The Point Edward Atom’s participated in the John Henry Memorial hockey tournament in Strathroy during the Christmas break and won their divisional title as well as the overall Atom Division Championship.

 

Game#1 vs Ilderton Jets

The Hawks first game was against a team they knew well in the Ilderton Jets and they came out strong wanting a good start to the tournament. Right off the opening tournament face-off Kennedy set up Best who made it 1-0 to set the tempo of the game. Ilderton countered with a goal of their own a minute later when they caught the defense pinching in and had a 2 on 1 break to make it 1-1. The Jets took the lead when the Point defense couldn't clear the puck to take an early 2-1 lead. King tied the game at two when he intercepted a Jets pass and drove the puck to the Ilderton end and that seemed to spark the Point Edward team which created some big chances as the period came to a close. With 30 seconds left, Hocking made it 3-2 off a rebound to end the period.

Gladwish started the period similar to the first and got a goal 50 seconds into the period. Ilderton got a break with the Point showing a moment of weakness as they quickly tied the game at 4-4 when a shot deflected off a defenseman’s stick to make it 4-3 and a minute later scored again. The Blackhawks regained their composure and the tides of the game shifted when Best took a shot and Kennedy banged in the rebound to make it 5-4 which created the turning point and they never looked back. Ilderton were forced to play defensively due to the Point’s offensive charge and within the last 3 minutes of the period, the Hawks scored 4 goals by Kennedy,Best,King and Cunningham to make it 9-4 and put the game out of reach.

The third period was all Hawks as they controlled the tempo of the game and had the Jets continue to play defensively. Robson scored early in the period when Best made a precision pass and Robson one-timed past the goal tender. Best had two more goals before the period was over and the Hawks won their first of the tourny.

Blackhawk’s Scoring Summary

Period	Time	Goal	Assist	Assist
1	9:17	Noah Best	Garrett Kennedy
1	3:30	Jonathan King
1	0:45	Raymond Hocking	Robert Boccanfuso
2	9:10	Nolan Gladwish	Cole Molloy
2	6:30	Garrett Kennedy	Noah Best
2	3:51	Garrett Kennedy	Noah Best
2	3:41	Noah Best	Justin Waun
2	3:14	Jonathan King	Daniel Luciani
2	1:54	Jacob Cunningham	Matthew Davis
3	9:11	Nicolas Robson	Noah Best
3	6:01	Noah Best	Nick Kootstra
3	5:43	Noah Best	Garrett Kennedy

 

Game#2 vs West London Hawks

The Point played their second game against a team they had never played against before in the West London Hawks and the game started with both teams feeling each other out. Just before the mid-way of the first, the Blackhawks struck when Hocking past out front to an opened Noah Best who made it 1-0. The goal gave the team confidence and two minutes later Best headed to the net again and this time Kootstra pass it out front and the game was 2-0. The West London defense played a big roll in keeping the Blackhawks away from their net for the rest of the period to end it at 2-0.

The point struck early in the second when Best set up Kennedy to take a early 3-0 lead. The West London Hawks were able to break the Point's defense and get on the board to make it 3-1 but the Point would let them have no more. At the mid-point of the period, the Blackhawks would get two goals in less than 30 seconds by Laframboise and Gladwish to put the game out of reach and end the period at 5-1.

The West London team kept the Hawks at bay for the first part half of the period and would beat the Point defense with a puck they couldn't clear to make it 5-2 but the Blackhawks would retaliate within seconds to get the goal back and shortly thereafter Gladwish would make it 7-2 to end the game.

Blackhawk’s Scoring Summary

Period	Time	Goal	Assist	Assist
1	6:30	Noah Best	Raymond Hocking
1	4:08	Noah Best	Nick Kootstra
2	9:45	Garrett Kennedy	Noah Best
2	5:23	Matt Laframboise	Nolan Gladwish	Jeffrey Wasson
2	4:58	Nolan Gladwish	Matt Laframboise
3	5:39	Matt Laframboise	Justin Waun
3	3:53	Nolan Gladwish	Matthew Davis

Game#3 vs Strathroy Rockets

The third game would dictate whether the Point would win their division and play for the overall championship and it was against an old rival in the Strathroy Rockets. The Rockets came out hard and it paid off as they scored first but the Point would get one of their own 30 seconds later when King made an excellent passed to Gladwish to give him the break and tie it 1-1. Play was back and forth the entire period with neither team getting any good chances.

The Rockets played well until the 3rd minute of play in the period when they broke down and allowed three goals in less than a minute and a half. Davis passed to King who scored off a shot threw a screen. It was 3-1 when Best passed from behind the net to an open Robson and Robson would returned the favour shortly thereafter and assist Best to make it 4-1. West London regained their composure but the Point where able to get one more before the period ended when Wasson passed to Best who hit the top shelf to end the period 5-1.

The Rockets played the first part of the period head-to-head with the Hawks but couldn't get a flow to result in a goal. As the period hit the half way mark, the Rockets were getting tired and the Point took advantage, getting three more goals before the game ended and gave them the opportunity to battle for the overall championship.

Blackhawk’s Scoring Summary

Period	Time	Goal	Assist	Assist
1	8:01	Nolan Gladwish	Jonathan King	Raymond Hocking
2	7:34	Jonathan King	Matthew Davis
2	7:02	Nicolas Robson	Noah Best
2	6:10	Noah Best	Nicolas Robson	Robert Boccanfuso
2	1:04	Noah Best	Jeffrey Wasson	Nick Kootstra
3	4:16	Noah Best	Daniel Luciani
3	1:19	Nolan Gladwish	Jacob Cunningham
3	0.47	Matt Laframboise	Nolan Gladwish	Cole Molloy

Game#4 –Overall Championship vs Lucan

The Overall Championship was a look at the top two teams in the Lambton-Middlesex league with each team winning a game during league play so the fans knew it was going to be a tight battle. Action was face paced with each team getting a few opportunities but the defense and the goalies played a big part in keeping the game at 0-0. The Point got a break when they struck with a minute left in the period when Wasson passed from the corner to Gladwish who tipped the shot pass the goaltender to make it 1-0.

The second was a hard fought battle as the Irish were trying to tie the game and the Point was trying to put it out of reach. Again both goalies came up big when needed and the defense played well by not letting the opposing team have any good second chances. The third ended with neither team able to score and the Point kept their 1-0 lead.

The third had the crowd on the edge of their seats and play was no different than the first two periods. Mid-way through the period, everyone could see that both teams were getting tired of the fast pace and within three minutes, three goals would be scored. The Point extended their lead to 2-0 when Gladwish made a nice pass to Kennedy at the Lucan blue-line to give him a breakaway. One minute later, Lucan charged and where able to break the Point’s armour to make it 2-1 in a scramble in front of the Point net with four minutes left. Both teams battled hard and the solidified their championship when Gladwish stole the puck from the Lucan defense and scored to end the game and tournament 3-1.

Blackhawk’s Scoring Summary

Period	Time	Goal	Assist	Assist
1	1:12	Nolan Gladwish	Jeffrey Wasson	Cole Molloy
3	5:55	Garret Kennedy	Nolan Gladwish
3	2:05	Nolan Gladwish