Submitted by Kelly Harbridge

Capping off a thrilling season, the gritty and determined Schomberg Atom 2 Red Wings fought hard through five levels of exhilarating playoff hockey to capture 2^nd place in Simcoe Region.

Going into the playoffs, the mighty Atom 2 Red Wings had amassed an enviable record, with 18 wins, 3 losses and 5 ties out of 26 games played, providing a healthy win percentage of 788, and ranking them third overall in their Division.

The playoffs proved to be intense, with Head Coach Bob Hunt opting for the “Shock & Awe” strategy found at page 36 of his Playbook, alternating crackerjack goaltenders Willem Loopstra and Sam Howe between the pipes to keep opposing teams off balance, while unleashing the offensive firepower which had been the trademark of the Red Wing’s Howitzer and Blitzkrieg forward lines all season. Sticking closely to their game plan, the Atoms overcame stiff competition from both Oak Ridges 1 and 2, followed by a victory against Lefroy in the third series.

By the 4^th round of playoffs, disaster hit the Atoms in the form of the much dreaded March Break Fever, reducing the Red Wing’s bench strength to as few as 8 players for a number of games, as several  Red Wings migrated south in search of sun and surf.

Despite being short-handed against full strength Thornton 2, the mighty Red Wings fought on using their signature offensive style of play to capture the Simcoe semi-final title.

Onward and upward the Red Wings battled, facing arch nemesis Thornton 1 in the championship series. Thornton 1 had been an almost unstoppable scoring machine all year, racking up over 161 goals in the regular season, compared to the Red Wing’s highly respectable 127.

Try as they might, the Red Wings found it difficult to penetrate Thornton’s solid defence and goaltending, with Schomberg’s own forwards facing stiff opposition from Thornton’s tenacious back-checking. After two hard fought games, the Schomberg team found itself hanging on by its fingernails trying desperately to avoid elimination.

With the deck stacked against them, the Red Wings were pleased to have power forward Jackson Bain medically cleared to play at full speed, who had been considered day- to-day all week, suffering from an unspecified lower body ailment.

In the third and final game of the series, Thornton scored early, despite many outstanding saves by Schomberg net minder Willem Loopstra. The determined Red Wings responded with authority by launching one offensive rush after another towards the Thornton net.  Despite a valiant offensive effort, the Red Wings came up on the short end of a number of officiating calls, forcing the Red & White warriors to play much of the game short-handed, with any possible thought of scoring on the Thornton net apparently deserving of a penalty.

Submitted by Ray Tribe

In a tumultuous day of action packed hockey, Schomberg Novice LL delivered a decisive win over Oro and then Barrie to take the B-Championship Title.  The win was only possible thanks to the great hustle of the whole team.  On that sunny Mar-13 day, a wondrous transition occurred with the team as the players demonstrated heads up passing and positioning which truly distinguished the Red Wings from the other seven teams competing.  The Creemore MHA were wonderful hosts coordinating 12 games into under 11 hours (which we all appreciated).   Seen here are Fisher Richardson, Lucas Tribe and Sam Degli Angelis celebrating after the final game.  Each player delivered critical goals during the tournament while rotating between Goalie, Defense and Forward.

The Novice LL team start their Consolation Championship series against Bradford this coming Sunday.  Go Red Wings!