Whalers U16AA: CHAMPIONS!!

Rock ‘n Roll Tournament Series – Cleveland, OH (January 14-17, 2011)

The Whalers U16AA team traveled north to Ohio for the 2011 Cleveland Rock ‘n Roll Series Tournament.  The U16AA bracket featured teams from Ohio, Ontario, Michigan and two from Virginia.

Game 1: U16AA vs Henry Ford Hurricanes (1/15/2011)

In game one, the U16AA team faced off against the Hurricanes from Michigan.  The Whalers got the tournament off to quick start as Jonathon Jones scored their first goal (unassisted) thirty-five seconds into the game and Caleb Jimenez following up less than two minutes later with another unassisted strike.  Just over a minute after that, Alphee’ Herion lit the lamp with an assist from Roman Degnan.  The Hurricanes would not go down quietly in the first as they scored with 5:43 remaining.  The first period ended with the Whalers up 3-1 and saw no Whalers heading for the “Sin Bin.”

Historically, the second period has proven to be the U16AA’s lowest producing period.  This game followed suit.  The Whalers failed to score but did allow the Hurricanes to tie the game with goals at the 9:33 and 8:36 marks.  The Whalers did hold strong as they fought off a 5-on-3 penalty kill to keep the game tied through the second.

The excitement mounted as both teams came out ready to score in the third.  The Whalers were first to strike as they re-took the lead at 12:36 as Jones buried one from Jimenez.  At 11:08, Herion added to the lead with a power play goal with assists from Eddie Baylor and Joey Tarantino.  Sixteen seconds later, the Hurricanes cut the Whaler lead to one and eventually tied the game at 8:39.  Both teams played tough until 2:23, when Nico Degnan fired in what would be the game winner from Ben Trainer.

Minding the net for the Whalers was Trevor Davis.  Davis played excellent between the pipes turning away 29 of the Hurricanes 34 shots.

Tournament Record: 1-0

Game 2: Hamilton Cyclones vs U16AA (1/16/2011)

Game two for the Whalers turned into a “chippy” event as both teams sat for a total of 21 penalties (12 for the Cyclones and 9 for the Whalers).  Both teams needed to work hard defensively to fight off multiple 5-on-3’s throughout the game.

Again, the Whalers struck early as Trainer scored nineteen seconds in with an assist from Herion.  The Canadians held strong and put their first on the board at 6:05 and their second less than 30 seconds later.  The Whalers played smart and put together a power play strike from Jimenez and Baylor with 1:22 on the clock ending the first tied 2-2.

The Whalers fought hard against their second period record and scored two goals – one shorthanded and one power play.  The first of the period (third of the game for the Whalers) came at 9:07 as Jones put in the “shortie” from Tarantino.  Jimenez followed at 2:54 with the “man-up” goal from Trainer.  The Cyclones chipped away at the lead adding one to their side just fifteen seconds later ending the second with the Whalers up 4-3.

In the third, the Whalers were again able to take advantage of a power play situation.  At 2:36, Trainer put one past the goalie from N. Degnan.  The game would end with the Whalers taking another victory 5-3 over the Cyclones.

Between the pipes was Kevin Whitbeck.  Whitbeck played a tough game stopping 30 of the Cyclones 33 shots.

Tournament Record: 2-0

Game 3: Reston Raiders vs U16AA (1/16/2011)

Game three turned out to be game two of the day for the Whalers.  In this game, the Whalers would face off against another CBHL team, the Reston Raiders.

The Whalers showed some fatigue in this game as the Raiders were the first to strike just fifty-five seconds into the game.  The Whalers held on to end the first period with a 1-1 tie.  Scoring for the Whalers was Jones with an unassisted power play goal at 2:25.

In the second, the Whalers could not take advantage of a long 5-on-3 stretch as the Raiders stepped up their defense.  In fact, the Raiders were the ones to score at 4:08 and finished the period with the Whalers trailing a goal.

In the third, the Raiders struck again just thirty-one seconds in making the score 3-1.  This period saw much of the same play from the Whalers as, again, they could not take advantage of a 5-on-3.  The Whalers did finally get another goal but it proved to be too little too late.  With twenty-five seconds on the clock, Trainer found the back of the net with an unassisted shorthanded goal.  The game would end with the Whalers losing 3-2.

Davis defended the Whaler net and played a very strong game keeping the Whalers close.  Davis was able to fight off 19 of the Raiders 22 shots.

Tournament Record: 2-1

Losing game three meant that the Whalers would need a fourth game win to solidify their trip to the finals.  The Whalers did not want to depend on another team’s loss for them to squeak their way in.

Game 4: U16AA vs Canton Victory Honda (1/17/2011)

For their fourth game of the weekend, the Whalers would only find the back of the net in the first period against the team from Ohio.  At 7:16, Jones started the Whalers drive with an assist from Tyler Smoyer.  Just over a minute later, Canton would tie the game.  With a “man-up” advantage, Baylor scored from Herion at 2:06 and to finish the period off, Jimenez scored from Trainer with fifty-nine seconds on the clock.  The first period ended with the Whalers up 3-1.

In the second, the Whalers played smart and tough taking zero penalty minutes.  Unfortunately, they were unable to score on any power plays including a brief 5-on-3.  Canton, however, was able to shoot one in at 8:50 cutting the Whaler lead to one.

In the third, both teams fought hard and took a few penalties each.  However, the Whalers held strong and did not allow Canton to score a tying goal.   The game ended with a 3-2 win for the Whalers.

Whitbeck stood strong in the net for the Whalers as he “brick-walled” Canton in the third to clinch the win.  Whitbeck turned away 17 of Canton’s 19 shots on net.

This win would send the Whalers to the finals and secure the home team slot against the Cyclones from Ontario.

FINALS: Hamilton Cyclones vs U16AA (1/17/2011)

As the first game against the Cyclones was a tough one for the Whalers, the U16AA team would need to dig deep as this would be their second game of the day while the Cyclones would be skating on fresh legs.

At the opening drop, Baylor won the face off and passed to Jones.  With the bench still banging their sticks on the boards to pump up the starting line, Jones charged hard into the zone and sniped a shot over the goalie’s right shoulder just seven seconds into the period sending the players (and parents) into a cheering frenzy!  The frenzy was short lived as the Cyclones would tie things up at 9:34.  The first would end with the score knotted up at one each.

The Whalers second period history came back to haunt them.  Hamilton took the lead just seventeen seconds in and went two up at 4:40.  The Whalers power play would again let them down as they failed to score with a 4-on-3 advantage and ended the second trailing the Cyclones 1-3.

Head Coach, Cody LaDouceur, and Assistant Coach, Ryan Anderson, were able to rally the team back between periods as the Whalers played smart, tough hockey in the third.  Unfortunately, they had to play over nine minutes before seeing any reward.  Trainer would get things going for the Whalers as he scored a power play goal from R. Degnan at 4:30 cutting the deficit to one.  The Whalers would remain a “man-up” as the Cyclone player was now sitting for the second half of his double minor.  But the Cyclones played tough defensively and did not allow another power play goal.  As the final seconds were ticking away, the coaches called the Whalers goalie, Whitbeck, from the net.  With an extra man, the Whalers played hard, held the zone and put tough shots on the Hamilton goalie.  As the seconds were winding down from 0:05, Tarantino found himself with the puck and fired a shot that found the back of the net with 3.7 seconds on the clock.  Both teams immediately threw their hands in the air – the Whalers in celebration, the Cyclones in protest.  There was some controversy over this goal as the net was knocked off about the same time.  The referees immediately got together to discuss what had just transpired on the ice.  After only seconds of deliberation, the referee pointed directly to the Cyclone’s net signifying the game tying goal for the Whalers!  The final drop of regulation was uneventful as both teams were obviously already thinking about overtime.

In this tournament, overtime would be 5-on-5 for five minutes.  The 5-on-5 would not last long.  Just ten seconds into the frame, the Cyclones were called for interference.  Play would go on for another 1:03 before Hamilton was again called to the “Sin Bin”; this time for high sticking.  Now with a 5-on-3 advantage, the Whalers were rallying for the win.  They would need just eleven seconds.  Joe Huslander sent a cross-ice “D to D” pass to Roman Degnan.  Degnan nailed his one-timer perfectly and launched a missile that found the back of the net at 3:36.  Whalers win 4-3 in overtime against the Hamilton Cyclones!!

Defending the net for the Whalers was Kevin Whitbeck.  Whitbeck was, again, able to provide a crucial third period shutout to allow the Whalers to get back in the game with a “nail-biter-of-a-goal” from team captain, Tarantino.  Whitbeck eagerly turned away 36 of the Cyclones 39 shots.

Congratulations to the coaches and players of the Whalers U16AA team on a well deserved Championship Win at the Rock ‘n Roll Tournament Series in Cleveland, OH.

Go Whalers!!