Today is the fourth day of the 2016 OHL Cup showcase tournament, a hockey tournament filled with 15 and 16-year-old boys from the 20 top Minor Midget AAA teams in Ontario and the U.S. At 11:30 a.m. this morning, the Barrie Jr. Colts faced off against the Elite Hockey Group in an incredibly well-matched and physical game.
#OHLCup Round-Robin wraps up today with 12 games! 16 teams in the mix for 7 playoff spots: https://t.co/uYvwPUlVSA pic.twitter.com/o0gcTBbzsQ
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 18, 2016
The Elite Hockey Group had rush in’s galore and Barrie just kept shutting them down, over and over again. It wasn’t until the penalty kills when Barrie’s goalie, Parker Simpson saw any real action, but Barrie gave the Elite a taste of their own medicine with one final and perfectly executed rush in during the final few seconds of the overtime period. Going in hard at the 30-some-odd seconds left in the game, the puck was passed to defenseman Dennis Busby of the Colts at the blue line, who deked around the opposition’s front line in a six-on-five power play and finally put the puck in the net, winning the game 2 to 1.
Moments after Busby’s winning goal, he received the game MVP because winning the game with phenomenal control of the puck, quick feet and a great shot on net wasn’t the only time he got himself noticed.
Noticed right at the beginning was all thanks to those stick-handling skill of his. It appeared nearly impossible for anyone to take the puck off him and on several occasions, he literally stood with it behind his own net, taking his sweet time to decide where, or who he would pass it to next. Perhaps a cocky attitude like this can be used as a tactic to infuriate the other team – an obvious weakness of the physically prone, which is exactly what the Elitists were, but if anyone could get away with it, it’d be Busby for sure.
Teamwork Pays off for Barrie Jr. Colts at OHL Cup
Every Colt acts as a team player. It’s really very impressive to see them work so well together. If there were two MVP’s to hand out to the same team, I’m pretty sure the second one would have gone to Alternate Captain Rhys Brown. He plays hockey so gracefully and this grace is most noticeable when he’s receiving passes – especially long ones. He has a surprisingly long reach, considering he’s only 5’-11” and 157 pounds and based on the number of times his teammates passed him the puck, he’s considered highly reliable in those situations.
Kudos to Barrie today. They held their ground and remained focused every stride of the way. Check out the OHL Cup tournament tomorrow, Saturday, March 19th at the Scotiabank Pond arena, as some of the OHL’s best players prepare for the championship final on Monday, March 21 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.