Written by As teams are made up of individual competitors, and they go to tournaments to compete against others, and to better themselves. When the team travels out of state or their home region to compete, that’s even better. It’s a chance to measure themselves against a bigger, more diverse, and possibly better field.
The 2010 Flames took on the Ramapo (NY) Saints in their first game on Saturday afternoon. The Saints proved to be a bigger, better hockey team than the Flames in their current stage of development. The better team won, 9-1. The Saints would go on to win the championship in their division the following day. The Flames actually took a 1-0 lead half way through the 1st period, when Sean McGee, Andy Soucy, and Jacob Casimiro combined to put a shot behind the Saints goaltender. I had Casimiro getting credit for the goal.
Flames scoring:
1) Casimiro (1) from Soucy (1) and McGee (1).
Travis Ingalls and Will Rosenbeck split time in net for the Flames.
I know there was commentary and questions about the level of play the Saints were able to demonstrate throughout the tournament, but isn’t that how life is supposed to go? If everything were always set up so we could always knock them down on our way to success, would that really even be an accomplishment? I would say that a group of undersized and collectively less skilled (for now) kids who continued to battle throughout the game, were learning a lesson simply by continuing to measure themselves against their opponent. Then the way the Flames came out in the next game a couple of hours later was almost instant proof that they had learned from playing against better competition. These steps are necessary throughout life in its’ entirety. The important thing is to apply what has been learned. That was done, no question.
Please enjoy some pictures from the action of the first game on Saturday. Click on the gallery and then on the individual pictures to get in close.
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- The ref checks the net prior to the game. Did the Canadian flag get shrunk in the wash?
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- The huddle, the camaraderie, where anything is possible.
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- Flames and Saints face-off during the 2021 Niagara Showdown.
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- As the game wore on, the Saints were able to create more and more good scoring chances.
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- Will makes the save with all of his teammates back on D.
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- Casimiro gets the shot off against the Saints while Soucy throws his weight around. This shot found the twine.
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- Caleb carries Will on his shoulder to give the goaltender a breather.
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- Will goes all out to make this save against the Saints.
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- The Flames lost the game but they did generate several scoring chances throughout the game.
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- This tripping penalty was called.
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- This was just the last of a series of great moves by the Saints forward en route to a goal.
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- Will shuts down this breakaway bid with a flash of the glove.
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- Just some power skating with Mr. Powers.
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- The tournament featured a father-son game during one of the intermissions.
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- Travis cuts the angle and makes the save on one of many grade-A chances for the Saints.
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- Like I said, the Saints did get some pretty good chances to score. Travis didn’t back down though.