The Minto Midget Rep team is well into their season, the coaching staff has high expectations with the strong effort from the returning Midgets from last year and the strong season of the Bantams. With the team picked and the learning curve underway, the team has had its bright moments along with some good learning experiences. Regular season play has been plagued with a couple of injuries with a few unruly suspensions.
With the team starting to grasp the “team concept” that the coaching staff wants to play, they traveled to Norwood this past weekend to compete in a tournament that had teams the same caliber from the eastern part of the province. The first game started off really well with Minto being on the other side of the coin when it came to penalties. With the extra man Minto capitalized on Otonabee’s misfortunes and put up a 3-1 score setting a solid base for the tournament. Game 2 looked as if a totally different team was on the ice. The strong effort from Douro found Minto hemmed in their end and struggling to play as a team. The final of this game was Douro 6 Minto 0. Coming back for day two of the tournament Minto realized that they needed a W in the win column and had to beat Port Carling. They came out strong and dominated play as they bought into the “team concept” they cruised to a 4-1 final and met Douro in the semi's. After a short rest and a player back from suspension from game 1 of the tournament the team played a strong defensive game with a short bench. This was a different outcome from the previous game against Douro with the score being tied at 2’s going into the third period the team found an extra gear and played hard pushing for that go ahead goal. With a couple minutes left Douro scored an inopportune play and put the boys behind and made the final 3-2.
The coaches and parents were all pleased with the play of the TEAM when they played like one. What they need to realize is when it comes down to the goals set out of the team. It is going to take a TEAM effort from each individual, not a bunch individuals playing like a team. Great start boys come to practice tonight ready to work as your TEAM goal #1 is in a few weeks!