Read Between the Lions

In our final game before the Christmas break, we had the Lions taking on the Christmas team, the Evergreens.  It’s not for lack of trying, but the Evergreens have faced some struggles in 2025 as they seek their first regulation win.  It was vs the Lions that the Evergreens, under old management, chased and found their first win in the 2024/25 season, and Dustin Hall was not cool with being on the losing end of a repeat of that story.

 

The game was sloppy to start, with nothing happening worth noting, not until Silas Bonnell hit Calum MacKinnon with a pass in front.  Calum mishandled the puck and then tripped himself and went hard into the boards.  It’s not a good sign when that’s the most interesting thing in the first couple minutes of a game.

 

Tyler Carr gave a puck away in the Evergreens zone a half minute later and Andrew MacDonald tried to pass the puck to Taylor McKay who was open behind Jamie Wutke, but he kicked the leg out and stopped the pass and sure goal.

 

Wutke would make a big stop on Connor Tousignant all alone in the slot, and keeping the Lions off the board would give Rob Emberley a chance to put the Evergreens up by a goal.  He deked Trevor Pate and went upstairs with the backhand for his first of the season.

 

Off an faceoff in the Lions zone, Tyler Carr snuck in back door and took a pass with a lot of time and space.  He took his time as Trevor Pate moved across the crease and took away the time.  Carr sized up the shot for what felt like an hour, the shot across the grain.  Pate got a blocker on it.  Then play moved around and Carr was in a similar position.  Joey Richard disrupted him and Pate dove across to stop the stunted shot from going in.  One of Pate’s finest on the night.

 

Jarrett Carter setup Kyle Weatherbee for a one timer that Jamie Wutke had to be sharp to stop as the Lions were ramping up the pressure in pursuit of a game tying goal.  Cobee MacNaughton on the other hand was weaving through Lions players trying to extend the Evergreens lead.  Trevor Pate was on his game though.

 

The Lions hard work would be the key to getting back into the game.  Shaun MacIntosh fought through Silas on the boards in the Lions zone, eventually feeding Stephen Warwick.  Warwick spotted Tousignant and Connor turned on Power Forward mode, making his stance wide and protecting the puck from the defending Septic Doctor, Derek Hale.  Tousignant then skated around Wutke to tuck in the puck for his 3rd of the season.  

 

With under 20 seconds left in the first, the Lions cleared their zone and Dustin Hall was at centre, aka in his office, as Tyler Carr dove to beat him to the puck.  Hall got there first and knocked the bouncing puck over to Keith Webb who went in on the breakaway.  He shot and narrowly missed the net on the blocker side.  Jamie Richard got there first and loose puck and gave it back to Webb who was denied after first fanning on his shot.

 

With 9.1 seconds left, Webb won the draw and went to shoot, but he once again fanned.  Frustrated, he passed off to Jamie Richard instead.  Jamie shot and Hall tipped it off the crossbar and in to give the Lions a lead with only 3.1 seconds left in the period.

 

As has often been the case this season, the Evergreens were trailing after holding a lead for ten minutes of the first period.  Down 2-1, it would get worse as Taylor McKay would score his first of two second period goals as Jarrett set him up for a one timer on a 2 on 1, just 41 seconds into the period.

 

Keegan Lewis nearly had his first of the season when Connor Tousignant set him up back door, but Keegan’s attempt was not pretty as he looked a bit like Bambi while shooting.  Wutke still needed to come across and make a good save mind you.

 

Silas was trying to carry the Evergreens on his shoulders, but at just 5’2” and 96lbs, the weight was too much.  The Lions held him to the outside, getting no quality shots on goal.  

 

Jarrett Carter had an incredible play where he deked through multiple players and then made a huge move at the net, but then he backhanded to puck off the post as he went down.  From his ass, he got the puck to Taylor McKay who thought he had scored on a jam play at the side of the net, but Carter’s fall had knocked the net ajar and it was called off.

 

Kenny Shea went to the box on the play, as is his custom.  The Lions won the draw and Kegan Lewis sent the puck from the slot to Kirk Levy on F, who fed social media sensation Kyle Weatherbee.  His shot went off the toe of Tyler Carr and wide.  It came right off the boards to Keegan and he clapped it in for his first of the year.  His Rob Emberley moment made it 4-1 Lions as they were running away with this game.

 

Cobee got his goal on a sweet little backhand after he deked some defencemen, but it would not be enough as McKay scored on a beauty forehand/backhand deke, and Jamie Richard would cap it off with a breakaway goal with 8.8 seconds left in the game.

 

After the game, a handful of Evergreens players joined the 10 remaining Lions players in the dressing room for some post game pops, and then moved the chat to the parking lot when the rink staff wanted to go home.  The chat eventually broke up just after midnight as that’s what it’s all about, having a good game of hockey and hanging out until your stomach grumbles and it’s time for some late night McDonalds, or chips, or whatever is going to get you through the three hour post game wind down.