Twelve teams entered and the Otters initially faced off against Emburn-Casselman on Saturday evening. Scoring started in the second period with Curtis Lang, unassisted from a roll of the puck off the goalie’s back.

Aaron Turner netted the go-ahead goal with a backhander, assisted by Brendan Fitter.

The game was tied again, but Lang replied another goal on assists from Colby Ball and Brandon Janke. Jonathon Tredwell, assisted by Ball, Lang and Fitter, fired two more Huntsville goals, which resulted in a final of 5-2 for the Otters.

There were many strong saves made by goalie Tanner Swift.

The next morning the Otters faced the hometown team.

Cobourg took the lead by two, but in the opening period Fitter chased down the puck to draw the goalie out and tucked it in the open net to make it 2-1.

Troy Harju tied the game with a shot from the point with Turner and Ethan MacKay poking around the net. Jimmy Temple started the play for the go-ahead goal after he took the puck down the length of the ice before he passed it to Turner, who drove it through the goalie’s five-hole.

Defenseman Greg McGrath-Goudie let a shot go at the point and Tyler Roy capitalized for the fourth unanswered goal.

After Cobourg responded with a goal in the third, a total arena blackout occurred.

Once the lights came back on Otters did a tic-tac-toe play with MacKay, Turner, and Fitter finishing it up.

Spencer Bloomfield and Kip Arlidge held the defensive line well and Brett Bullen was solid in net. Huntsville finished the scoring at 6-3 when Janke passed to Ball, who was up front alone and drilled it home.

Game three’s opponent was ­Belleville and Huntsville fell behind 2-0 early in the game. Janke jump-started the team by finding a hole in the goalie’s armour, assisted by Ball and Silas Graham.

Next, Bloomfield and Treadwell set up Harju and he slid the puck into the edge of the net. With the score tied in the third, Bloomfield scored the winner from Temple and Graham. Swift was tested in net but held firm to preserve the 3-2 win.

Early the next morning, the Otters faced Whitby in the semifinal. Although down by one in the second, Turner and Jake Heyblom set Graham up for the tying goal.

With only a minute left in the period, Huntsville pulled ahead with a tip-in goal by Ball from Tyler Roy and McGrath.

Whitby kept coming and put two more goals into the Huntsville net. Lang came up big with the needed tying goal again, assisted by Turner.

Overtime was necessary, which involved an exciting three-on-three, sudden-death format.

The Otters managed to kill a four-minute penalty in the first overtime.

Then a second overtime period displayed many more opportunities with fantastic saves from both Bullen and the Whitby netminder. Finally, in the third overtime, Fitter carried the puck down the ice and Roy rifled it in for the 4-3 victory, which put Huntsville into the finals.  

Quinte West was the final opponent of the tournament. Huntsville was certainly equal in calibre to this A division team.

The only goal of the game came during the second period from the Quinte Hawks.

The Otters tried valiantly, even pulling the goaltender, but ended this tournament as finalists with a 1-0 loss.

Nevertheless, the Otters have secured a wild card spot for the Silver Stick Tournament Jan. 15 in Newmarket due to these tournament results.

The Otters are currently in first place in the Muskoka Parry Sound Hockey League’s B division with a record of 16-0-1 for 33 points.