Slammers Snare Coyotes to Claim Banner

"There is only one way to succeed at anything, and that is to give it everything."

Although Stanley, NB is a long way from the frozen tundra of Lambeau field in Green Bay, the iconic Vince Lombardi, who uttered these words, would have been very proud of the dominance the Atom A DQ Slammers displayed by convincingly winning today's championship banner.

After splitting round robin contests by identical 3-2 scores, it came down to the third tie-breaking scenario to determine that the Slammers would be the home team versus the hometown York North Coyotes in the championship final. The Slammers were still stinging from their loss to the Coyotes less than 24 hours earlier and used that as motivation to get up for the game.

Both teams came out flying when the puck dropped. The Slammers and the Coyotes knew that the first goal was going to be huge and both squads had opportunities early to take the lead but neither team could manage to beat the 'tenders. That was until the the line of Stephenson-Atherton-Martin got the Woodstock faithful to their feet with the 1-0 goal at 5:27 of the opening frame. Not to be outdone, the hometown team tied the game at one before the first period ended on a shot from the top of the circle.

The middle frame is where the game turned in the Slammers' favor. Their ability to win almost every puck battle and play a 200 foot game was too much for the Coyotes. The DQ forwards did a spectacular job backchecking and not permitting the Coyotes to play an east-west game, while the D took care of the house and effectively employed a strong transition game and moving the puck out of the danger zone. Those shots that did come through were handled by the man in the crease and rebounds were cleared before any Coyote could get a second shot. This period ended with the Slammers up 5-1 and seeing the lines of Mahar-MacInnis-Schnarr and Kennedy-Paul-King also find the scoresheet.

The Coyotes continued to skate hard and work to get back in the contest - which speaks very highly of the players and their coaching staff - in the third period. The Slammers, on this day however, proved to be just a step faster. At the 7:25 mark, when the line of Kennedy-King-Paul put the Slammers up 6-1, the clock started running straight time (after a three minute delay while the referee verified tournament rules) and the Slammers could sense the banner might be within sight. The Slammers added two more goals before it was all over, and, as the buzzer sounded, cheers of jubilation from the greatest fans a TEAM could ask for sent the boys onto the ice to celebrate the team's first banner win together.

The hard hat on the day went to second year player Ethan Atherton who has transitioned very well from playing D last year to playing wing this season. Way to go, Ethan !!

The TEAM showed great sportsmanship on the ice, cheering loudly for the Coyotes as they received their silver medals and for each other as they received their championship medals and banner.

The Woodstock Atom A DQ Slammers would like to thank the host Coyotes as well as the organizing committee and all of the volunteers who put on such a fun tournament for the boys. Thanks also to the moms, dads, and families who made the trip for three straight days to cheer on the boys and our managers for all that they do behind the scenes.

Regular season action begins next weekend with the Slammers travelling to York Arena to face the Kanucks on Saturday and hosting the Coyotes on Sunday morning.