Blackhawks hand Jackets final loss

The 2012 U12 squirt Blue Jackets girls have played their final game. They lost their second game in the Columbus Cup, the annual season-ending house hockey tournament. The tournament is double elimination.

Handing the girls their second loss in consecutive games were the Easton Blackhawks, who prevailed 2-0 behind stellar skating and a goalie who stood on his head.

"The girls certainly had their chances," said coach Leslie after the game. "We're disappointed, but it was a great year of hockey. I'm proud of each of them for skating hard every practice and through each and every shift," she added.

The Blackhawks skated hard and were tenacious on the back check. It appeared as though the Lady Jackets might walk away with this one after the first two minutes of play. The girls dominated the opening action and just missed opening the scoring with many scoring chances. The girls were overwhelming the Blackhawks, but they didn't break.

Mailory manned the pipes for the Jackets and was super. She made several key saves and kept her team within striking distance for a come from behind win.

"I guess you've got to score to win," her dad said after the game. How true!

Kay played super and had many chances. Logan planted herself in front of the Hawk goalie and just missed potting a goal many times tonight. Hands down, she played her best game of the year. The blueline was awesome, keeping most of the Hawks scoring chances pushed to the wall, rather than down the middle. #61 for the Hawks was especially skilled and determined to score, but the girls turned him away all night.

Sam and Taylor continued to skate brilliantly through traffic. Rey played super. She had many great positional battles and made some passes that just missed scorers sticks. Kaitlin, Whitney, Joanna and Jenna played defense most of the night and should be very proud of their play. They established puck control and didn't panic with the puck. The Blackhawks were going to have to earn this win and they did just that.

Emma Clark kept the puck in the offensive zone at least four times this game, allowing Maddy to corral the puck and drive the net. There were at least four times the puck was loose in the Hawk crease but the girls couldn't punch it home. Maddy was physical and skated hard. So did Reagan, who probably played her most complete game -- chipping the puck out of the zone when needed and running the wall with precision!

It was a frustrating loss, but the girls shouldn't hang their heads. They played great and could have won the game.

"Sometimes you just tip your hat," said a random parent after the game.

Good luck Blackhawks.

Click HERE for photos.

Jets hand Jackets their first loss in thriller

Those pesky Jets are at it again. First they ousted our beloved lady Jackets in the President's Day Skirmish and now they've bested the girls once again. This time it was a thrilling 4-3 tilt decided with :20 seconds remaining in overtime. If you'd like to see some raw video, click on the image above. Emma was on a Adele fix so she ran with three of her songs. Not exactly hockey music, but quality talent just the same. Enjoy! (OK the video isn't ready yet -- we'll get that up as soon as we can).

Girls drop Lightning 3-2 in nail biter

GAHHANA, OH - The Blue Jacket girls opened the Columbus Cup tournament in dramatic fashion last night, scoring the game winning goal with only :09 seconds remaining in the third period. Taylor potted a wrister just past the Lightning's diminutive, but athletic goaltender, who played very well in the game. The bench and stands came alive after the goal -- at least on the Lady Jacket's end. Kaitlin manned the pipes and stood on her head, saving many quality Lightning chances. She even made a spectacular save on a soaring deflection from the face-off dot that flew high above everyone. If this reporter were in net, the Lightning would have certainly scored!

The Lightning defeated the Bruins 5-3 in their opening round game and were fired up to play the Blue Jacket girls. They fired many shots on net during the game, skated hard and should be proud of their effort. They'll move to the losers bracket but can still win the tournament if they don't lose again.

Who else played great? "Everyone!" says Emma. Mailory opened the scoring on a brilliant individual effort. The lightning goalie made the initial save on her shot but she didn't give up. The puck rested between his skate and the pipe and Mailory started hacking away. Taylor scored two goals in the game. Sam was stellar in both zones. Jenna carried the puck through the neutral zone with confidence and really excelled with the puck. Kay broke up many chances in the defensive zone and kept the offense clicking with her aggressive wall play. Emma made some brilliant passes and skated with head up the whole game. Ray played sound defense and cleared rebounds away from the crease.

Give it up for coach Leslie who manned the bench alone for the game. Her fine assistant coaches were either bogged down at a trade-show in California, obligated with school responsibilities or otherwise unable to make the game. Coach Leslie did a great job getting the girls ready to play and keeping their lines short and spirits high.

Next up for the Jackets? Not sure who, but the game will be this Saturday at 10:20am at Easton. Follow the tourney by clicking here.

Jackets set for year-end tourney

The U12 girl house Blue Jackets will play the first of (hopefully) many Columbus Cup tournament games beginning tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:50pm (Easton). They'll play either the Lightning or the Bruins, who defeated the Jackets 2-1 in the Skirmish opening round game and wound up winning the whole kit and caboodle. If you look at the standings the Jackets would get the edge, but the last meeting tells us all we need to know about those pesky Bruins -- they come to play! The Jackets have defeated the Bruins three times during the regular session, so they should be confident (should they in fact play the Bruins). Locker room chatter after this week's practice sounded like the girls are worried about the Bruins goaltending.

"No problem, we've got Taylor to roof those pucks!" said Emma over my shoulder as she read this post. "And Kaitlin will be in net and she'll do awesome like always. We've just got to believe, skate hard and we can win."

Good luck girls. We'll be posting photos, maybe some video and plenty of write-ups of this weekend's action. Stay tuned!

Kalie

Sam

Kaitlin O