Pee Wee A Tigers win President’s Day Tourney

Goaltender Spencer Lemkuhl made 22 saves and Hank Walsh knocked in two goals to lead the Tiger Pee Wee A team to a 4-3 win over the Sno King (WA) Junior Thunderbirds in the championship game of the 40th annual President’s Day Tournament. The Tigers won all 5 of their games in the tournament to claim their 2nd tournament title of the season.

The Tigers opened the tournament with a 7-0 win over the Junior Sun Devils from Arizona. Local boy Ryan King had a hat trick, while Jake Geronnazo and Tristan Ward each had 4 points to pace the offense. Lemkuhl earned the shutout in goal.

Game 2 on Friday was a nail biter as the Tigers beat a tough Atlanta Fire team by a 2-1 score. Goaltender Alex Niederhauser was sharp in turning aside 15 shots for the victory. It was back and forth affair until Kenny Bagley went five-hole to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead to open the 3rd period. After Atlanta tied the score, defenseman Sean “Duncan Keith” Melnyk took off with the puck and buried the eventual game winner in the top shelf. Tigers Abbi Komrofske and Weston Villers led a strong defensive effort while Matty Kelleher helped the forwards keep the Fire trapped deep in their zone for long stretches of the game.

On Saturday morning the Tigers dug out of an early 2-0 deficit to earn an 8-4 victory over McKinney, Texas. Levi Whitman started the scoring with an absolute bullet of a shot while Ryan King scored his 2nd hat trick of the tourney. Geronnazo, Bagley, Ward, and Antoine Remillard also scored goals for the Tigers.

Sunday’s matchup was a win or go home game for the Tigers and they collectively rose to the occasion with an 8-0 drubbing of the Houston Wild. Niederhauser was flawless in goal to earn the shutout and defensemen Joe Mills and Nash Cannella kept the Wild off the score sheet. Goal scorers were King (2), Kaden Ochsendorf, Geronnazo, Melnyk, Bagley, Whitman and Remillard.

“Every player on our team contributed to a successful weekend,” said assistant coach Louis Remillard. “We are playing our best hockey at the right time of the season…unlike the Montreal Canadiens who seem to get worse every day.”

The championship game win completed an impressive tournament for the Tigers. The team scored 29 goals in 5 games while only allowing 8 goals against. Hopefully the team can keep up their impressive play when they host the CCYHL league playoffs this upcoming weekend.