The South Huron Sabres Came To Delhi And Took Care Of Business. The 59ers Didn't Quit.
A 7-0 road win for the Sabres U13A, a monster game between the pipes from Delhi's Lincoln, and a Delhi coach whose post-game message is one every parent needs to hear.
By Hometown Sports Network // Delhi, Ontario
Not every Game of the Week ends the way the home team wants it to.
Sometimes you draw the better team on a Saturday afternoon. Sometimes the breaks don't go your way. Sometimes you play hard and the scoreboard still ends up looking like something you'd rather not post on the fridge.
What matters, when that happens, is what your team does in the third period.
The Delhi Norwich 59ers U13A hosted the South Huron Sabres U13A on Saturday. The Sabres were sharper, quicker, and more organized from the opening face-off. By the time the final buzzer went, the scoreboard read 7-0 Sabres.
But if you ask Coach Colin of the 59ers, the final score isn't the story of his team's day.
The third period is.
The first period was all about the 59ers' goalie.
Delhi's Lincoln was the busiest kid on the ice. He made a nice glove save early. Then, with the Sabres pressuring, Lucas got a Grade-A chance in front of the net and Lincoln was there to make the stop.
If you were a Delhi parent in the stands, you were already relaxing a little. Your goaltender was giving you a chance to find your legs.
Through one period, 0-0.
Then came the second.
Drew took the puck at centre ice for the Sabres, drove through two 59ers defenders, and fired a wrist shot on net. Lincoln made the stop, but the rebound came out to Brooks in front. Brooks buried it.
1-0 Sabres.
That's the kind of goal that opens the floodgates in a tight game. Especially at the U13A level, where the gap between a tied game and a lead can be the difference between a team fighting and a team pressing.
The Sabres kept pushing. With South Huron controlling the puck in the Delhi zone, their forward raced down the left wing and ripped a shot that squeaked through for a goal.
3-0 Sabres by the end of the second. The 59ers were down, but they weren't out.
The third period opened with a tone-setting save from Delhi's Lincoln. A knuckle puck came in high and Lincoln picked it out of the air with the glove.
That save alone told you what was coming. The 59ers hadn't given up. Their goalie was still battling. The team was still pushing.
But the Sabres kept coming.
A few shifts later, Brooks cut across the offensive zone and placed a shot top shelf, just under the crossbar. His second goal of the game.
The Sabres added three more in the third to put the final at 7-0.
But here's what you miss if you only read the scoreboard.
The 59ers kept playing hockey. They kept forechecking. They kept battling along the boards. They didn't fold.
And according to their coach, that's the game they'll remember.
COACH COLIN, DELHI NORWICH 59ERS U13A
"When we got down in the second period and we kind of fell flat, the kids picked it up in the third period. They came back hard. They fought all the way through. Got playing harder on the boards. They knew that even when you're down and you have a flat period, you can come back and still go after it."
That's a lesson that outlasts a scoreboard.
Every kid on that Delhi bench learned something on Saturday that no coach can teach in a drill. When the score is bad, you still play. When the period didn't go your way, you still show up for the next one. When the game is lost on paper, there's still work to do on the ice.
The 59ers kept working. And that's what they're going to build on this season.
We caught up with two players from the Sabres after the game. Jack and Dane.
Jack told us his favourite part of the day was simple.
JACK, SOUTH HURON SABRES
"I skated hard and moved up well."
That's a U13A player who knows exactly what his coach is asking of him. Skate hard. Move up. Do your job.
When we asked Jack who his favourite teammate was, he named his linemate.
"Talin King. Me and him just got good chemistry."
Line chemistry at U13A is the kind of thing that wins games deep in a season. Two kids who know where the other one is going to be, every single shift. Jack and Talin King have it.
Who taught Jack to play? His dad. What's the most valuable thing his dad taught him?
"How to shoot. Skate."
Hockey, in two words.
Then we talked to Dane. Dane's favourite part of the game was the defence in the first period.
DANE, Delhi 59ers
"We had good defence like in the first period."
Dane's a kid who notices the details. A 0-0 first period in a 7-0 game. Most kids wouldn't remember it. Dane did.
His favourite teammate was Jack. Because Jack "makes good decisions with the puck."
That's the kind of compliment U13A players give each other when they really know the game. Not the goal scorers. Not the flashy players. The kid who makes the right play, every time.
But Dane's answer about who taught him the value of hockey is the one that stopped us.
SHANE BELUM
"His name is Shane Belum, and he's one of my old coaches. He taught me to keep going through even when people say that you're not the greatest. You just got to keep going."
Read that quote twice.
A 13-year-old kid, in a post-game interview after his team put up 7 goals, chose to spend his microphone time thanking a coach who taught him to keep going when people said he wasn't the greatest.
That's not an ordinary thing for a 13-year-old to say.
Somewhere out there, Shane Belum is a coach who told a kid he had what it takes when the kid wasn't sure. And that message stuck. Years later. In a Game of the Week interview, on a day the kid's team won 7-0.
Coach Belum, if you're reading this, you did your job.
Dane, you have a long hockey career ahead of you. The kids who remember that lesson at 13 are the kids who still remember it at 23.
Then we sat down with Coach Colin of the Delhi 59ers for the full chat.
We asked him who on his bench doesn't get enough credit.
He didn't hesitate.
PARKER, DELHI NORWICH 59ERS
"Parker. He's been blocking shots like crazy for us lately. Had one right off the bat again today. A bunch in the tournament we just played last weekend. Always hustling, never gives up on anything."
Parker. The shot blocker.
Every hockey team at every level needs a Parker. The kid who throws himself in front of pucks. The kid who takes the slap shot off the shin pad so his goalie doesn't have to face it. The kid who gets up, limps to the bench, and goes right back out the next shift.
Parker, from Hometown Sports Network, you were seen on Saturday. Keep blocking shots.
When we asked Coach Colin about the volunteers who keep the team running, he named three.
JENNA, SHANNON, AND DONNA
"We actually have three. Jenna, Shannon, and Donna. They're helping run all the social media, the managing aspect of it, and everything to keep us coaches organized."
Jenna, Shannon, and Donna.
Three names. One team. A trio of hockey moms, likely, running the social media, the team manager role, and the daily organization that keeps a U13A season from collapsing.
If you've been following Hometown Sports Network this season, you know the pattern by now. The GameChanger parent on the Simcoe Giants 16U. All the moms behind the Haldimand Bulls U11. Liz Featherston running media for the River Kings. Now Jenna, Shannon, and Donna with the Delhi 59ers.
This is the invisible workforce of youth hockey in Southern Ontario. Three or four parents per team, keeping it all together while the head coach is focused on hockey.
Jenna, Shannon, and Donna, from every kid on the 59ers bench, thank you.
Here's what this game meant.
Yes, the South Huron Sabres came to Delhi and took care of business. Brooks had a two-goal performance. Drew drove the net hard. Jack and Talin King have the chemistry you want from a top line. Dane noticed every defensive shift. The final score reads 7-0.
But if you're a Delhi 59ers parent reading this, don't let the score tell you the story of your kid's day.
Your kid came back hard in the third period. Your goalie made glove saves on knuckle pucks and kept battling in a game that was already decided. Parker blocked shots. The team didn't quit.
Coach Colin saw it all. He said it out loud. He's building something on that effort.
The scoreboard isn't the season. The third period is.
The 59ers and the Sabres are both back in action soon. We'll be at the rink. Mic in hand.
Got a game we should be covering? A coach making a difference? A shot blocker who deserves a thank-you? Reach out at hometownsportsnetwork.ca. We want to hear about it.
HOMETOWN SPORTS NETWORK
Welcome to the season.
We'll be at rinks all over Norfolk, Haldimand, and Brant this fall and winter. Mic in hand.
Got a game we should be covering? A coach making a difference? A goalie who deserves a proper thank-you? Reach out at hometownsportsnetwork.ca. We want to hear about it.
