U14 MD Blue Silver Medalists...Twice!
The
Markham Waxers U14 MD Blue team continued their early season metal mining
expedition, adding a pair of tournament silvers to an earlier gold. After winning the Hespeler Pre Season Classic
in early October, the Waxers brought home finalist medals and second place
trophies from tournaments in both St. Catherine’s and London.
The U14 MD Blue Waxers participated in the John MacDonald B-BB Tournament the weekend of Oct 22 and 23. After starting with a tough 4-2 loss to the North London Nationals, the Waxers went on a shutout tear, beating Burlington Bulldogs (Blue) 3-0 and Ajax-Pickering Raiders 8-0 to finish round robin play and shutting out North London 1-0 in an exciting semifinal. The Waxer shutout machine ran out of steam in the final, succumbing to a challenging Kitchener Rangers Red team, 6-1. The Waxers delivered a strong team effort throughout this tournament and brought home a well-deserved silver medal.
Three weekends later, the Waxers returned to tournament ice in London, ON at the Nazem Kadri North London Classic 2022. It was truly a tour of London, with the Waxers playing in three different venues around town. This challenging 10-team tournament featured many high caliber teams from around the province. The Waxers got off to a good Friday morning start by shutting out the West London Hawks 2-0. Later that day, the Waxers defeated a tough Waterloo Wolves team 4-2. Saturday included another pair of round robin games, with the Waxers falling 3-1 to the Sarnia Sting in the morning and recovering to beat the Oakridge Aeros by a score of 6-1. The margin of victory in the final game was just enough for the Waxers to qualify for the semifinal, which came down to a goal-differential based tiebreaker.
Sunday’s action at the Kadri tournament had the Waxers in the semi-final against the top-seeded Kitchener Jr. Rangers Blue team. The Waxers played a solid team game and soundly defeated the Rangers by a score of 5-2. The Waterloo Wolves team the Waxers beat on Friday also made their way to the final, and turned the tables on the Waxers 2-0, in another exciting finish. The Waxers walked away with another silver medal and second-place finish.
“Making it to Sunday all three times in preseason play was really rewarding,” said head coach Darren Birta, “and getting to the finals earned us six extra games against great teams, and three fantastic team bonding weekends that the kids will remember for a lifetime.”