Tyke 7 White Claim Oshawa Hockeyfest Gold !!!
Coming into the Oshawa Hockeyfest weekend the Tyke 7 White team were on a roll having won 4 straight games by a combined total of 27-9. The team was riding high and had a great week of practice, including a fun team bonding ball-hockey game against the Mom’s that had everyone in true hockey spirit !
Knowing that the tournament would provide a stiff test against some new competition from the likes of visiting teams from Caledon, Aurora and Flamborough, the coaching staff were stressing accountability for every individual player, to their line mates and ultimately translating to a full team effort.
After early season injuries, the Tyke Whites dressed 2 goaltenders for the first time all season and opened the tournament Friday morning with a combined shutout win, 6-0 over Caledon. A 6-2 win Friday evening against Quinte West would turn out to be enough to seal a spot in the playoffs, and a tight 3-2 loss to Flamborough on Saturday would break up the team’s 6-game winning streak but provide a great source of motivation for the coaching staff to refocus the players. Sunday morning’s semi-final was a tense character-building affair, but the Tyke Whites commitment to full team defense saw them stave off a determined Northumberland team 7-3 to earn a birth in the Final against a strong Aurora side who defeated Flamborough to put themselves into the line of fire of our very own Tyke 7 White team who would be saving their best performance of the tourney for the final game.
With a packed arena and a never-seen-before cheering squad comprised of other Oshawa teams, families and friends, they managed to set aside the distractions outside the ice surface and focus on their goal to represent the City of Oshawa proudly in their very first tournament as an Oshawa Minor General. The Tyke Whites came out flying establishing an early lead and never looking back, fighting for every inch of the ice in every single battle with all three lines producing in a dominant 7-1 Championship victory to claim the Gold in the 12th annual Oshawa MHA Hockeyfest tournament !!! In a well run home tournament of 8 Tyke teams, a total of 82 teams in 11 divisions and 152 games played they finished with a record of 4-1 and out-scoring their opponents 30-9 !!!
Congratulations to the Oshawa Minor Tyke 7 Whites in what will certainly go down as a memorable first tournament experience. They represented their city with pride and determination and will look to continue to do so in their next tournament, the Bradford Blue-and-Gold in February !!!