal matchup against Newmarket. The Wildcats set the tone with several strong shifts early, scoring six minutes into the game. With the team’s playing a tight defensive game, Honeybaked came back to tie the game at 1, scoring the equalizer with two minutes left in the second period. The Wildcats showed their resolve and determination, immediately pushing back hard before finally taking a 2-1 lead with just four minutes remaining in the third period. With Honeybaked back on their heels, Whitby scored again just 30 seconds later to take a commanding 3-1 lead with three minutes and 36 seconds remaining. With their goalie pulled, Honeybaked failed to generate much pressure in the game’s final two minutes with Whitby winning the championship game by a final score of 3-1 and taking home the International Silver Stick Championship for Minor Peewee AA. 

Congratulations goes out to the players on the Minor Peewee AA White team for winning one of the most prestigious minor hockey tournaments in North America and finishing their tournament schedule with four championships in addition to a semifinal appearance in six tournaments.