Congratulations, Once Again to the '99 Minor Atoms!
Submitted By Webmaster on Mon 12 29, 08
The Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs '99 Minor Atoms won the 39th Annual Brantford Wayne Gretzky International Hockey Tournament over the 2008 Christmas break on December 27-29, 2008.
In round robin action, the Jr. Bulldogs played some great hockey! Going 3-0 in the round robin and outscoring their opponents 18-2 was just the beginning for the boys. The bulldogs earned a birth into the semi finals by finishing 1st overall in the division.
Round Robin Results:
Win 10-1 vs West Seneca Wings
Win 1-0 vs Brantford 99ers
Win 7-1 vs Columbus Blue Jackets
In semi-final action, the Bulldogs were on a mission. Facing West Seneca for the second time in the tournament and playing with heart, intensity and desire, the Jr. Bulldogs earned their place in Monday's Championship final by eliminating the Wings 5-0.
The finals were to be a real Challenge. Facing the home town Brantford 99ers in their barn for the Championship game and the "rematch" from a very physical round robin 1-0 win was sure to be a great game. The two teams played each other hard and the score remained 0-0 after a hard fought period of end to end action. All the scoring took place in the second period with Hamilton striking first at 7:54 of the 2nd period. But Brantford wasn't about to lay down & quit. Two minutes after the Bulldogs had taken the lead, the 99ers caught the bulldogs flat in their own end and scored the equalizer at 5:31 of the 2nd period. It looked to be a very even match at that point and could be anyones game, perhaps overtime would decide the outcome? The Bulldogs, however, were not finished yet. Another two minutes after Brantford had tied the game, the dogs went back to work. Battling hard for the puck behind the Brantford net, their hard work was eventually rewarded and the Bulldogs scored again with 3:54 to go in the 2nd period. Going into the 3rd period with a 2-1 lead, the Bulldogs played their best defence allowing a total of 7 shots against all game with no shots against in the 3rd period at all. The Brantford goalie kept his team close as the Bulldogs swarmed the Brantford goal on many occasions only to be denied. As the clock counted down, the Bulldogs kept their cool and the puck from the 99ers to retain the lead and win the Championship game.
This was the 99 Jr. Bulldogs 2nd tournament Championship win this year. This one was very special to the boys as they got to meet Walter Gretzky, the father of the Great One himself. They all had their pictures taken with him and got their Championship winning "Team Canada" hockey sticks signed by Walter.
Congratulations to all of our '99 Minor Atom players for an outstanding weekend of hockey.
The Minor Atoms would like to thank all our sponsors, friends and families for supporting us.
Gord de Pass, Head Coach, Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs Minor Atom AAA 99's