Knights claim Bronze at Lake Placid Challenge Cup

Proving the adage ‘all ice is home ice’ for Canadian hockey teams, the Peewee AE Ajax Knights made sure on Sunday that they were not coming back from Lake Placid empty handed.

Jordan Bell had a pair of goals, including the game-winner and Nathan Cvetkovic slammed the door shut in net for the Knights to secure a 4-3 victory over Connecticut’s Darien Ice Cats in the Bronze medal game at the Lake Placid Challenge Cup. 

Alex McAlister and Evan Bertschy had the other goals for the Knights, while Holden Caney led the way for the Ice Cats with a pair of goals and an assist.

The victory was an exclamation point on what was a thrilling tournament for the Knights that saw the team set a season high for goals scored in a game in a 6-1 victory over Darien during the Round Robin portion of the tournament.

After an exciting Opening Ceremony that saw the team earn the honour of carrying the Canadian flag that would be hung from the rafters of the historic Herb Brooks Arena; the Knights had a tough test off the bat as they fell to a very skilled Calendon Hawks team in their opening game.  Despite the 7-1 loss, there were positives to taken from the contest, including the return of Evan Bertschy who managed to find the back of the net in his return from a lengthy absence due to a broken collarbone.

Facing the SaraPlacid squad that had defeated them soundly the year before in the Gold medal game, the Knights responded positively.  It was an incredibly tight affair thanks to a lockdown performance by the Knights’ defence corps and heroics by Nathan Cvetkovic in the Ajax net, making 20 saves.  A couple of bad breaks led to a pair of SaraPlacid goals in a 2-0 loss; however the message had been sent.  The Knights had come to play.

Knowing the team needed a spark in their third game, Patrick Davidson and the coaching staff threw the lines in a blender and saw the results pay off in a big way.

Normally a defensive stalwart, Wyatt Smith scored on a beautiful solo effort and added three assists while Tristan Thibodeau had a pair of goals to help power the Knights past the Ice Cats 6-1.  Alex McAlister and Arjan Mann each had their first goals of the tournament, while Bertschy scored his second.

With a 1-2 record in the round robin, the Knights earned themselves a rematch with SaraPlacid in the semis. 

Unfortunately for the Knights, SaraPlacid were far too much in this one, skating to a 6-1 win.  The lone highlight for the Knights was Anthony Calvelli’s first goal of the tournament in the loss.

Though they were disheartened by the loss, the Knights knew they still had something to play for in the Bronze medal game.

Having been part of the team that lost in the Gold medal game the year before, Jordan Bell made an impassioned pre-game speech to the team in the locker room prior to the Bronze medal game.

“Hockey is Canada’s sport,” said Bell.  “We’re not losing this one.”

The game proved to be amongst the most thrilling of the Knights season.  McAlister opened the scoring for Ajax on a breakaway in the first, beating Petros Dulos in the Darien net for his second of the tournament.  Bell doubled the score moments later with a short-handed marker.

The Knights appeared to be in full control until late in the second when a big save by Dulos sparked the Ice Cats offense.  The team scored a pair of goals in rapid succession to even things two goals apiece.

Undaunted, the Knights replied before the period was out as Bertschy finished off a nice passing play from McAlister and Calvelli for his team leading third goal of the tournament.

With a one goal lead heading to the final period, the Knights seemed confident despite the nervousness by the Ajax supporters in attendance.

The tension in the arena was palpable and that only increased as Caney’s point shot eluded Cvetkovic to draw the Ice Cats even with just over four minutes remaining.

Having seen leads slip away in the past, the Knights were determined to not let it occur again.

Bell took his own pre-game words to heart and just 12 seconds after Darien had equalized, Bell re-directed his second of the game on a feed from Spencer Duncan past the Ice Cats netminder for what proved to be the game winner.

Pandemonium erupted simultaneously on the ice, the bench and in the stands as the clock counted down to zero and the Knights rightfully claimed their Bronze medals.  Even if it wasn’t necessarily the colour they wanted, the Knights would be heading back home with a souvenir from Lake Placid.

Congratulations go out to the entire team and coaching staff for their medal winning performance.

GO KNIGHTS GO!