A mix of the right ingredients leads Chiefs to Gold Medal in Peterborough.
The Elgin Middlesex Minor Atom Chiefs travelled to the Peterborough Petes Pat Larock Memorial Tournament this earlier in September. The Chiefs set the tone from the puck drop in the first period of the opening game and didn’t look back. The Chiefs, armed with a relentless attack, jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead against the Halton Hills Hurricanes. The Hurricanes battled back with two markers in the 3rd but the Chiefs defence and goaltending snuffed out any chance of the Hurricanes completing the comeback.
In between games on Friday, the Chiefs had a visit to the Peterborough Petes practice to see former Elgin Middlesex Chief Josh Coyle and a dressing room tour.
Later that afternoon saw the Chiefs take on the Quinte Red Devils. The Chiefs again jumped out to an early lead before the teams exchanged a pair of goals each. Once again the Chiefs defence and goaltending took over in the 3rd period to preserve a 3-2 victory.
Saturday morning had the Chiefs set to face the Central Ontario Wolves. The Chiefs completely dominated the affair with the offence leading the charged at one end, while the defence and goaltending held the fort at the other, when the dust settled the Chiefs walked away with a 8-0 win.
The Quarter Final had the Chiefs matched up against fellow Alliance League member, Cambridge Hawks. The Hawks grabbed the early lead, but the Chiefs responded immediately, the teams exchanged a few goals before the Chiefs offence let loose and on the way to a 10-4 victory, and a berth in the semi-finals.
On Sunday the Chiefs had a date with the home team Peterborourgh Petes, with a shot to play for gold on the line. The Chiefs were not going to let anyone stand in their way. They dominated on the fore check, won the battles on the boards and had no problem putting the puck in the net on their way to a 7-0 victory and a trip to the Championship game.
In the final, the Chiefs faced off with the Southern Tier Admirals. The Admirals got off to a quick 2-0, but the Chiefs responded with a pair of goals before the end of the first period. The teams battled and exchanged goals through the second and third period. The Admirals took the lead with 4 minutes left in the 3rd period and again the Chiefs responded with a equalizer with 1:24 left in the game. As the buzzer sounded to end the 3rd the teams were knotted up 4-4, which set the stage for 3 on 3 overtime. The first OT saw the teams battle hard and trade chances. The second OT saw the Chiefs start to take over, hitting a couple of posts, testing everybody’s nerves in the process. Later in the 2nd OT saw an Admirals shot squeeze by the Chiefs netminder and was sliding towards the goalie before being swept away to safety by the knob of the goalies stick. In the 3rd OT, the Chiefs again hit a couple of posts, but were starting to ware down the Admirals. Then with less than a minute left the Chiefs picked off a pass and headed for the Admirals goal before burying the puck top shelf, setting off a sea of flying gloves and sticks and a giant pile of White with orange jerseys, big smiles and the traditional team photo with the trophy.