Minor atom Hawks move to playdowns

January 10, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart
The Caledon Hawks minor atom AA team has been struggling since the start of the season, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t learned a lot of skills and played some pretty intense games.
The Hawkss had their final game of the regular season against Halton Hills Sunday (Jan. 5), but came up short and were squeezed out 2-1 when the final buzzer sounded.
“We have been struggling with the third periods,” said Hawk coach Kevin Dawson. “We’re in most games for the first two, and then we struggle at the end.”
Despite ending the season on the negative side, the squad has been keeping pace with the other teams and improving as the season progressed.
“The kids are doing really well at positional play, which was a struggle in the early season,” Dawson commented. “Our defence are doing good at back checking. Those are the two things we do really well.”
With the regular season over, the squad will get no rest and enter the play-downs today (Thursday).
“We have to keep our confidence,” Dawson said. “When we get down by two goals, it kind of goes out the window and the kids’ confidence drops right down. It’s hard to get them back into and of those games where we’re down by two.”
The play-downs will take place over five to six weeks, with the top teams moving on to the OHA finals.
The Hawks will again face Halton Hills in their first game of the week.
“We’ve seen a lot of improvement in the kids,” Dawson said.
All divisions in Caledon Hawks minor hockey are now getting ready for an end of season playoff run.

The Caledon Hawks minor atom AA team battled it out with the squad from Halton Hills Sunday at Caledon East. The Hawks suffered a 2-1 loss in their final regular season game.
Photo by Brian Lockhart