A Sweet Weekend in Hershey

Hershey, PA, 31 August 2014:  A delay of forty minutes, a wet, sloppy sheet of ice, and their second game in less than four hours all made the final victory oh so “sweet.”  Fitting as the Hershey Bear Junior Labor Day Tournament saw the Predator Bantam White team go undefeated in the round robin format, with two wins and two ties that culminated in a final shoot-out victory against the Howard Huskies to win the championship. 

The tournament kicked off with a Friday night win against the Hatfield Ice Dogs, a back and fourth affair at the Hershey Park Arena.  Dakota Miller potted two first period goals in five minutes, putting the Predators ahead 2 -1 after the first period.  Each team scored one in the second period and the Predators managed to hold off a third period charge by the Ice Dogs to win 3 - 2 and take 4 of 5 possible points. 

Game two saw a CBHL preview Saturday that pitted the Predators against the Howard Huskies in the morning and the Reston Raiders in the afternoon.  The Predator Husky game was a back and forth physical affair that had the Predators trailing 3 to 2 with only minutes remaining.  In a desperate attempt to tie up the game, the Predators pulled their goalie in favor of an extra skater.  The tactic paid off when at 18:19 of the third period Lance Colet scored the game-tying goal.  A goal that proved to be extremely important in keeping their championship hopes alive. The tie gave the Predators 2.5 points, earning them 6.5 points in two games; a solid start.

     Game three, an afternoon affair, matched the Reston Raiders against the Predators.  After a few quirky bounces, the Predators found themselves trailing 2 – 0 after the first period.  The second period saw a change of fortune as the Predators roared back with second period goals by Nick Lehman, Alan Reid, and Connor Baccus; combined with strong goaltending from Christopher Beaulieu, the Preds shut down the Raiders and took a 3 – 2 lead going into the third period.  A grinding third period ultimately gave way to a late Reston goal, the last goal of the game for either team.  That meant the second 3 – 3 tie in two games and tipping of the scale in favor of Reston, giving them three points and the Predators two.  After day two, the Predators had a tournament total of 8.5 points, two points behind Reston, two points out of the playoffs. 

Knowing they needed all available points and some help from the Huskies, the Predators exploded for seven goals against the Bowie Bruins in game four of the round robin, hosted at the Giant Center.  It was easy for the team to get up for this game since it mostly everyone’s first opportunity to play on the same ice as the Hershey Bears.  Daniel Salazar led the Predators with three consecutive goals to record the first hat trick of the season.  The Predators took care of business, winning all three periods and adding 5 points to their total, giving them 13.5 points overall.  Now all they had to do was wait to see the outcome of the Reston Raider vs Howard Huskey game.  Within minutes, the word trickled down that Reston and Howard tied with the Huskies taking 3 of 5 points, giving the Raiders two points for a total of 12.5.  That result, combined with the win over Bowie, meant the Piedmont Predators jumped ahead of Reston into second place and into the playoff.  The Predators would be making the trip to Klick Lewis Arena to take on the Howard Huskies for a shot at the championship in a little over two hours time.

Following a quick dine and dash, the team gathered at the rink by the airport.  Sitting outside, word quickly began to circulate that the tournament was behind at least 30 minutes and that one of the compressors keeping the ice frozen was broken.  This just led to a lot of questions and speculation: would there be a cut of the ice, would it be a dry cut, when would the game start…it was not the finale the Predators and their parents were hoping for, but everything else didn’t matter.  The Piedmont Predator White team was competing to be the Hershey Jr. Bear Bantam B Champions. 

Following a 40 minute delay, the game was finally ready to start, conditions were rough at best.  The ice was wet and showed no signs of drying.  The warm-up was discouraging; pucks were sliding a foot or two before hitting a puddle and coming to a dead stop.  No matter the conditions, the time came and referees blew the whistle, the game was about to start.  Despite a sluggish start, the Predators drew first blood when Daniel Salazar scored at 9:21 of the first period.  Even though the Huskies carried the play through most of the first and second period, the score after two periods remained Piedmont 1, Huskies 0.  Try as they may, the Predators were not able to keep the Huskies scoreless because at 9:26 of the third period, the Huskies broke through and scored a game tying goal.  From there neither team was able to break the deadlock and the Predators and Huskies were on their way to sudden-death overtime. 

Trying to put the tournament schedule back on track, the referees modified the format and implemented a three-on-three four-minute overtime.  As luck would have it, this format did not last very long as the Predators were immediately called for a two-minute minor penalty, giving the Huskies a man advantage.  This meant the Huskies would have four skaters and the Predators three for the majority of the overtime.  The Predators battled hard and even created some short-handed chances, but neither team could break the deadlock, and a shoot-out would decide the winner.

As the coaches scrambled to put together a line-up, excitement was at an all time high.  Lance Colet led off the shoot-out with a goal and Dakota Miller made his shot count to give the Predators two goals in two attempts.  Thanks to Jacob Hubert in goal, those were the only goals necessary, as he stoned four of five Husky shooters to bring home the championship.  The Piedmont Predator Bantam White Team are the 2014 Hershey Jr. Bear Labor Day Tournament Champions.  Congratulations and thanks to all the parents, coaches, and players who made this tournament a total success.  See you in Rochester.