Brick Novice Hockey Tournament at West Edmonton Mall: Day One

By Trevor Robb

EDMONTON — The Chicago Junior Blackhawks were able to execute their game-plan perfectly against the Winnipeg Junior Jets at the Brick Invitational Novice Hockey Tournament at West Edmonton Mall Monday afternoon, as the Hawks spent much of the game in the Jets’ zone en route to a 3-2 victory.

Special teams played a big part in the Junior Hawks’ win as the the team capitalized on two of their four powerplay opportunities.

Hawks_v_Jets05
Hawks forward Cole Caufield, #26, fights of a check from Jets forward Kyle Bettens, #13,  during their teams’ first round -robin game. The 2011 Brick Invitational Super Novice Tournament kicked off at West Edmonton Mall on Monday, July 4, 2011. Photograph by Trevor Robb

“We’re a team that wants to be a pressure and puck possession team, we need to move the puck stick-to-stick to our forwards,” said Junior Hawks head coach and former NHL head coach and Hall of Famer, Denis Savard.

“We try to make sure that we put pressure on their team right away. It was important for us on defence to have good gaps throughout the whole game and not allow the other team to come at as and gain speed,” said Savard.

The Jets opened up the scoring in the first period after a great pass from Jets d-man Rylan Thiessen found forward Jonny Hooker, who fired it home for his first of the tournament.

However it was in the second where the Jets got into penalty troubles.

After already scoring the tying goal early in the second, the Hawks were put on a man advantage after Jets forward’ Ben McCartney went off for tripping midway through the period. Thirty seconds later, Jets defenceman Chad Nychuk took a cross checking penalty to give the Hawks a 5-on-3 advantage and Hawks forward Alex Turcotte was able to light the lamp giving his team a 2-1 lead.

Hawks forward Parker Sondag stretched the Hawks lead to 3-1, scoring just under a minute after Turcotte netted the go-ahead goal. However, the Jets responded in just over 20 seconds as forward Cameron Brakel was able to bury his first of the tournament in a mad scramble in front of Hawks netminder Matthew Choate, making it a 3-2 game.

In the third, both teams were held scoreless despite a breakaway opportunity for the Jets late in the final frame. All-in-all the Hawks dominated the puck possession side of the game and out shot the Junior Jets 43-9.

“We did get beat a few times and our goaltender came up with some huge saves for us, but that’s going to happen when you ask young kids to move up in the play and stay up and keep those gaps really close,” said Savard.

Balancing fun with pressure

Savard played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), recording 1,336 points in 1,196 games and earning himself the honour of being inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2000. He spent two years as the Chicago Blackhawks head coach and now serves as an ambassador for the Blackhawks organization.

His grandson, Tyler Carpenter, played in the 2010 Brick Novice Tournament and now plays pee wee with the ‘Mission 2000s’ hockey club in Chicago. While there is a lot of pressure at the tournament to perform, Savard believes that striking a balance between pressure and fun is key.

“You got to keep emphasizing the message, that you guys are lucky to be here, that you’re the best in your state but you have to enjoy the moment,” said Savard. “Obviously the purpose is to win a hockey tournament but at the same time you can’t lose sight that this is all about fun.”

“I love it. This is my second year here, I wouldn’t miss it,” said Savard.

As part of his work with the NHL’s Blackhawks, Savard will not stick around for the entire tournament, he leaves on Thursday to Chicago for the Blackhawks’ annual prospect camp. Next week, he’ll  be in Winnipeg for Hawks’ captain Jonathan Toews’ annual golf tournament, the Players Cup.


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