Hockey / Never too early to get on the rink

Never too early to get on the rink

Date:  Source: State Wars Hockey

It was a 6am start this morning here at State Wars 13 in Taylor, MI.  The 2006s were bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to go.  It was a pleasure to be able to see the 2006 United Kingdom team play here at SW as they pulled out a win by the slimmest of margins over Team Mission.  The 2007s were also in play this morning and I just got to watch a good portion of the Michigan(red) vs. Missouri game on the Alkali rink.  I wanted to bounce between rinks but I couldn’t pull myself away from that game.  It was back and forth, end to end for the entire game and twelve players had atleast a point in that game.  Michigan would win it 6-5 as Missouri would miss a glorious opportunity at the buzzer which would have tied the game.  The following game on that rink was my boy, Raine Hernandez and the Ontario 2000s who remained perfect in round robin play with an 8-0 win over New York.  Drew Gerth had four points in the game and Ontario is going strong.  I got to see another 2007 game on the Tour rink as I was floating this morning and Wisconsin would open up a 2-0 lead on powerhouse Michigan(white).  At about the 4:40 mark of the first period, Michigan had had enough and within the next six minutes of play, they scored ten goals to get the mercy victory.  I have to admit that one team I cannot wait to see more of is Pennsylvania in the 2006 AAA/AA division.  Early in their game against Colorado they were clearly not the better team, falling behind 3-0.  They pulled within two, only to see Colorado take their three goal lead right back in the second; but PA showed no quit.  They would score three in the final five minutes of play, including the game tying goal with eleven-seconds remaining.  If there was one more second on the clock they would have won it as they pumped one home at the buzzer but it didn’t cross the line in time.  This morning has been wildly entertaining.

 
There were a few finals today, as well, all in the 2004 birth year.  First up was the AAA rivals, Southern California and Michigan(red).  Special teams were important in this one as both teams would have to come up big on the penalty kill.  Dario Sacino was the MVP as he would get a hat trick in this one and Michigan would get revenge for last year’s defeat and win it 5-3.
 
In AA, it would be the short benched Tennessee team against Missouri.  Tennessee entered the game with five players and head coach Shane Parker knew exactly how to run his bench.  They are no strangers to not having a huge bench to go to but they played this one smart.  They were patient, waited for their chances, played the possession game and made sure to make their power plays count against an undisciplined Missouri team who would be without one of their top players, Mikey Sapienza, late in the game after being tossed and accumulating five and a half minutes in penalties.  Defense, possession, goaltending and special teams were the keys to victory in this one for Tennessee as they would walk away with  a late mercy; 9-1.  Brodie Kovach was a star in the game, scoring four goals in victory.
 
The A final saw a dominant North Carolina team take it to Michigan.  Luke Dipasquale would score nine goals combined between the semi final and championship games.  Six of those came in the final.  Michigan had no answers when it came to stopping him.  Michigan is a strong team with talented players but when DiPasquale made the decision to take over the game, Michigan just couldn’t contain him. They attempted to stop him and in those cases, he would draw penalties and then score on those power plays…he was a force to be reckoned with.  North Carolina would win it 8-4.
 
One fun fact I learned today, so I’m going to shout her out.  Brandi Pantazi (Florida) will be playing every single day at State Wars 13.  That’s a pretty cool feat.  I’m sure Brandi will get some well deserved rest after this week is out.  If you have fun bits of information for one of the blogs, make sure you stop me today and let me know. I love hearing and writing about the little bits of info that may not be as prevalent in the sport.
 
I’ll be back later tonight to update you guys on some of the older divisions such as the ‘99s, 2000s, and juniors.   Juniors and 2000s will be seeded tonight and it pains me to know I will miss those playoffs tomorrow.
 
 
 
George L. Brown