You would be hard pressed to identify the teams lone female player, Kennedy Quade, were it not for her pink gloves.

There was a full house buzzing with anticipation in the Manitouwadge Recreation Centre Arena Saturday morning as Minor Hockey fans gathered to watch the Dubreuilville Bobcat Peewee’s face the hometown Copper Kings in this season’s first exhibition game.  In Game 1 the Copper Kings found it difficult to adjust the no-contact rules which had been agreed upon for the exhibition game and though goalie Nick Forgues made plenty of saves, the Copper Kings fell to a relentless Bobcats offense as they were defeated 7-2.

Undaunted the Copper Kings hit the ice skating hard for Game 2.  Though  both teams began practicing just a few short weeks ago, each seemed well prepared and the intense second game kept fans cheering from beginning to end.  Bobcats coach Alain Rioux credited the Copper Kings with wearing down his Bobcats who he admitted were feeling fatigued as the game went on.  The Copper Kings continued their assault playing as their own coach, Aaron Baker, put it “Really smart hockey”.  Copper Kings tied it up in the 2nd period when Jeremy Newton scored his second goal of the game.  Playing as a cohesive unit, the Copper Kings worked hard to keep the puck out of their zone through power plays against them, Goalie Dillon MacGregor doing his part by making some incredible saves to keep the game tight. 

The Dubreuilville Bobcats with some impressive stick handling.

In the third period the Copper Kings kept the pressure on the Bobcats, covering well and suffering fewer penalties than in Game 1; unfortunately they fell 3-2 with just  seconds remaining in the 3^rd period of the relatively evenly played match. Despite the pair of losses the Manitouwadge PeeWee’s
are looking forward to a 2-day tournament in Nipigon this weekend, confident that the momentum which begun in Game 2 of Saturday’s play will continue to build. Coach Aaron Baker was clearly pleased with the effort put forward by the team, a proud Baker noted that “They were very disciplined and gave it their all with a great attitude”.

In preparation for the weekend’s two-day tournament in Nipigon Coach Ron Fogarty said they would focus on penalty kills and break outs.  Congratulations to the Copper Kings for a well played game; we wish you good luck at the tournament in Nipigon this weekend!