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Canada 2007 - The Phoenix U-15 Tour
Eight days. seven matches. six training sessions. eighteen hours on the ice.
Our Manchester Phoenix Under-15s' are back from a fantastic tour in Canada that was '100% hockey'. In the space of a week, our players packed in more match ice time than they've yet experienced in England this season. The Canadians pitched us against opposition teams a notch higher in calibre compared with the tour arranged in conjunction with Flintshire last year, and the players relished the challenge. Phoenix pulled off one victory during the week, and undoubtedly grew in confidence as the tour progressed, playing a mixture of rep teams within seventy miles of their Orillia base.
Day One. After touchdown in Toronto, the squad headed north to the Barrie Molson Arena, home of the Barrie Colts. The Colts are riding high in the Ontario Hockey League this season and their logo was the inspiration for the U-10 team strip at the old Altrincham rink. The OHL is junior 'A' hockey, and the Phoenix tourers joined almost 4000 fans to see the Colts take on West Division leaders, Plymouth Whalers. The Whalers took the match 5-2, but the speed and intensity of the play gave our own players a clue of what they could expect from their own minor age group games.
Days two and three. Every weekday began with a training session on the superbly maintained ice pad in the small town of Coldwater, some twenty minutes west of the squad's Orillia base. Sessions run by the team's inscrutable coach, Paul Bayliss, ensured that the squad would need to chill out during the day to regain their energy for the match to come! Phoenix opened their tour with a match against the TNT Tornados in Tottenham, New Tecumseth followed by a trip to Midland the following day. In both games Phoenix opened the scoring only to lose the advantage later on. TNT posted nine goals to overhaul a Phoenix brace from Oli Bayne and Jared Dickinson as Manchester, with only two lines, tired in the third. Midland were held to five goals in a much more competitive game, despite Phoenix icing just nine skaters due to illness.
Day four. The squad headed for Oak Ridges to take on the Richmond Hill Kings, an AE rep team. As in all their fixtures, netminders Adam Grisdale and Sam Heyes shared duties between the pipes. Once again the short bench worked hard and their increasing confidence showed in a close encounter. A hat trick from Josh Healey split by a goal from Alex Pugh kept Phoenix in touch throughout, with good work in defence by Jack Sweet and Jordan Bannon. The Kings finally took the game 6-4.
Day five. Phoenix travelled south to Markham, on the Northern edge of Toronto. Playing in a new state of the art, multi-sport arena with two ice pads, Phoenix came up against their stiffest opposition yet. The Markham Waxers are an AE rep team making good progress in this season's playoffs. Their superior size and speed kept Phoenix in check in a game in which the Waxers ran out comfortable winners despite a consolation goal from Oli Bayne.
Day six found the squad at Penatanguishene for its most easterly fixture. This game turned out to be as difficult to play, as the town name was to spell. Yet again, Phoenix opened the scoring and held the lead at the end of the first session, but the host's three lines proved the stronger and Penetang ran in four goals in the second and a further five unanswered strikes in the third.
Day seven. Parry Sound. birthplace of Bobby Orr and home to a Hall of Fame dedicated to him. This was our most northerly stop and the most successful. Sometimes a line 'clicks' and it was the turn of the Josh Healey/Oli Bayne/Ben Brown line to notch up seven goals and six points each, along with assists from Paul Swindlehurst and Jordan Bannon. With their noses ahead 3-2 after the first period, Phoenix dominated the second session with six unanswered goals and added another in the third to complete a morale-boosting 10-1 victory.
Day eight. With a victory under their belts, Phoenix went into their final game with high hopes. Coldwater had become a very familiar rink after a week of morning training sessions, and the game there felt more like a home fixture than a transatlantic match up. Unsurprisingly, the Coldwater Bantam rep. team felt differently and started strongly. Coldwater took the lead as Phoenix found themselves on the back foot, but the squad's youngest player, Jared Dickinson shot an equaliser to put the teams level at the first break. Coldwater added a second in the middle period setting the game up nicely for the final session. Or so Phoenix hoped. In a two-minute spell of the third, Coldwater struck three times to put the game seemingly out of reach, but Phoenix refused to capitulate. This time it was the turn of the Conner Dakin/Joe Greaves/Jared Dickinson line to do the business and Manchester continued to push forward. With twelve minutes left, two goals in four minutes from Paul Swindlehurst put Phoenix back in it, and four minutes from time Jared Dickinson scored his second to put Phoenix within a goal of their hosts. Frantic final minutes followed but Phoenix simply couldn't find the net again, ending the game on the wrong side of a 5-4 decision.
So, 100% hockey. But that's only part of the story. Everywhere the club went the team were met with incredible hospitality and generosity. The tourers were addressed by town mayors and local dignitaries, they were presented with signed shirts and mementos, fed and watered courtesy of host clubs and given a hockey welcome that only the Canadians can organise. The Coldwater Curling Club even opened the doors of its rink to give all thirty-six of our travelling band a complementary morning of curling.
The club would like to send its sincerest thanks to everyone who made the tour possible. Bob Beaumont, Phil Hendry and Rob Ring of the OMHA, our host clubs and Cathy and Bob O'Hara who provided sledging and food for everyone at their home one memorable lunchtime. There could well be another visit next year. We would advise would-be tourers to get their names down now.