In the third annual Cataract City Classic hockey tournament hosted by Niagara Falls, the Wolverines finally took home the championship in their own tournament. A 3-0 win over Grand Island in Sunday’s championship game gave Niagara Falls a victory in not only the game and the tournament, but it was also a moral victory of sorts as the Wolverines feel that they’re finally back on track after struggling in their past few league games.
“This is our third year doing this tournament, and this is the first time we’ve won, so it was really nice that we won,” said Niagara Falls goaltender Max Asklar, who earned MVP honors for his shutout in the championship game.
“We lost in the finals last year to Grand Island,” Niagara Falls coach Stan Wojton said. “And to be able to come out on top, it’s a good feeling for the boys. I’m real proud of them.”
Grand Island came out strong with hopes of a repeat of last year’s tournament, but Dylan Mort scored on the power play for Niagara Falls 6:28 into the first, and the Wolverines had no reason to look back. Alex Hailey and Nick Lepine assisted the goal, and the play from Hailey to Mort to the net is something they’ve worked on and a play that keeps working for the Wolverines.
“It was huge because it was really a grind back and forth, and Grand Island had some really good pressure on us,” Wojton said of scoring first. “To capitalize on that bread-and-butter play, that’s been working for us. It was big for us. It was a big boost, and that cross-ice pass, Alex over to Dylan, it’s been good to us, so hopefully it keeps working.”
The way Niagara Falls scored its goals tells the story of how close the game really was, closer than a 3-0 score might imply. After the power play goal, Cody Bielec scored an even-strength goal in the second, and Niagara Falls’ third goal was an empty netter by Hailey with just 1:31 left in the third.
Nick Jennings was named the Grand Island MVP after making 26 saves in Sunday’s game
Both Asklar and Grand Island goaltender Nick Jennings faced 28 shots; Asklar stopped all of them while Jennings allowed just two past him. For his efforts, Jennings was named the MVP for Grand Island in the championship game.
Wojton was thrilled for Asklar, a good kid and student athlete, to get the shutout, win, and MVP award on Sunday.
“He did a great job for us; he was our rock back there, our foundation,” Wojton said. “He made a lot of big saves for us, controlled a lot of rebounds for us. He was really in total control the entire game. So I’m really proud for Max because he’s a great student athlete. He’s a young man that has a — being truthful — a 100 average, and to be an outstanding student athlete like that, I’m really proud for Max.”
Asklar was able to remember his favorite save after the game.
“Some saves go unnoticed that I think were better than others,” he said. “There was one time where they shot it from the point. When they tip it, it changes direction real fast, so I got a glove on that, so that was probably my favorite.”
Another save that kept the game at 2-0 was on a shot that Asklar thought he should have prevented in the first place.
“As long as they shoot it right at me, I don’t care how many times they shoot it,” Asklar said. “I probably should have put that puck in the corner anyway. You gotta get it away from the front of the net, not have it bounce out in front of you again, so that’s my mistake that that probably happened.”
Niagara Falls goaltender Max Asklar was named MVP after making 28 saves and recording a shutout in the win
And to win the MVP award: “I liked it a lot; it’s a good honor,” Asklar said.
The two wins in the Classic were huge for Niagara Falls’ momentum and confidence moving forward. Also, Wojton finally saw glimpses of the effort that he believes was missing in his team’s past few games.
“It was huge for us because we talked about being in that hole, being in the funk, and it came down to effort for us,” Wojton said. “And to have two good games where we had — it wasn’t perfect — but we had a good effort and to come out on top, hopefully we can just ride this momentum now and keep things going forward. We have a couple more games over break here. We stepped up in divisions, but any team we play in Division 3 or 4 this year, there’s talent across the board, so hopefully we can just ride this momentum, keep things going, and have a successful remainder of the season.”
“It’s tough when we have high expectations for ourselves and you’re not performing as well as you should,” Asklar said. “So to get these wins these last couple of games, even though Lew-Port’s not in our division, but they’re a big rival of ours, and Grand Island, who we’ve always lost to, but we beat them a couple times this season, so that feels good. And we’re just feeling better moving forward than we were before this tournament.”
Niagara Falls captains Cody Bielec, Paul Barker, and Alex Hailey accept the championship plaque after winning the Cataract City Classic
Niagara Falls was excited to win the Cataract City Classic for not just themselves, but also for Ron Shiesley, who was one of the founding fathers of the tournament for both basketball and hockey, and who passed away earlier this year.
“He approached me a few years ago and said, ‘Hey, would you like to get something going with the hockey program?'” Wojton explained. “He recognized what we had going, and he really helped get it off the ground, get the tournament rolling.”
Winning the tournament in Shiesley’s memory made it that much more special.
“The Wolverines were proud to take home the Cataract Classic, especially in memory of Ron Shiesley,” said Wojton.