My Little Champion

Keyra's team had their first tournament this past weekend in Ajax, ON.  This is the first time this season that they were able to play kids their own age.  I really did figure that we would do well overall in the tournament as I have seen some growth in the kids throughout this season.  We started right off first thing in the morning against the Carleton Place Cyclones.  Keyra earned a shutout, but not a win as we tied them 0-0.  Their goalie had a great game too as we had plenty of chances in the third period.  Keyra made some amazing saves late in the game to preserve the tie.  Next up was Leaside.  We beat them 9-3.  They had one little girl who was blazing fast.  She scored 3 goals...all on breakaways.  Keyra also stopped her on several breakaways.  We then played Nepean to round out the preliminary round.  We won this game 7-1.  Keyra really didn't have alot of work and the lone goal scored was a giveaway by her that she just didn't really know what to do with.  It was pretty boring for her back there in that game.  This seeded us in 1st place, and setup a re-match with Leaside.  We beat them this time, 6-1 as our kids really stuck to their one player and pretty much shut her down.  Again, Keyra didn't have a lot of shots in this one, but she was solid when she did.  This setup a re-match with Carleton Place for the championship game.  The girls were really fired up for this one, but I think some of them were nervous.  The Cyclones came out and scored a nice goal within the first 2 minutes and held onto that for the first period.  The fans were pretty noisy and I think that was getting to Keyra a bit.  She just isn't used to that yet.  We scored early in the second period to tie it up.  They recovered the puck on a broken play from our defence and shot it in from centre ice.  Keyra came out to play the puck but slipped as she did.  She ended up kicking the puck right to the Cyclones player which she pocketed into the open net.  I could see that Keyra was really dejected at this point.  We all tried to reassure her.  The third period saw alot of back and forth play early, but we started putting more pressure on them.  They were icing the puck to relieve the pressure several times.  We decided to stack up a line to try to get the tying goal.  We really hemmed them in and had some shots, but couldn't score.  When we put out the next line, we got hemmed in. Keyra made some amazing saves during this barrage.  She stopped a breakaway, then the rebound from the corner, the rebound that came out front, then she dove over to her right, paddle down, and blocked the puck from a sure goal and covered it up.  I was holding my breath the entire time.  She made another stop in the dying seconds and then skated to the bench before overtime started.  They play 4 on 4 for 3 minutes in OT and if no goals, they go to a shootout.  Keyra was crying at this point as the fans were really loud from both sides and I think she was starting to feel pressure.  We all reassured her that she was doing great and to keep it up.  3 minutes is really about 2 lines getting ice time at best, so we stacked up the first foursome.  We needed to change the defence and when we did, the Cyclones created a turnover.  They skated around the defence for a 2 on 0 with about 1:30 to go in OT.  Keyra came right out to cut down the angle and they shot and she stopped it, deflecting the shot to the corner.  Our players came back and gathered the loose puck.  Time ran out and she skated to the bench again.  She was crying again.   I asked her if she knew what a shootout was.  She nodded and shook her head several times.  I explained it to her that it is just like what we do in practice with the girls shooting on her.  She was still crying and saying that she couldn't do it.  Again, we all talked her through it a bit but we didn't know what to expect once we started.  Our shooter and their shooter go at the same time, which really sucks.  I of course, watch their shooter on Keyra, while most people watch our shooter.  The first shooter came down, Keyra skated out to the top of the crease and they shot!  Down in butterfly for a nice save!  Our shooter was denied as well.  2nd shooter came down on the left side on a bit more of an angle, shot, saved again!  I couldn't really see what was going on with our shooter.  It looked like the puck was in, but I wasn't sure.  Finally, one of the girls said it was in and they were cheering.  The 3rd shooter came down and shot, and Keyra made a nice pad save again!  WE WON!!!  Her entire team skated down and mobbed her in the net!  After a season of losing every game to girls 4 years older in some cases, they had won the championship at their first tournament!  It was so hard for me to watch the OT and shootout, but man, am I ever proud of the way Keyra stepped up and did an amazing job!  All of the coaches of this team deserve a round of applause for the hard work and skills that we are teaching these kids.  I can't wait for the next tournament in a month in Kingston.

Here is Keyra with her championship medal.