Another weekend of hockey went by with the Winnipeg Ice playing two away games. Both games saw the Ice play extremely well at times, but both games also showed the importance of playing 60 full minutes.
Friday night in Ste. Anne, Manitoba, the Winnipeg Ice and Eastman Selects played a back and forth game for most of the night. The Selects came out very strong in the first period, but Kathleen Kosior was excellent in net for the Ice. With the score 0-0 to begin the second, the Ice vowed to pick up the pace and take some of the momentum away from the Selects. Despite a much stronger period from the Ice, Eastman scored on a powerplay 2:30 into the period. The Ice pushed back, seemingly not phased by falling behind, and pushed the pace once again, but could not find the back of the net. About 9 minutes later, Eastman scored from behind the goal line, and with that favorable bounce they took a 2-0 lead. The Ice stayed in it for the rest of the period, finally scoring a powerplay of their own when Michelle Anderson, after getting a pass from Sara Reuther, walked the lane and found the back of the net. The score remained 2-1 for the Selects as the third period began. Despite their slow start the Ice were confident they could win the third period, and try to walk away with a win. Even though the Ice outshot the Selects 7-6 in the third period, they could not tie the game and the score showed 2-1 for the Selects as time ran out. After the game the players pointed to the fact that 60 solid minutes of work would have gotten the job done, but on this day they came up short of that. It was not all bad news for the Ice on Friday, as the girls finally got their sharp new team apparel! The team can still take positives from this game, despite the disappointing result.
On Sunday the Ice faced their closest rival, the Winnipeg Avros. Both teams seemed to be more than motivated for this game, and neither team disappointed in the first two periods. The Ice came out very strong and took control of the play on the first shift of the game. However, on the second shift, the Avros took a 1-0 lead on a very nice individual effort from one of their stars. Not willing to let that goal affect them, the Ice pushed back hard and managed to get some momentum throughout the next 15 minutes. With 5 minutes to go in the first period the Avros worked the powerplay to perfection and managed to make it 2-0, which is the way the period ended. Despite the 2-0 deficit, the dressing room was upbeat and positive, as the Ice showed signs of being able to get back in this game. Michelle Kerdes was strong in net all night, and would give the Ice a chance to come back in the second period. 4 minutes into the second period, the Ice closed the gap on the powerplay, as Jessi Campbell scored top-shelf off a pass from Ashley Kubic. It was a very similar goal to Michelle Anderson's PP goal the night before. She took the pass and drove the lane before shooting it top corner. The Ice were back in the game and pushed for more. In perhaps the most exciting game of the season so far, the teams skated back and forth up the ice trying to gain momentum. Despite having some great chances, the Ice couldn't tie it up and the period ended 2-1 for the Avros. The intermission brought even more confidence to an already fired up Ice team. The players had played some of their best hockey this season and truly gave everything they had for 40 minutes against a very skilled Avros team. Heading into the third period, all the Ice felt they needed was a break and to find a way to tie it up at 2. However, the Avros proved to be much too strong on this day, and Ice failed to play at the level they did for the first two periods. The Avros scored early in the third period to take some of the wind out of the Ice's sails, and then twice more in a span of 31 seconds to seal the deal. The game ended 6-1 for the cross-town rival Avros, though the game was much closer than the scoreline would indicate.
If nothing else, the Winnipeg Ice were painfully reminded, in both games this weekend, that they belong in this league and can compete with any team, BUT that 60 full minutes of giving everything they have is required on a nightly basis. As tough as it seems to believe right now, this team is making strides. As the team was reminded on Friday, "it's doesn't matter how often you get knocked down, the only thing that matters is how many times you get back up". This team refuses to stay down, they will get back up. Good things are on the horizon, the day is always darkest just before sunrise.
~Coach
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