Our very own Atom AE Goalie JJ 'the WALL' Swanston and head coach Marty Castellan were awarded a couple of Centre Wellington Minor Hockey's highest honours - Goalie and Coach of the year. We are extremely proud of both of them and appreciate their contributions to the AE Hockey teams we have all been a part of in the last 3 years and more to follow.

The Fusion Atom AE skated to a big win Saturday afternoon to complete the Tri-City Cup Championship with a solid 6-2 win. This was the final ice-time for the boys who had just recently returned from Barrie as the Atom AE finalists in the OMHA Finals, once again a very successful season for these boys who continue to grow as both a team on the ice and a family off the ice.

Starting off the scoring was Will Kissick who was on a mission from the moment the puck dropped. Jayden Bushey and Caleb 'Big D' McDougall each added a 2 goal effort, the latter of the two with an end to end rush combined with a howitzer from the point. 

Every one of the boys played at the top of their game:

Nick Aitchison was stick handling around the opposition,

Cole Becker showed relentless aggression on the forecheck and backcheck

Kaiden Inglis showed his speed as he quickly moved the puck up the ice forcing Milton's defence

JJ 'the Wall' Swanston once again showed us what his nickname truly means

Ethan Tyo flew around both ends of the ice creating plays

Zach Reinhart battled hard in front of the net 

Oscar Castellan controlled the defensive play with some offensive rushes (and a penalty shot to boot)

Josh Klages was solid helping clear the crease on numerous occasions and was all over the Milton forwards

Tye Dietrich made it difficult for the other team to set up as he took the puck and started the breakout.

The final match-up to decide the 2011/12 TriCity Cup Champion takes place this coming Saturday @ 12:30pm in Fergus.

“Winning is not everything – but making the effort to win is.” Vince Lombardi

I thought this simple quote sums up how pleased we are with the boys for their performance this past weekend. They played with their hearts. Many are experiencing emotions that at their young age they are not that accustomed to. These aren’t only hockey experiences they are gaining here, but life experiences. In hockey and in life the same lessons apply – hard work, determination, will to succeed,… Of course I still struggle finding a situation in sport where the phrase ‘win-win’ applies as it is applied so often elsewhere…

Hats off to the boys of Baltimore Ice Dogs – they were a worthy adversary that had the benefit of some better scheduling and some lucky bounces – welcome to sports. I wish Baltimore was in our league – it would be great to play them throughout the regular season, plus, I want back at them! …I know, I gotta let it go.

Georgina, here we come!

Coach Marty