The second round of Provincial Play saw the Carlyle Pee Wee Team meet Esterhazy. It was Cougar versus Flyer, blue versus navy, oil versus potash. The Cougars played hard in both games, and had some memorable moments; however, the Flyers ended up taking the 2 game total point series.
Game one started out just like the Cougars had planned. The puck had a love affair with Cougar players and their blades seemed magnetic to rubber. In this game, Tommy Cappo created numerous scoring opportunities by winning battles along the boards and pushing his way through traffic to get shots. Jacob Chalus continued to be the face off king. He played aggressively in the face-off circle and won nearly all of these battles. Dalton Loustel's "take the body" approach was an important part of slowing down the speed of the Esterhazy offence. The Flyer forwards couldn't pass or shoot, since Loustel continually introduced them to the boards at the blue line. Kirk Zacharias's stick lifting caused Esterhazy frustration in front of the net. But it takes more than harsh expletives and stick slamming to make Zacharias stop. Ashton Magatiaux (or as they say in Esterhazy, "Magatooowaaah") played hard-nosed hockey against the Flyers. Her poke checking and body checking impressed even the Flyers' fans. Clayton Hill's notable defensive rushes and strong play during a 5 on 3 short handed situation, aided in keeping Esterhazy out of the Carlyle end. Riley McCrimmon again showed power and focus in making passes off the boards and working hard to get shots on net. Jett BigEagle had some big, loud hits during the game to widen fans' eyes and stop Esterhazy players. He also made and caught some great passes during the game. Sam Matthewson was very successful in moving the puck along the boards and he worked hard in the corners to get the puck back to teammates. This game saw some amazing offensive play from Jake Macleod. He ended up with all of Carlyle's goals. Three of these were breakaways. On one of these, the puck was sliding slowly towards the Esterhazy net with Macleod racing to catch up to it. It was just over the blue line when the Flyers' goalie decided to try to beat Macleod to the puck. Bad choice. The goalie's moment's hesitation resulted in Jake getting to the puck first. The goalie's miscalculation of Jake's speed forced him to try to scramble back to cover the net, but it was too late. At the end of the second period, Coach Matthewson and Coach Magatooowaaah were pleased with the score. Carlyle was up 4 to 2. The Cougar spectators followed one mom's advice and returned to their exact second period locations for period three. Fans didn't want to change anything and change the Cougars' fortunes. However, the puck did decide to change things. In the third period, the Estercrazy puck decided she didn't like the Cougars anymore. She took some bad bounces for the defence and played "hard to get" with our forwards. She sent Carlyle home with a loss. The final score was Esterhazy 5, Carlyle 4.
In the second game of the total-points series, Carlyle was at home. With the fan support of grandparents, teachers, and friends, the Cougars hit the ice with confidence. But Esterhazy was ready for them and ended up being too much for the hometown team. Austin Dovell hustled hard all game long. He made some nice passes and was an important part of Carlyle's backchecking. Mac Niven took on some large Flyers in this game. Niven continues to demonstrate fearlessness when he checks and speed when he gets the puck. In this game, the play of the red helmeted player for Esterhazy and the red-helmeted player for Carlyle stood out. It was scarlet topped never-say-quit Jory Dyck who made numerous rushes on the Esterhazy net, including a beautiful pass for a chance in the second period. It was also J.D. who ended up swatting in Carlyle's only goal of the game. This game did see some exciting moments, like a loose puck sliding around in front of the potash-lover net and Coach Gilles impressively avoiding a too-many-men call. Dalton Loustel was heading for the ice surface when the puck came skidding towards the box. Loustel had already leapt out of the box, but Coach Gilles didn't let Loustel's skates hit the ice as he plucked him from the air and with one arm hoisted Dalton back onto the bench. Impressive! Kruz Wilson, as always, made some great glove saves and continued to frustrate opponents by playing the puck. Kruzer is always solid in goal and made some amazing saves throughout Provincial Play. In the end, Esterhazy won and as a result, the Flyers move on. Though Provincials are done this year for the Pee Wee Cougars, the team made us proud. You did a great job, players and coaches. We look forward to a lot of exciting hockey still to be played as the league schedule nears completion.
