‘The little team that could’
Underdog team from Kings County captures Atom Minor AAA gold
It was a big win May 27 for a hockey team that’s become ‘ the little team that could.’
It was one for the books May 27-28 as the Acadia Selects came out on top, and undefeated, at the Atom Minor AAA Atlantic Cup tournament in Bedford.
The three- day tournament was attended by teams from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P. E. I., and Quebec and was the final tournament for spring hockey in this division. Before it had even began, the Selects were seen as being the underdog team of the tournament.
“I guess, coming into the tournament, this group was sort of an afterthought, an outsider kind of team,” said head coach Andy Forse. “We were, by far, the smallest team on the ice.”
But the players didn’t let that stop them. The team won its first game with a score of 1- 0. However, to most, this win seemed like luck.
“We won a scrappy little game,” said Forse. “But the talk in the rink after the first game was like ‘ Oh, you know, they were just kind of a fluke, it was luck that they won’.”
But the Selects just kept going, much to the disbelief of others in the rink, winning its second game at the tournament against a team from Quebec that hadn’t lost once all year.
“People were saying how we would get crushed that game, but we kind of came out and the kids stepped up and we won that game 3-2,” said Forse.
After that, the team that began as the underdog started to change the minds of those around them and gained the nickname “The little team that could.” The Selects won the next two games on the following day with scores of 3-2 and 5-2.
“We were exciting to watch, we were the hardest working team on the ice every game we played,” said Forse.
On the last day of the tournament, the team won its first game with a score of 3- 0, allowing the Selects to move forward into the finals.
“We got to the finals and we didn’t know what to think; the team we were playing was really strong, they had been beating teams pretty bad all tournament, and once again they were a bigger, stronger, supposedly faster team than us,” Forse said. “But, we didn’t let that get to us, we were the little team that could.”
The team won its final game within the last few seconds of double overtime with a score of 2- 1 against another Nova Scotian team made up of players from Pictou and Truro.
“It was the best team effort I’d ever seen in any group of kids — playing for fun, playing for each other,” said Forse. “Most of these kids have been together since they were seven years old, and they’ve stuck together. They’ve had their fair share of tears over the years, and crushing losses, and it was nice to see them finally come through with a nice win.”
The Selects
Forse isn’t surprised about the attitude his players got while at the tournament — the year didn’t start out well for his little band of players.
“Our first game of the year we lost 11-1, and things looked grim, but the kids remained positive,” he said. “So, to finish where we did, as Atlantic Cup champions, was pretty cool.”
Spring hockey teams are seen as being comprised of the elite, the best of the best from their respective communities, he added. This can occasionally bring about a negative stereotype for those who choose to play, with people assuming that they are in it for the wrong reasons. But, Forse feels that his team is in it for the right reasons.
“Spring hockey kids can get a bad reputation, you know, playing for the wrong reasons, and trying to play for glory, but this group of kids is special because they just play for fun and to be with their friends,” said Forse. “They haven’t really cared about the glory side of it, and the elite nature of tournaments, they just wanna play for the fun of the game and the love of the game.”
As for the stars of the team during this tournament, Forse felt that every player stepped up, but a few did stand out over all.
“Each game, someone new kept stepping up to score a new goal for us or make a big save,” said Forse. “Really, it was a team effort through and through, but if there was one thing, our goal tender would have stood on his head for us and was sort of the star of the show.”
The team’s goal tender, Loghan Wallace, allowed only seven goals in six games.
“That’s a small number of goals to allow in a really big tournament like that,” said Forse.
Forse also mentioned that two forwards on the team — Jesse Sinclair and Luke Forse — tied for the tournament leading goals.