The 2000 Top Guns have won the Top Guns AAA Tournament - Super Series Division, catapulting the team to an unbelievable 16-1-1 tournament record.
Since the tournament was divided into two divisions to maintain parity between teams, it gave the boys a challenge from start to finish. The tournament started with a game against our crosstown rivals, the Selects. True to the philosophy of the two divisions, the game was tight and our team pulled out a close 3-2 win with the winning goal coming with less than 5 minutes remaining. The second game was against the NAA Xtreme, and much like the first game our team skated to a close 9-8 win. Again the winning goal came with less than 5 minutes remaining. Our third game, which was early Saturday morning, was an especially tough one against the Foothills Attack. The boys had a slow start and were down 2-1 after two periods. They needed to dig deep within themselves to come from behind, but they did just that with two unanswered goals in the third. The Attack tied the game with less than 5 minutes remaining to eek out a 3-3 tie. The last round robin game was a bit less stressful for the parents with a 10-0 win over a Wolverines South team.
With a 3-0-1 round robin record our boys finished first in the division, and set up a rematch against the Foothills Attack in the semis. Our boys had a 3-1 lead at one point but the Foothills team climbed back to tie the game. But our Top Guns showed their heart and pulled out a 5-4 win, with the winning goal coming with less than 2 minutes remaining. With the Selects defeated by the NAA Xtreme in the other semis, which set up a rematch with NAA Xtreme in the final.
At this point in the tournament the team changed the focus from hockey to plain old fun with a tailgate BBQ. This was certainly a highlight for the parents for the simple reason that it is nice to get together outside of the rink. The boys played, and the siblings played harder and we all enjoyed the sunny day.
But back to the action…the finals were underway. The Top Guns came out firing on all cylinders and took the play to the Xtreme and jumped out to a 4-1 first period lead. Then they stretched it to a 7-3 second period lead and the game ended 9-5 for our boys, to claim our third tournament gold medal game win this season. The game was exciting with a lot of action, a few penalty shots, and some spectacular saves. Way to go boys!
To summarize this weekend, our team endured the challenges of the opposing teams desire to defeat our talented team. But in the end we prevailed. They worked through some tough situations, supported each other when needed and always, I mean always, came out of the dressing room with a smile. For this parent, watching this season unfold makes me feel privileged to be part of this experience. Until the next time, Tops Guns rock! Yahoo!
.jpg)