On October 20th, Stratford’s Major Atom MD’s had the dreaded long bus ride to St. Catharines to face the Hurricanes. Stratford knew that they would need to get their focus ready, and their bodies warmed up after the long bus ride. The boys took to the ice with an intensity in their eyes and power in their feet.
Despite both teams playing with determination in the first, the game remained scoreless. In the second, Wesley Patterson shot one in to start the scoring by receiving a pass from winger Kieran Johnson, and centre Liam Benton. Stratford had a power play opportunity that Tayler Cook took full advantage of with the help of Alex Robinson and Wesley Patterson. Patterson who was on fire, scored his second goal with only 3 seconds left in the second, with support from Benton and defenceman Will McKee. In the third, Andre Lefebvre wanted to contribute to the scoreboard and added the fourth goal, assisted by Benton and Nash McIlroy. The fifth and final goal was another from Cook, supported by Lefebvre making the final score 5-3.
Exceptional goaltending was seen from Jake Taylor and Davis Longston who combined, defended numerous shots from the Hurricanes. The Warriors wanted to celebrate by watching the Mighty Ducks movie on the way home, but due to technical difficulties another choice had to be made. The selection was the “Greatest Showman” and it was a perfect ending to a great day. As we drove home, both team and parents belted out the song “The Greatest Show”, because Hockey is truly the greatest show on ice.