Lakers Weekly: U18 leadership group sets goal for the season, competes at Kitchener Blueline Tournament

By: Michael Willoughby

Early last week, Huron-Perth U18 AAA Lakers head coach Chad Smalley spoke to the Times about the home opener win on Oct. 31 and set sights on the Kitchener tournament.

“It was very big. We competed well, worked hard, got some good goals, five-on-five, got some power play goals. The kids worked really hard, and they were super excited to get the W at home here,” Smalley said.

“It's been a struggle, but we got a good bunch of kids here. There's a lot of talent in the room. They just got to believe in themselves and believe in what we're trying to sell them, and play as a team. Moving forward, we just have to establish that identity, and then just keep building off that and get a couple Ws or a tie. Whatever it is- under a belt that builds some confidence.”

Team captain Owen Jarmuth discusses what it is like to lead the team and shares his expectations for the rest of the season.

“It's an honour to wear a letter for this group. Such a great group of guys in there, and just looking forward to going to battle with them every day,” Jarmuth said.

“We're looking to finish in like the top four, or five in the standings, and just keep working hard in practice, getting better every day, and winning games.”

Assistant captains Knox Harrison, Alex Haynes and Tyler Burtenshaw shared their thoughts on their position and the team’s expectations for the remainder of the season.

“It's great. I mean, we have a great group this year, and I can't wait to be a leader of this team,” Harrison said. “I think our team's goal this year is to finish top four or five in the league and just be a gritty team and ready to go at puck drop every game.”

“It's an honour,” Haynes said. “We want to make it through the regular season, top four or five, hopefully three, and push hard in the playoffs.”

“I would say it's quite the honour. Just keeping everyone positive. We've got a great group of guys and are trying to get the guys to go pretty far this year. So, yeah, it's pretty nice,” Burtenshaw said.

“Try to finish with a winning record here and keep going forward off of our big win and just keep building off that. Hopefully, make it to the playoffs and do pretty good in that.”

This past weekend from Nov. 6 through 8, the Lakers competed at the annual AAA Blueline Tournament in Kitchener-Waterloo.

In the round-robin opener against Okanagan on Nov. 6, the Lakers came back with 4:01 remaining in the third period to settle for a 1-1 draw. In the mid-afternoon game against the North Bay Trappers, the Lakers squandered an early first-period lead and lost 2-1.

On Nov. 7, the Lakers stepped up in their final two games of the round robin. In the late-morning game against the Kapuskasing Flyers, the Lakers jumped to a 4-1 lead with all four goals coming in the second period. Huron-Perth added two more in the third period to secure their first win of the tournament by the score of 6-1.

In the early-evening game against the Mississauga Rebels, the Lakers opened the scoring in the first period and held the 1-0 lead heading into the third period. Mississauga tied the game with 3:03 to play, but the Lakers responded with the game-winner with 1:09 left, winning 2-1 and claiming second place in the U18 AAA Graham Division with a 2-1-1 record.

In the quarterfinal on Nov. 8, the Lakers faced CIH Academy. Huron-Perth scored on the power play with 2:49 left in the second period. CIH Academy scored at the 7:10 mark of the third period, sending the game into overtime. With 1:08 left in the extra session, Burtenshaw went from across the rink and fired the game-winner, sending the jubilant Lakers into the semifinals.

Against the Jr. Rangers in the semifinals, the U18 Lakers’ resilient tournament run came to an end with a 6-1 loss to the eventual champions.

The Lakers returned to ALLIANCE U18 regular-season play with two road games in London against the Jr. Knights on Nov. 15 and the Waterloo Wolves on Nov. 16.