This
tournament is the premier event for the London Knights minor hockey
organization and was renamed in Wendy Dufton’s memory when she lost her battle
to breast cancer.
Not being from the area, I was curious as to who Wendy
Dufton was. Many in the arena had
wonderful stories to tell about her endless volunteer duties, in which she was
awarded the OHF Volunteer of Year Award in June 2013. Wendy was also the VP of Hockey
Administration for the minor hockey club.
After hearing Wendy’s story it felt more special to have our team compete in the tournament and lessened the disappointment that I may not have my Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie.
Friday, October 7, 2016 Game vs Oakville Rangers
With Reynolds on fire and Fritz electric with static the Hurricanes opened the tournament with a 3-2 win against the Oakville Rangers.
The game had a slow start as period 1 had few shots on either side. Oakville scored early in period 2 to have the first point on the board. Less than 5 minutes later Andrew Reynolds scored to tie the game. Near the end of the period Oakville got another to take the lead.
The Hurricanes, rested from the flood and pumped from a Beazer Pep talk played a hard third period with Spencer Hazell scoring early to tie the game. Brandon Deans scored the game winner from the blue line.
The must see play of the game came from our goalie Tanner Wickware, who left his crease in the dust to stop a breakaway at the blue line.
Friday, October 7, 2016 vs London Knights
The second game of the tournament saw the Hurricanes face the London Knights who were ranked #1 in Ontario.
With Jack Waddick white hot in net and the team firing on all cylinders the first two periods saw no score.
Early in the third saw the Hurricanes on a 4 minute penalty kill. An outstanding team effort with animated coaching killed the penalty and gave the Hurricanes the confidence to pour it on and dominate the remaining minutes of the game.
With an assist from Dakota Zarudny, Ethan James scored the only goal in the game and the Hurricanes celebrated an amazing win.
Jack Waddick made unbelievable saves and earned a well-deserved shut out!
Friday night, the Hurricanes enjoyed an OHL game which saw home team London Knights beat the Peterborough Petes 6-3.
Saturday, October 8, 2016 vs Markham Waxers
This would be the second time this season both teams would face each other.
With the Waxers wanting the win to redeem the loss from The Titans Early Bird Tournament they came out hard and fast scoring early in the first.
There were some chances in the second period but a few penalties saw the Hurricanes on penalty kill for most of the period.
Things turned around in the third with the Hurricanes scoring a short-handed goal by Brett Addison. Mitchell Brewer and Liam Galton would also get a goal for the 3-1 win over the Waxers.
Saturday, October 8, 2016 – vs Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs
Needing the win to advance it was do or die in the elimination game against the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs to advance.
The Chiefs scored halfway through period 1 and kept the lead throughout the second.
The third period was the show stopper with the Hurricanes battling hard. Capitalizing on a power play Lucas Peric was able to score to tie the game.
With an overtime period played and no goal the win came for the Chiefs in a shootout.
It was not the ending we all had hoped for but for many they were consoled with a Thanksgiving dinner with family. A hockey tournament and turkey with pumpkin pie in the same weekend….that’s not a bad weekend after all!