Setting their eyes on the prize, News, Midget LL, U18 2006/2007/2008, 2017-2018 (TCDMHA)

This Team is part of the 2017-2018 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 26, 2018 | Karin Stockwell | 1531 views
Setting their eyes on the prize
Just over a month ago, the Howell Transport TCDMHA Midget LL Rebels began their playoff run, taking to the ice and hoping to bring home a championship trophy.  The prospects were favourable, but the road to the prize would by no means be an easy one, and the boys would have to fight hard for every point if they were going to realize their dream.

The opening game was against BCH who finished a full six points ahead of the Rebels in the regular season standings.  Undaunted, the Rebels stepped into the rink with their legendary enthusiasm and opened the scoring with two quick goals under thirty seconds apart.  The first goal was netted by Chris Hardman, set up by Brodey Barwick, and the second came on a shot by Josh Currie, assisted by defencemen Brandon Lindstrom and Duncan Martin.  BCH came within one in the opening minutes of the second period on a powerplay, and then scored again near the end of the second to tie it up.  In the third, BCH pulled ahead, but that pitbull Rebels never-say-die spirit came through when defenceman Duncan Martin unloaded a point shot from Chris Hardman to tie it again, ultimately forcing overtime.  Unfortunately, BCH notched the OT winner, but that just made the Rebels even more determined.

That determination carried over into game two against Kincardine.  Again the good guys opened the scoring with two unanswered goals in the first, both by Chris Hardman – the first unassisted and the second assisted by Tiki Stockwell.  The Rebels held Kincardine scoreless until the 11-minute mark in the third when they posted their first point.  Ten tense minutes of back-and-forth play ensued until Tiki Stockwell buried the insurance marker into an empty Kincardine net with just under a minute to go in the game.  The Rebels would split their two-game weekend series with Kincardine who came back to win the next day at the Rebels’ home-away-from-home in Markdale. 

The Rebels swept their next series against Listowel the following week, winning at home first with a score of 2-1.  Scorers in that game included Josh Currie set up by Jeremy Kirk, and Duncan Martin assisted by Tiki Stockwell.  The next night in Listowel, the Rebels doubled their goals for, blanking Listowel by a score of 4-0.  Point-getters for that game included Brodey Barwick (assisted by Tiki Stockwell), Garrett McNabb (assisted by Chris Hardman and Jeremy Kirk), Chris Hardman (assisted by Tiki Stockwell and AP Wesley Houston), and Jake Hartman (assisted by Brodey Barwick and Duncan Martin).  Well-deserved shutout honours went to goalie Devin Early who performed flawlessly.

The final game of the playoffs was a rematch against BCH, but the Rebels went into the game down three skaters – a key playmaker and two solid defencemen.  Despite the valiant effort of every player on the ice, including the energetic contribution of two Bantam APs who stepped up to help fill in the line-up gaps even though they were in playoffs themselves, the Rebels just couldn’t find the key to unlock the relentless BCH onslaught.  Caught up in an overly physical game, the Rebels could not play their definitive skill-driven, penalty-free style, and in the end would only manage to put in one unassisted goal by Chris Hardman to BCH’s four.

The Rebels playoff run ended there, but nothing would keep them from continuing to come out to the rink.   Three more “games” were played – no clock, no scoresheet, no refs – with the Rebels finishing out their season doing what they love best: playing good, clean, skilled hockey.  No words were necessary to describe what was happening out on the ice - their smiles said it all.