Pee Wee CC Lakeshore Tigers reach semi-finals

On opening day, Feb 11, The Tigers arrived at Colisée Pepsi to get ready to play the second game of the tournament against the top team in Québec Lorraine-Rosemère. The players were excited to see Patrick Roy before the game and were very nervous during the game. After a 3-1 loss in the first game, the Tigers then started their journey playing 8 games in 9 days including a 3-3 tie against Grenoble France, a 2-0 win against Jaahonka Finland and another 2-0 shutout against Joliette. Back from Québec, Tuesday, the Tigers beat the strong West Island Royals team 6-4 to remain in first place in all of Lac St-Louis with a record of 16 wins, 1 loss and one tie. Wednesday, the Tigers took a bus back to Québec to defeat another French team, Angers, 4 to 1 to reach the quarter-finals.

Back from Québec around midnight, the Tigers manage to tie the Barons 1-1 in a league game on Thursday night. Friday night against a local team , Québec Cartier, with some kids sick and some ill, the Tigers work as deep as they possibly could in an exciting 0-0 game after overtime. In the shoutout, Nicolas Gonzalez and Matthew Lamargese each scored and at the other end Charl Pretorius stop both shots to win in a dramatic finish.

The next day, in the semi-final , the winners of the tournament in the Inter C division, the Donnaconna Pont Rouge Diablos, were just to strong against a tired and weakened Tiger team, triumphing 7-0. This year 116 teams, 2300 kids aged 11 and 12, from 16 countries played in the tournament. The games are watch by more the 200 000 people over a 10 day period. More than 150 teams are turned down from the tournament.

Coach Martin St-Amour said the boys will remember this tournament the rest of their lives. The Tigers showed heart, determination, hard work and team play to get to the semi-finals.

These past days have been memorable in many ways and lots of stories that will last a lifetime! Some of these moments, included playing at the Colisée and in a shopping mall and pin trading with other teams.

Members of the Tigers are:

Kevin St-Amour, Nicolas Gonzalez, Érik Dionne, Tristan Profetto, Jeremy Wilson, Matthew Lamargese, Kevin Barbagallo, Wade Marcoux, Adam Classen, Anthony Carelli, Matthew Houston, Alex Latreille, Matthew Padvaiskas, Cedric Shum-Tim, Liam MccCrory, Tyler McCrory and Char Pretorius. The coaching staff Martin St-Amour, Darryl McCrory, Jeff Houston and Norm Dionne.

For more on the tournament, you can log on to: www.tournoipee-wee.qc.ca