Jan 29, 2020 | Gerald McNaughton | 88 views
Ernie Clayton Memorial Tournament
The Walkerton Capitals would play in its first tournament of the season playing in the annual Ernie Clayton Memorial Tournament in Welland. The tournament attracts teams from all over Ontario for the three day weekend tournament.
The first game on Friday evening would see Walkerton play the Dorchester Dragons. Dorchester would score twice in the opening period to take an early lead. Walkerton would storm back in the second and third periods and pepper the Dragons net but the Dragons netminder would make several outstanding saves to shut out the Capitals. Walkerton would fall 2-0 in its first game.
Game 2 would see Walkerton play the host Welland Tigers. The Tigers would lead 3-0 midway through the second period before Tyler Wallace would score from the slot area after taking a pass from Matthew McNaughton to cut into the Welland lead. In the third period Walkerton would again to continue to pressure but it would be Welland who would score twice before the Capitals would slide another one behind the Welland goalkeeper. Cayleb Peitz would finish off a great passing play from Joshua Flood and would go five hole on the Welland goalie. While much of the game was played back and forth between the two teams Welland would make the most of its opportunities and eventually skate away with a 6-2 victory.
Already eliminated from playoff contention Walkerton would play the Wainfleat Wild in the Saturday early evening game. The game would be action packed with end to end play and some great goaltending from both sides. Wainfleat would score midway through the first period and then late in the third to win the game 2-0.
The weekend tournament would see Walkerton go 0-3 against some very strong teams. While Walkerton would be competitive throughout its games but in the end its normal grinding style of play and hard work in the corners would not be evident.