The Gretzky family knows a little bit about gold medals.
So too do the Mount Forest Midget Rep Girls, who traveled to Brantford over Feb. 25-28 and returned home as champions of the 29th Annual Walter Gretzky Girls Hockey Tournament.
The girls played their best hockey of the season for the win, prompting Coach Jerry Arthur to suggest a certain Toronto team would have also had trouble beating the girls.
Game one got underway on the Thursday night, as Mount Forest took the play to feisty Flamborough, but came up against a hot goalie. Assisted by Ali Arthur, Stephanie Orr scored in the first period for Mount Forest, but Flamborough tied it with 1:59 to go in the period.
Flamborough scored the only goal of the second stanza, on the powerplay, to lead 2-1. The locals pressed hard in period three in search of the tie, and with about 3:00 left in the game pulled goalie Robin Small.
Mount Forest began unloading on the goalie, but could not beat her. A little scrum by the net resulted in a Mount Forest penalty, and as the girls continued to apply direct pressure Flamborough was finally able to get the puck out and score a 3-1 power play empty netter. Jenna Wollis was voted game MVP.
The Mount Forest girls came out on fire for game two on the Friday, wanting a win over a stronger St. Clair team. Tori Zeinstra parked herself in front of the St. Clair goalie and took a beating, and Small played an amazing game with some huge saves, and Mount Forest focused the attack by playing as a team.
The fast-paced game stayed close, and it wasn’t until the third period that Alisha Luty finally beat the St. Clair goalie. Orr and Wollis were there for the assists, and the final 1-0 score meant a shutout for Small, who was voted the game’s MVP.
Going into game three on the Sunday, the locals knew a win might not be enough to advance to the finals. After everyone's third game, four teams sat deadlocked at 2-1. Mount Forest knew they had to light things up. In the dressing room, they wondered how many goals it would take to win. The number six was thrown out, and that became their mission.
Things started a little slow, with Sarah Mason netting the only goal of the first period, shorthanded and unassisted. However, two more goals arrived in the second period, when Mason buried one from Jaime Reeves, and Luty buried another set up by Arthur.
Knowing that three goals would not be enough, the girls picked things up in the third period. Mason scored a natural hat trick, with assists going to Wollis, Jordyn Ghent, Zeinstra, and Reeves with two. With 21 seconds left, Owen Sound broke the shutout and inked the 6-1 final. Luty was the game MVP.
Six turned out the be the magic number after all, as Mount Forest made it to the finals with a plus-4 rating, one ahead of Kincardine’s plus-3.
The championship match-up brought St. Clair back to the ice, and the locals knew they would have to play some of their best hockey yet again. The girls were focused on winning their own gold medals, with updates coming from the penalty box on the men's Olympic final.
Mount Forest started things rolling with an Orr goal in the first period, assisted by Carlee Watson. In the second, St. Clair began going hard to the net and was able to get one past Small. No scoring in the third frame sent the 1-1 stalemate to a five-minute suden death overtime.
Three-on-three action left plenty of open ice for the speedy players to fly around, and with 1:30 left in overtime, Arthur was breaking out of her end when she was hauled down hard. St. Clair dumped the puck back in on the faceoff, and Small played it up to Ghent, who battled along the boards to the red line.
Ever the speedster, Reeves got the puck and broke in all alone on net. Jaime let her shot go, and it rolled up the goalie and over her shoulder. Wollis and Ghent came flying in for any rebound, as the shot went in and Mount Forest came away with a 2-1 gold medal victory.
Reeves was selected as game MVP. Every one of the girls did their part for the team and can claim a piece of the gold medal and tournament glory.