The REHN Atom A Tyees travelled to Victoria last weekend to participate in the Saanich Minor Hockey Remembrance Day Tournament.
The players were full of energy, and highly excited to play their first game early Saturday morning inside the huge Save On Foods Memorial Center against Sooke. The Tyees came out flying, and applied pressure early, but the Sooke goalie stood strong and weathered a barrage of shots. At 8:23 of the first, center Evan Billard won the draw cleanly back to point man Ashton Birchard who fired a howitzer shot through traffic top shelf. This set the tone for what would be a smooth 5-0 victory, with Jacob Thomas, Breydan Riecker, Alex Movald, and Ethan Vaton each scoring for the Tyees.
Game two was a much tighter game against the Saanich Braves. Billard opened the scoring at the 14:15 mark of the first, burying his own rebound.
The play went back and forth, seemingly shot for shot, until Thomas scored an unassisted beauty 9:26 of the second frame. Saanich came right back and buried one of their own, getting them within one. From there the game turned into a battle.
Billard scored his second at 12:10 of the third, but with just over three minutes left, Saanich scored again.
Despite tense moments, time would eventually run out on Saanich, and the Tyees won their second straight game, 3-2.
On Sunday, the Tyees played only one game, but again they came out strong. Defenseman Brett Ruehlen opened the scoring in as he walked in from his point and fired a laser beam wrist shot that found nothing but mesh. Helpers including goals by Bryce Idiens, Jacob Obuck and Brian Majic allowed the Tyees another easy win, defeating Juan de Fuca 6-2.
You could hear a pin drop during the moment of silence before their game on Monday. Spectators and players alike stood in respectful silence; honoring, remembering.
The Tyees found themselves in a must win situation against Langley, a win that would get them to the championship game. Early in, both teams had chances, but you could almost sense that this one would be a goaltenders duel. Unfortunately, for the first time in the tournament, the Tyees didn’t score first. The Langley goal, scored with 3:45 remaining in the first, would hold up until almost midway through the third, when Ethan Vaton finally scored with a determined shot to tie it up. Tyee goaltender Josh Doherty, stood on his head until the final buzzer; this one was going to be decided by a shootout. It wasn’t meant to be for the Tyees in this character building game, and they were defeated 2-1.
Seeded in tier one, the REHN Atom A Tyees officially begin their season this Saturday, 11:45 a.m. at Rod Brind’Amour Area against Cowichan Valley.
