Stingers capture bronze at CAN/AM

Lake Placid, NY - The WFMHA North Bay Stingers Peewee AA hockey team captured the bronze medal at the 2008 CAN/AM Challenge Cup April 3-6.

The Stingers competed in the five team Peewee AA Grenoble division that included the WI Jr Badgers from Madison, WI; the Pickering Panthers from Pickering, ON; the Minnesota Pride from Minneapolis, MN and the Montcalir Hockey Club Blues from Montclair, NJ.

In round robin play the Stingers opened with a 3-3 tie with the Montclair Blues. The line of Danny Desrochers, Tyler Kennedy and Eric Champagne each picked up a goal with Champagne’s being the equalizer after the Stingers pulled goalie Pascal Laperriere for the extra attacker with under a minute to go in the game. Shots on goal favoured the Blues 16-15.

In game two of the round robin the Stingers outmatched the Wisconsin Jr. Badgers 10-0. Matt Jemmett and Stephen Mason worked the puck to Jamie Restoule, for his first of two, to open the scoring early in the first period. The Stingers never looked back outshooting the Badgers 36-10. Kenny Appleby picked up the shutout. Other goal scorers were Ryan Wilkinson with two, Matt Salter, Nick Scott, Mason, Kennedy, Desrochers and Champagne.

In game three the Stingers came up short losing 4-0 to the Pickering Panthers. The Panthers netted two in the first and two in the third to guarantee their gold medal seed. The Stingers were held to 14 shots while Pickering fired 26 shots on goal.

In their final round robin game the Stingers defeated the Minnesota Pride 2-1. Desrochers got the Stingers on the board in the first period and Restoule snapped the game winner past the Pride netminder in the second. Appleby was strong turning away 15 of 16 shots to earn the win.

The round robin standings finished: Minnesota (6 points), Pickering (6 points), Stingers (5 points), Montclair (3 points) and Wisconsin (0 points).

The Stingers defeated Montclair 2-1 in overtime to capture the bronze. Both teams were slim on chances through nearly two periods of play before the Blues made it 1-0 in the second. Desrochers evened the score with less than six minutes remaining in the third. In overtime the teams skated four on four. Desrochers scored the game winner less than two minutes into overtime off a great feed from Kennedy. Laperriere made several key saves to preserve the victory.

Defenseman Jake Staples, Matt Buckley, Cole Filiatrault and Courtney Geisler put in solid performances throughout the tournament and adjusted well to the Olympic size ice surface.

Minnesota defeated Pickering 2-0 to capture the gold.

The event that is put on by CAN/AM allows participants to experience the history of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics that were hosted in Lake Placid. The Stingers played in the USA rink, 1932 rink and 1980 Herb Brook’s Arena that was home to the USA 1980 “Miracle on Ice”. The Stingers participated in the Olympic 90M and 120M Ski Jump tour that included a ride to the top of the 120M starting platform. A planned ski day gave Stingers families a chance to ski and board the 3400ft vertical slopes of Whiteface Mountain, host to the Olympic downhill events. The Stingers wrapped up their Lake Placid “miracle” moments by riding the ½ mile bobsled run at the Olympic Bobsled Park.

The West Ferris Minor Sports – North Bay Stingers travel to Timmins April 10-13 to compete in the OHF Peewee AA Provincial Championships.

Submitted to BayToday.ca