Our Niagara Falls Atom HL, G.N.B.A. Canucks participated in the Annual Neil Barker Thunder Classic in London, ON.

The tournament started for our team with an opening game (5-3) loss to Valley East Brankor.  Later in the day however, our boys bounced back and won (9-0) over a team from Sarnia. Day 2 started with our players knowing that they needed a win to possibly advance into our Division’s Semi-Final Round. Our boys responded with a well-deserved victory defeating a Barrie Team (3-2).

At the end of Round-Robin play, our boys learned they were seeded in second place in the division and would meet a Kitchener team who advanced with the same 2 Win and 1 Loss record as us.

The Semi Final game, Saturday evening started fast as our G.N.B.A. Canucks went ahead of Kitchener 3-0 by the end of the first period. By games end, we had won 6-0 and were now preparing for a re-match against Valley East Brankor in the Atom ‘A’ White Division Championship.

The Sunday morning, by the end of the 1st, Valley East had a 3-0 lead. During the remaining 2 periods of play, our boys adjusted well and continued to work hard to narrow the score to 3-2. With less than a minute to go, an empty net and an extra player on the ice our boys were not able get the tying goal to take the game to overtime. In the end, our boys lost 3-2 and finished as the Finalists for the Atom ‘A’ White Division.

# 11 Andrew Behring was awarded with a Most Sportsmanlike Award as well as our # 9 Riley Benevento earned the Game MVP honour.

Although all players played extremely well, honourable mention should also be given to Markus Shantz who backstopped the team with 2 Shutouts, Tyler Neudorf who led the team with 8 Goals and the strong play of David Neudorf and Angelo Orsini who had an outstanding tournament.

My sincerest appreciation and thanks for the effort displayed by all the players and assistant coaches throughout the tournament. Your hard work and dedication was exemplary. Thank-you as well, to all parents and family members who travelled with the team and to those individuals who assisted in the planning of the tournament making this such a memorable and enjoyable experience!

Submitted by

Donald Shantz - Coach - NFMH HL Atom G.N.B.A. Canucks

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