The following game summaries were published in the Jan. 23 issue of the Haliburton Echo.

Atoms
The first round of playoffs began this weekend for the Ridgewood Ford and Cottage Country Building Supplies Atom team versus the Durham Crusaders. The last time our Atoms had faced the Crusaders was on Nov. 4 having won that meeting 3-2 at A.J LaRue arena. On Saturday the puck dropped at noon and we were off to the races. Both teams exchanged strong rushes and it wasn’t until Josh Scheffee walked in all alone on the right side that the ice was broken. His opening goal was assisted by Brady Burtch and Austin Latanville. Moments later a Jace Mills blast develops into a juicy rebound right onto Deegan Davison’s tape and he banged it in for a big contribution. Big puck battles see the lead change a few times in the second period. Liam Harrison from Scheffee and an Latanville goal assisted by Owen Sisson add up to four Storm goals to bring the game to a tie with just minutes left in the game. An own zone clearing attempt had Parker Simms carry the puck up the ice only to get badly hooked to the ice with no call and the resulting turnover found the back of our net. The Storm played a solid game and was ready for game two on home ice on Sunday afternoon. Our 4:30 p.m. start had the team well rested and ready to tie up the series showing strong neutral zone play in the early going resulting in the opening goal by Evan Jones assisted by Latanville. We kept the Crusaders from making clean entries which led to more offensive zone pressure as the Storm forechecked hard. Storm forwards had their opponents on their heels and just minutes later Latanville found the twine assisted by Jones and Scheffee leading to a surprise goalie change in the first period. The second period had our opponents playing their top forwards trying to get on the board and that proved to be a challenge. The Storm went on to score two more goals to add to their lead. Liam Harrison scored assisted by Owen Sisson and Scheffee and Latanville added the fourth and final goal assisted by McLean Rowden to make a final score of 4-1. There’s no denying the potential that this Atom team carries into this their first round of the playoffs. We hit the road early this weekend to face the Crusaders back on their home ice on Saturday.
By Pasi Posti

Midgets
The Highlander and Ed Smolen Family Dentistry Storm Midgets met with the Shelburne Wolves for game 2 of the playoffs Saturday Jan. 19 in Haliburton. Down one game the Storm was hoping to take advantage and even the score with a home ice win. They did their best but came up short on luck and were down by a goal after the first period. Early in the second period the Wolves capitalized on the man advantage with a power play goal. The Storm got a break when Smith drew the defence and goalie leaving MacNaull to capture the opening for the goal. A 2-1 game at the start of the third period with both teams pushing hard. Halfway through the Wolves widened the gap with another goal making it a 3-1 game. Minutes later Haedicke dangled in took a shot and picked up his own rebound for the goal. The clock ticked down with the Storm team doing their best to tie things up. With just seconds left the Wolves finished things off with an open net goal 4-2 final. The next day the Storm team set off to Shelburne for the “do or die” game 3. An incredibly intense game from the start. It was end-to-end action for both the first and second scoreless periods. The Storm kept the pressure on in the third and it paid off. It was Gilbert’s sharp shot that found the top corner opening for the goal. Shortly after the Wolves got a questionable goal that tied it up. The Storm team kept pressing however it was the Wolves that got lucky with the go ahead goal. It was time for the Storm to step up and they did each player dug a bit deeper. Gilbert’s determination and drive created the opportunity as he pushed hard fighting through the defence got a partial shot off that Clements took to seal the goal and tied the game. This sent the game into overtime. The entire Storm team got the boost they needed to dominate the last minutes of the game and kept the pressure on in overtime. Minutes into it MacNaull brought it from behind the net fed Smith and he tipped it in for a well deserved 3-2 overtime win.
By Suzanne Haedicke

Novice
The first play-off game didn’t go as expected for the Haliburton TimberMart/Haliburton Hockey Haven Sports Camp Novice Reps. On Saturday the team travelled to Wasaga Beach for their first game against the Stars. The first period was continuous fast paced action with few shots taken by either team. In the second the Stars outshot the Storm resulting in three goals for the Stars. Finally Jack Tomlinson saw an opportunity and carried the puck the length of the ice to score the Storm’s first and only goal of the game. The Stars put in another goal in the third period taking a 4-1 win. On Sunday the team redeemed themselves on their home ice during their second game against the Wasaga Beach Stars. The Stars put in four goals before Evan Perrott took a pass from Easton Burk during a Stars power-play and carried the puck from centre ice right into the net. Three minutes later Luke Gruppe took the puck from Perrott skated behind the net and passed to Max Rupnow who shot it in. Goalie Carter Braun made several incredible saves. The defensive team Jaxen Casey Ethan DeCarlo Jack Tomlinson and Easton Burk stopped the Stars with aggressive back-checking. In the third Matthew Scheffee passed from the boards to Henry Neilson in front the net who put in the third goal for the Storm. Isaac Trotter took the puck the length of the ice for a shot on net and Neilson picked up the rebound and placed it top right to tie the game. After three periods the score was a 4-4 tie which sent the teams into a fourth period sudden death overtime. After five exciting nail-biting minutes Rupnow passed the puck up the ice to Perrott who passed it to Luke Gruppe who fired it in top left for a 5-4 victory for the Storm. The team will face the Wasaga Beach Stars for two more games next weekend. Good luck Novices!
By Sarah Gruppe

Peewee A
On Jan. 19 JoAnne Sharpley’s Source for Sports/Haliburton Family Medical Centre Highland Storm Peewee A travelled to Oshawa to play game one of the MPS playoffs against the Durham Crusaders. The Peewee A Storm played hard but the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Goals scored by Addison St Cyr and Cheyenne Degeer. On Jan. 20 the Peewee A Storm hosted the Durham Crusaders for game two of the MPS playoffs. The first period started with a beautiful goal by Addison St Cyr. Then just before the period ended Mak Prentice took a shot from the blue line and Addison St Cyr tipped it in the net. It was 2-0 going into the second. The second period was all the Crusaders. They scored two goals and the game was tied. The third period started with an early goal by Addison St Cyr. Then it was just keeping the upper hand. It was a nail biter but the Storm held on and took the first win of the playoff series. The final score was 3-2.
The Peewees play their third MPS playoff game in Oshawa on Saturday Jan. 26 at 11:45 a.m. and will host the Crusaders on Sunday Jan. 27 at 12:30 in Haliburton for game four.
By Amber Card

Tyke
On Saturday Jan. 19 the Tom Prentice and Sons & Walker’s Heating and Cooling Storm Tyke team played against the South Muskoka Bears Tyke team. The first period saw the Bears scoring six goals and Highland Storm’s Nixon Ecclestone getting a hat trick. During the second the Bears scored another six goals Storm didn’t back down and scored a couple of their own by #8 Rowan Johnson and #10 Kelson Bagshaw. These boys weren’t down yet and opted to play a third period where the Bears scored seven more and Ecclestone scored his fourth of the game Brady Burk scored one and Ecclestone scored two more! The Highland Storm Tyke team will be practicing next weekend gearing up for their Jamboree in Peterborough the first weekend in February.
By Marita Bagshaw

Atom 2 LL
The Highland Storm LL Atom 2 TD Canada Trust hosted Almaguin Ice Devils on Saturday and nobody was going to give up. During the first period the Ice Devils were starting to show they are here to play hockey and never give up no matter what. With the Ice Devils finding the back of the net twice to open off the scoring.
But with two minutes left in the first period Logan Reid was showing her persistent nature and found the back of the net. During the second period Brian Robichaud was showing his awesome goaltending skills and keeping the puck out of our net.
With a tennis like match playing back and forth Reid was able to battle the puck out and score his second of the game. With our goalie switched out Zach Lowe was finding multiple shots on net but was able to scramble and keep the Ice Devils shots out of the net but with the persistent forwards the Ice Devils were able to sneak a nice shot in to tie up the game with 20 seconds left.  During the third period the Ice Devils scored early to take the lead. But the Storm refused to give up and their persistent puck handling proved who they were and with a pass from Owen Megrah-Poppe from the blue line Ethan Rowe scored his first goal of the season. With Ice Devils still up by one the Storm were staying to scramble and make plays from end to end and with the fans biting their nails in anticipation of another goal Kamauhl Cassey Russel was able to score a beauty shot to tie up the game with one second left. Player of the game goes to Ethan Rowe.
By Chris McMartin

Peewee LL
On Saturday Jan. 19 the Walkers Home Hardware LL Peewee team had another close game with the Canadian Tire Storm LL Peewee team. The first period was action packed but neither team could come up with any points.
Daniel Stephen went end to end scoring the first and only goal of the second period putting Walkers in the lead.
The Canadian Tire team came out strong in the third scoring two back-to-back goals. Walkers tied it up at the 12 minute mark with a goal by Alex Hendry assisted by #15 Weston Bowker. The Canadian Tire team wasn’t about to let up scoring another two goals. Wyatt Raposo scored the final goal unassisted making the final score 4-3 for the Peewee Canadian Tire team.  Walkers Home Hardware had another game on Sunday against Huntsville. Huntsville dominated the first scoring two unanswered goals. Huntsville started the scoring the second but Storm’s Cayden Russell scored with a slap shot from the blue line assisted by Nathan Harrison. Huntsville answered with two more goals. Huntsville again found the back of net starting the third. Storm kept up the pressure with  Weston Bowker scoring a beauty assisted by Emery Bagshaw and Alex Hendry. Huntsville flooded Storm’s net with three more goals making the final score 9-2. Walkers Peewee team travels to Gravenhurst Saturday to play Parry Sound at 12:30 p.m.
By Marita Bagshaw

Novice 2 LL
On Saturday the Dewayen Simms LL Novice 2 team and the Bright Woods Landscaping and Consulting Novice 1 team faced off. It was a back and forth action-packed game!
Brightwoods was first on the scoreboard as Cruz Neave landed the puck in the net assisted by Gideon Borgdorff. Twelve seconds later Dewayen Simms Construction answered back by an unassisted goal by Mason Latanville. Dewayen Simms Construction took the lead in the first as McCartney Saunders and Mason Latanville both landed unassisted goals. The second period started off with a Brightswoods goal from Brody Hartwig assist going to Hunter Hamilton. Again Dewayen Simms Construction was quick to answer back with an unassisted goal by Saunders. The back and faith action continued as Tyler Hughes snuck one past Dewayen Simms Construction goalie Landyn Simms.
Neave tied the game up four minutes into the third unassisted. Dewayen Simms Construction took the lead again as Brycen Harrison found the net with an assisted going to Travis Rowe. Ten seconds later Brightwoods tied the game back up with an unassisted goal from Hartwig. Saunders then snuck his third of the game in the net past Brightwoods goalie Carter Knapton. Ten seconds later Saunders with another assisted by Harrison. After a great battle between the LL Storm Novice Teams Dewayen Simms Construction takes the win 7-5.
By Stephanie Harrison

Midget LL
The Pharmasave Highland Storm LL Midgets played the Parry Sound Shamrocks last weekend in Minden.  The Shamrocks took the lead four minutes into the game but the Storm’s Brenden Newhook continued his hot streak tying the game seconds later on a  hard wrist shot. Parry Sound regained the lead with only seconds to go in the opening period. Jake Sisson jumped on a rebound shot from Sam Hoenow to tie the game on a very impressive power play and Paul Turner scored on the next shift to put our locals ahead for the first time in the game. Lexi Tait almost made it 4-2 when she was setup all alone in front of the net by Newhook. Paul Turner got his second of the night crossing the blue line faking the defender with a stutter step and scoring on a rocket snap shot. The Shamrocks closed the gap to one on a power play goal near the end of the second period but the Storm continued to press and almost regained their two goal cushion when Jayme Coltman was robbed on a beautiful save by the Parry Sound goalie. There was no scoring in the third and the Storm hung on for a 4-3 win beating two of the Parry Sound teams on consecutive weekends
By Gord Hoenow