Junior C Otters lost the game but scored a win for the community with annual teddy bear toss

The Huntsville Junior C Otters brought out fans to support another great cause in our community on Sunday, December 4. Hailey’s Wish encouraged Otters’ fans to bring a teddy bear or purchase a teddy bear to toss. But first, there were two periods of play.

The Otters met the Penetang Kings on Sunday. The game started off with only fifteen Otters skaters and two goalies. In warm up #29 Bobby Logan received a penalty for shooting the puck over the glass which set the tone for the game. Within the first half of the game, #13 Chris Goodfellow and #26 Kyle Burns both received penalties along with one for the Kings.

To change the Otters’ path, #24 Jack Armstrong took a shot on net and scored which was assisted by #8 Jesse Houlton and the newest Otter #27 Jack Drinkwalter who was in his second game with the Junior C team this season.

The second half of the first period saw the same as the first half. The Otters’ #18 Jared Stevens and #19 Nathan Delarosbil earned time in the penalty box, along with two of the Kings players, within the final twenty seconds of the period.

Entering the second period, the ice had three Penetang Kings players against a full line of Otters allowing the Otters to use the power play to their advantage to score two minutes in with a goal by #23 Matt Smith assisted by #15 Jake McIntyre and #19 Nathan Delarosbil. But then Penetang had their full line and tied up the game 1-1. The Otters and Kings poked at each other until a fight broke out and Otters #9 Josh Zantingh was thrown out for game misconduct. Twenty seconds later, #24 Jack Armstrong gave a hit and the refs called it a hit from behind with a game misconduct.

Hits from behind led to multiple misconducts for both teams

The Otters bench was now down to 13 skaters but still managed to pull off another goal on the Kings net leading 3-1 in the second period – goal by #27 Jack Drinkwalter with an assist by #26 Kyle Burns and #19 Nathan Delarosbil. The last five minutes took a turn of events as the Otters #23 Matt Smith and #26 Kyle Burns earned penalties which gave the Kings the momentum to push past the defense and score on the Otters goalie #54 Connor Christanson bringing the score to 3-2. Not leaving any time for the Otters to regroup, the Kings continued the pressure in the Otters end and they were able to score six seconds later to tie up the game 3-3. One last penalty was given to the Otters #27 Jack Drinkwalter with six seconds left of period two.

As the Otter’s exited their bench to strategize the fans took a moment away from the intense game to come together for a great cause. Everyone was invited to toss their teddy bears for Hailey’s Wish following Hailey’s countdown. The bears were flying from both sides of the arena: big ones, small ones, red ones and blue ones. Team members from the Armstrong Dodge Midget AE Otters dedicated their time to collect all of the bears from the ice, almost six garbage bags full. Hailey said she enjoys seeing the excitement the most and to have the youth involved in making a difference for charity. She loved seeing all of the youth volunteers, players, and fans take part in this community event.

Heading into the final period of the game, the Otters were down a player leaving the power play in the Kings corner. The Kings held control of the puck in the Otters end for almost five minutes. Penalties were handed out to both teams once again leaving #13 Chris Goodfellow taking a hit that had him sitting out. Two more Otters penalties with #19 Nathan Delarosbil removed from the game for game misconduct left only five on the ice and five skaters on the bench with six minutes to go. The Otters players were getting tired and it showed as the Penetang Kings used the power play to score once again taking the lead of the game 4-3. The lead forced the Otters to call a timeout to make a plan for the final two minutes of play. With four on four on the ice the Otters pulled their goalie at the 1:20 but having the extra man the Otters could still not hold off the Kings as they managed to score on the open net winning 5-3. It was a tough game to watch as the Otters bench dwindled throughout the game. Congrats to those who continued on fighting for the win right up until the final buzzer.

Players on the Otters bench dwindled throughout the game

Thank you to the Junior C Otters, the fans, and the youth volunteers, from the Hailey’s Wish for all of the donations from the evening and for all of the cuddly teddy bears. Until next year!

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