The Canadian Tire/Parkview Dental Bantam Girls Jets headed to Keene to take on the Wolverines this past Saturday. The team secured a 5-2 win over Keene and have been given a bye for finishing in first place during the regular season in the LLFHL.
Hannah McMann with her powerful wrist shot had some beautiful goals and scored a hat trick. Assists went to Haley Goulet Emily Alexander and Kennedy Croskery. Also adding to the scoreboard were Gillian Rosik and Emma Tidey. Jaylin Frost assisted on both. Bella Smolen had a fantastic game between the pipes for the Jets.
The team would like to thank their sponsors Canadian Tire and Parkview Dental for their ongoing support throughout the season which has greatly contributed to the teams’ success. The girls will continue to work hard as they prepare for league finals and reach their goal of attending provincials.
Submitted by Linda Goulet

The Cottage Country Building Supplies/Ridgewood Ford Highland Storm Atom A’s hosted the Durham Crusaders at the A.J. LaRue arena on Saturday Jan. 20.
The first period started off with an awesome goal by Addison Carr. He took it from the Storm’s end fired a shot grabbed his own rebound and scored. The next goal was by Brechin Johnston who fired a shot from the left board and it got tipped in by the Durham defencemen. Unfortunately a minute later The Crusaders scored their first goal and it was a 2-1 game going into the second. The second period was a slow first five minutes but then it really picked up with a goal by Austin Latanville then 20 seconds later a goal by Johnston and a minute after that a breakaway goal for Carr. It went quiet again until Colby Coumbs fired a rocket shot from the blue line and in. The Crusaders were not giving up that easy scoring a goal shortly after. But with two minutes left Johnston scored his hat trick goal and The Crusaders answered making it a 7-3 game going into the third. The third period was all Storm. Kadin Card received a pass from Carr from behind the net and shot it in and Cheyenne Degeer scored a beautiful five-hole goal making the final score 9-3. A big shout out to Aaron Neave who made some pretty awesome saves and kept the score high for Storm and low for the Crusaders.
The next game for the Cottage Country Building Supplies/Ridgewood Ford Highland Storm Atom A’s is their second playoff game at the Whitby arena at 12 p.m. versus the Durham Crusaders.
Submitted by Amber Card

With a double header weekend Pharmasave LL Atom 1 hosted South Muskoka Cottage Country on Saturday. The Storm opened the scoring with a goal by Haiden Bird assisted by Carson Jones and Nathan Morrison. In the second period Muskoka came back and scored but the Storm scored seconds later with a goal by Bird and Morrison again.
Unfortunately Muskoka came back to score with a final of 4-2. Player of the game goes to Carson Jones.
On Sunday Jan. 21 South Muskoka Fitzmaurice Bros hosted Pharmasave LL Atom 1 in Bracebridge with a tough battle at hand with one goal by Muskoka in the first. With both goalies ( Zach Lowe and Brian Robichaud) and awesome passing and persistent pressure scoring was kept completely scoreless. During the third period Haiden Bird scored unassisted but Muskoka kept the pressure on and won 4-1.Player of the game goes to Logan Reid. LL Atom 1 next game will be hosted in Parry Sound against Shamrocks 2.
Submitted by Chris McMartin

On Saturday Jan. 20 the G.J. Burtch Construction Atom AE Storm players hosted the Huntsville Otters at the A. J. LaRue Arena in Haliburton in their first game of the playoff season. It was an exciting game from the beginning and evenly matched. The Otters came on strong scoring the first two goals of the game. The Storm players were not going to give up without a fight. Jace Mills shot the puck hitting the crossbar and into the net. .[Less than a second] left of the second period Cayden Russell received a pass from Liam Harrison scoring their second goal. Russell wasn’t finished and scored another in the third period.
It was Maclean Rowden who scored the tying goal sending them into a nail biting overtime. Unfortunately they fell short with a 4-5 loss.
On Sunday Jan. 21 they were back at it travelling to Huntsville for game two of the playoffs. Again it was a tough battle for both teams. Lots of back and forth. It was the Storm player Parker Simms who took a shot from the blue line and scored the first goal of the game. Only moments later Emery Bagshaw passed the puck to Rowden to put another one in the net. With the Otters hot on their heels Brady Burtch passed the puck to Mills to score the tying goal yet again sending them into overtime. Unlike Saturday Storm players stayed strong and their hard work paid off when Simms scored the winning goal ending the game with a 4-3 win tying up the series.  Next game is scheduled for Saturday Jan. 27 at 3:30 p.m .in Minden.
Submitted by Lisa Reinwald

The Highlands Storm Tom Prentice and Son’s Trucking Tykes travelled to Huntsville to face the Huntsville Otters for the first time this season. Halfway through the first period Vanek Logan scores the first goal of the game assisted by Jaxen Casey. The Otters rallied but Storm goaltender Carter Braun came up with a big save. Next Jack Tomlinson sends a pass out front to Mason Latanville but the Otters goalie holds the net. Seconds later Evan Perrott takes a backhand shot beats the goalie with the assist going to Latanville. Logan scores again with the help of Casey to end the period. McCartney Saunders receives a great pass off the boards from Zach Prentice to result in a breakaway goal. Matthew Scheffee fights hard to get the puck out of the Storm end and gets it to Saunders but he’s denied by the Otters goaltender. Tomlinson gets a goal off of Logan’s wrap around rebound that bounces out front. The Otters carry the puck into the Storm’s end but Braun makes another great save. With 21 seconds left in the second Perrott’s hard digging in front of the net pays off scoring his second goal of the game with the assists going to Latanville and Luke Gruppe. The third period is filled with great passing efforts Easton Burk and Ethan DeCarlo make some great passes moving the puck around ice. Halfway through the period Gruppe gets the puck to Logan who is at the blue line and takes a shot and scores. Next Logan carrying the puck up the ice gets tripped and Gruppe picks up the loose puck and put it on net but it’s saved by the Otters goalie.
Fantastic goaltending throughout the entire game by Braun earning himself a shutout. The final score of the game was 7-0 Storm.
Submitted by Jessica Tomlinson

On Sunday Jan. 21 the JoAnne Sharpley’s Source for Sports Haliburton Family Medical Centre Peewees hosted the Durham Crusaders in their first game in their playoff series. Both teams hit the ice with determination to get that first game win. The Storm battled hard and kept most of the play in the first period in the Crusaders’ end.
The Storm shot puck after puck at the Crusaders’ goalie and limited them to one shot against Storm goalie Damon Harriss.  The period ended scoreless. The Crusaders took the lead early in the second but the Storm came back with a goal by Kaine Brannigan assisted by Austin Boylan and Evan Armstrong.  The Crusaders scored two more in the second to put them ahead 3-1 going into the third. Harriss took control of his crease and the Storm kept putting pressure on the Crusaders and Brannigan netted another late in the third assisted by Avery Degeer and Boylan to put the storm within one.  The Storm gave everything they had but the Crusaders scored an empty netter to win 4-2. Game two for the Peewees is on Saturday Jan. 27 at 1:30 in Whitby and then back to Haliburton for game three on Sunday at 12:30.
Submitted by Ron Hall

The Highland Storm Pepper Mill Steak and Pasta House Dollo’s Foodland Bantam A opened their playoff series last Friday versus the Durham Crusaders. A couple of early chances by the Storm didn’t materialize which may have changed the entire tempo of the game; instead early penalties cost the Storm dearly and they quickly found themselves down by four goals five minutes into the game. The rest of the game was spent playing catch up. Goals by Aidan Neave Jake Sisson and Tim Turner offered some motivation to our boys however the Crusaders would take full advantage of virtually every Storm penalty on their way to a convincing 8-3 win in the opening game of the series. Game two is this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Haliburton. Come cheer on the team!
Submitted by Gord Hoenow

The Highland Storm Highlander and Smolen Family Dentistry Midget team began the first round of playoffs against the Wasaga Stars Jan. 21 and successfully skated away with a 6-3 win. Each practice and each game prepares the team for the playoffs and you can feel the excitement and intensity. It was a fast paced game from the start with lots of back and forth action. Late in the first Lucas Haedicke won the faceoff in the Stars end and quickly passed it to open Morissette who was ready to nail it in for the first goal. With seconds on the clock while short-handed Manning fed Patterson-Smith. With determination he pushed through the defence and found the opening making it 2-0. The second period found the Storm team on their heels and the Stars got on the scoreboard with three unanswered goals ending the period with the Storm down 3-2. The Storm team came out strong in the third period and dominated. A nice play by Patterson-Smith found Manning open in front of the net his goal tied the game early in the third. Shortly after with the heat still on the Stars Jacob Haedicke held the line and fired it to Patterson-Smith and his keen eye put the Storm in the lead 4-3. The Stars tried to fight back but that just gave the Storm power-play opportunities and the next two goals. First Patterson-Smith captures a hat-trick when he expertly manoeuvred around the net and top-cornered the fifth goal. As the players battled at the boards Gilbert stole the puck and easily five-holed the last goal. Join us for the next two playoffs games that will be in Haliburton Jan. 27 3:30 and Jan. 28 at 5 p.m.
Submitted by Suzanne Haedicke

On Saturday Jan. 20  the Highland Storm TD Bank Atom 2 team was in tough as the undefeated Huntsville HRC insurance Atoms came to the A.J LaRue Arena. The Storm got off to a great start on an excellent individual effort by Ethan Thomas to put one past the Huntsville goalie in the first 50 seconds of the game. The Storm had their work boots on battling hard in both ends of the rink. The hard work paid off when Max Chapman came streaking down ice and potted his first goal of the season assists going to Eric Mueller and Ayden Chapman.Despite the incredible effort and hard work it was not enough on this day as the Storm fell to Huntsville 10-2.
On Sunday Jan. 21 the Highland Storm TD LL Atom 2 team travelled to Bracebridge to take on South Muskoka Cottage Country Dental Bears.
It was clear from the initial puck drop that both teams were ready to battle. Halfway through the first period South Muskoka came in and snapped a wrist shot top corner to open the scoring. Throughout the game the Storm worked together Olivia Gruppe blocking shots Jacob Davis applying pressure with the forecheck and Layne Robinson fighting for position in front of the net. Their work was rewarded in the third period when Ethan Thomas looked back at the blue line and fooled the Muskoka goalie when he fired it past him to tie the game 1-1.
In a finish which brought the crowd to the edge of their seats a winner was not to be decided on this day.  Final 1-1 tie.  Next Saturday Jan. 27 the Storm travels to Parry Sound for a game at 4 p.m.
Submitted by Jamie Lloyd