On Feb. 8, the Huntsville Canusa Bantam Otters travelled to Bracebridge to face the Bears with a chance to eliminate them from the playoffs and represent the region in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) quarter-finals.

The Otters came out pumped and scored on the first shift with Brandon Janke deflecting a point shot from Mason Lonsdale with an assist from Jimmy Temple. The Bears answered back at the 10-minute mark on a nice goal that Matt Leslie had no chance on. With less than two minutes left in the first, Colby Ball sent a hard shot along the ice that surprised the Bracebridge goalie. The assist went to Curtis Lang.

The Otters came out in the second period and once again scored on the first shift on a nice feed from Ball to defenceman Jimmy Temple, who wired one past the Bear’ netminder. Never giving up, the Bears clawed back and scored two nice goals to even the score by the end of the second period.

The action was back and forth through the third period and Matt Leslie held the Otters in the game, which ended in a tie. The game went to a 10-minute overtime and once again both goalies were great. The game ended 3-3 which meant Game 5 would be played in Huntsville the next night.

The Otters needed a win or a tie to advance past the Bears. The play was tight and nerves were tense until Huntsville ran into penalty trouble late in the first; playing short handed the Bears capitalized on a five-on-three advantage to take a 1-0 lead.

The Otters rallied back. Ethan Mackay broke to the net and buried the puck on a nice pass from Curtis Jennings and Janke. Less than a minute later, with only three seconds left in the first, Aaron Turner scored from Ball and Lang.

Leading in the second by a score of 2-1, Leslie made some key saves, including a beautiful diving save that spurred the Otters on. Troy Harju broke through the Bears’ defence on a feed from Janke and Mackay and deked the Bracebridge netminder for a 3-1 score. With under four minutes remaining in the second  captain Brendan Fitter scored on a great pass from Janke and Jennings and knocked the sails out of Bracebridge.

Leading 4-1 going into the third, the Otters played defensive hockey and shut down the Bracebridge squad. Huntsville never stopped looking for the opportunity to increase the lead and Lonsdale let a blast go from the blue line that bulged the twine and sealed Bracebridge’s fate.

After putting the Bears out of the playoffs, Huntsville prepared to meet the Collingwood Blues in the OMHA quarter-finals. The Otters won the draw for home-ice advantage and started the series in Huntsville this past Friday night.

The Otters came out fired up and Janke buried the puck four minutes in on a nice pass from Lang. The Otters, true to their nature, began to run into penalty trouble and goalie Natalie Robinson had to stand tall and face a lot of rubber,  allowing the Otters to take a one-goal lead into the second period.

The Otters settled down and started to play their passing game with Lang lighting the net from Turner and Temple. Ball fired a hard shot past the Collingwood net minder assists going to Janke and Kip Arlidge. Forty seconds later Troy Harju scored busting up the centre ice on a nice feed from Spencer Bloomfield and Turner to give Huntsville a 4-1 lead.

Collingwood answered right back on a breakaway goal that Robinson had no chance on. When the score was 4-1, Huntsville took a roughing and unsportsman like pentalty on the same play and played the last two minutes down five on three.

Robinson was once again stellar in the net and refused to let the puck past her while her teammates played short handed.

In the third period, Collingwood came out with force and scored just two minutes into the frame. The Huntsville defence settled the play down and with under two minutes left Janke dangled in and secured the win, with the assist going to Mackay. The game ended 5-2 for Huntsville.

Game 2 was again in Huntsville on Saturday with a large crowd that the Huntsville squad did not want to disappoint.

Collingwood came out with revenge and outplayed Huntsville for the first two periods and took a 3-2 lead. The first two periods saw Huntsville goals by Harju from Lang and the second goal coming with only 15 seconds left from Ball on a great feed from Lang and Janke.

 Ball scored the goal with assists from Lang and Janke. The next goal, putting the Otters ahead by one, was scored by Janke from Temple and Lang. Finishing the scoring in the third to secure the win were Harju from Fitter and Arlidge and  finally Lang, who had five points during the night, from Janke.

Next action for the Otters will be in Collingwood this Friday. The series is a best three out of five. If the Otters do not win Friday they will face Collingwoood for a fourth game on their home ice Saturday afternoon.