The 21st Annual Ice Hockey Europe Amsterdam 2013 Tournament took place this past weekend, March 14th -17th, in Zoetermeer (Amsterdam), Netherlands at the Silverdome Arena. The Hockey North America Tournament program has been doing tournaments throughout North America, Canada, and Europe since 1987. This year the KMC brought 2 teams to the tournament, the first team comprised of guys from Eagles 1 and Eagles 2 and the 2nd team comprised of guys from Eagles 2 and Eagles 3.
On the first day of the tournament, Friday, Eagles 2 had the first game against Team Canada and sadly fell 6-2. It was a big game though for goalie, Gabriel "Gabe" Bjorkman, as he left his comfort zone between the pipes and played out and scored the first goal, not only for him but also for Eagles 2. Kenneth "Ken" Spiro also scored for the Eagles that game! Steve Cotta was injured and not able to play this tournament but he did not let that stop him from dressing up and looking dapper, as he 'suited up' to coach the boys!
Eagles 1's first game of the tournament on Friday, was a battle from the first drop of the puck to the final buzzer as they fell to the French Courbeach Gladiators, 7-2, but continue reading to see them seek their revenge ;)!! Anthony Aceto started the Eagles 1 off to a great start by scoring the first goal of the tournament for them! It was great teamwork by Tim Duffy as he passed the puck to Brandyn Shelly for an open netter to score the final Eagles point during that game!
The next day of the tournament was a tough day for the Eagles. Eagles 2 fought hard against the Brussel Sprouts, one of the coolest name teams, but could not pull out and fell 7-0.
Eagles 1 had 2 games on Saturday as each one was harder than the last. The first game Eagles 1 played was against a local team, The Den Haag Old Flames. Anthony Aceto had an amazing game by scoring 2 goals for KMC. The first goal was on a beautiful breakaway and his 2nd goal was a penalty shot. Tim Duffy, Brandyn Shelly, and Jamie Jordan also had some impressive goals that game as the Eagles pulled ahead and beat the Old Flames, 6-3.
Eagles 1 last game on Saturday was a nail bitter all the way until the final buzzard against the home team, the Zoetermeer Outlaws. Brandyn Shelly skated away with a hat trick and Collin Keller had a very interesting goal, he was awarded a goal and a penalty all in the same play; hats off to Collin Keller for being able to pull off something that tricky. It was Justin Bunton, goalie, who helped secure the Eagles 1 victory of 4-3 though, as he had an incredible leg save the final 2 seconds of the game. This was a big game for KMC, as they needed to secure this win in order to play in the championship and take revenge on the French!
The final day of the tournament, Sunday, Eagles 2 started off the day. They skated hard and fought the Untamed Zoetermeer Panthers but fell 4-2. Gabriel "Gabe" Bjorkman had another amazing goal and also Tom Holmen scored against the Panther, concluding the tournament for the Eagles 2.
It was the game the Eagles 1 fought hard to get to and it had a lot riding on it, not just because it was the Championship game, but because this was redemption and revenge for the Eagles 1 against the French Gladiators. Thankfully the luck of the Irish was with the boys as they obtained both, redemption and revenge to win the championship game by 4-2!!!
Brandyn Shelly scored the first goal of the game to get the Eagles fired up! Anthony Aceto was also on fire as he scored 2 of the goals that game!! Tom Holmen also had a beautiful goal that just glided right past the goalie! KMC finished off the game 5 on 3, since the French were not too happy with losing and managed to land 5 players in the penalty box and 1 player kicked out! It was goalie Justin Bunton who had some incredible saves and helped the Eagles 1 take away the title from the French and declare themselves the new victors!!
