Jacksonville Barracudas Hockey

The Barracudas participated in the Florida State Championships in two divisions, Mite & Pee Wee.

The MITES entered the SAHOF Tournament and were assigned to the Mite Collegian Division at Palm Beach Ice Works.

They opened the Tourney Friday evening with a 3-1 victory over the Florida Jr Panthers and followed up Saturday Morning with a 4-2 victory against the Palm Beach Breakers. Later on Saturday the Barracudas dropped their contest to the Orlando Jr Knights 5-2. On Sunday morning they had a tough 8-5 loss to the Brandon Jr Bulls. The Mites had a great season, and finished with a very solid 2-2 weekend at the State Championships.

The Barracuda PEE WEE’S qualified for SAHOF via their impressive 3rd place finish in the CFHL. They traveled to Germain Arena in Estero, Florida for their State Championships.

Friday evening started with a loss to a great goaltending performance from the Palm Beach Blackhawks as Palm Beach was able to outscore Jacksonville 2-1 in the opener. On Saturday Morning the Cudas faced CFHL rivals, the Florida Jr Everblades Green, The Eblades and Cudas were 1-1-1 throughout the season. In this game is was the Cudas defense that shut down the Blades and the Cudas skated away with a 2-0 victory. In game 3 on Saturday evening the Cudas would do battle with I95 rivals the Volusia Jr Bolts. It was a great hockey game that went to the wire. The Bolts were undefeated and the Cudas were 1-1, and figured they needed a Regulation win to advance to the Semi’s. With the score tied at 2, the Cudas pulled the goalie trying to earn their way into the final round. After a flurry of Cuda shots; with :07 seconds remaining the Bolts scored from deep in their own zone on the empty net to end the game 3-2. Eventually the Bolts went on to win the title after a 9-0 Semi Victory and an 8-1 Championship victory over the Raiders. The Cuda Pee Wee’s completed a great season with a final overall record of  25-13-5.

BARRACUDAS  3      SPACE COAST HURRICANES  0

The Cudas hit the highway yet again to finish out a home-and-home series with the Space Coast Hurricanes down in Rockledge at the Space Coast Iceplex. The Cudas were looking to control play but found themselves in a scoreless tie after one period. In the second, (9) Alex Morley was able to break the tie as he and linemates (77) Tommy Henry and (19) Adam Zager hooked up for a goal that proved to be the eventual game winner. Insurance was added later in the second as (17) Tim Lynch took a lateral from Goaltender (35) CJ Judd and skated coast to coast deking the Canes one-by-one and firing the puck into the net. The final blow came in the third as (9) Alex Morley put a shot on net and a charging (77) Tommy Henry sniffed out the rebound and deposited it behind the goal line.

Goals: (9) Alex Morley from (77) Tommy Henry and (19) Adam Zager (Game Winner)

(17) Tim Lynch from (35) CJ Judd

(77) Tommy Henry from (9) Alex Morley

BARRACUDAS  2    SPACE COAST HURRICANES  1

Game two proved to be a tighter matchup, however, the Cudas led most of the game.  In period one, (23) Donovan Tehan started the scoring, and demonstrated his own rocket fueled Slapshot as he received a (28) Logan Stroud pass and converted it into a goal from the right circle. In period two, (61) Kyle Secor gobbled up an (10) Alex DelVecchio faceoff win and streaked between the two “D” toward the net. As the defender took him to the ice, Kyle was able to direct the puck to the goalie’s 5-hole and into the back of the net. The Canes began to pressure late in the third as they were able to spring a shot past the Cuda goalie for the score. The Cudas secured the game by not allowing the Hurricanes an opportunity to pull the goalie with their own offensive pressure over the final two minutes.

Goals:  (23) Donovan Tehan from (28) Logan Stroud

(61) Kyle Secor from (10) Alex DelVecchio (Game Winner)

BARRACUDAS: 2   Huntsville Jr. Chargers: 2

The Pee Wee Cudas headed north for the MLK holiday weekend to Atlanta to participate in the 3rd Annual Atlanta Freedom Cup PeeWee Hockey Festival. The Cudas were one of five teams from Florida that made the trip to ATL. Friday night the boys had a great time at the NHL Atlanta Thrashers game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The boys enjoyed a fun night of comeraderie along with some free popcorn and sodas and were even able to catch up to an old friend and teammate from last year (Good to see you Zeke!). The Cudas started play early Saturday at a 7 am game against the Huntsville Jr. Chargers. The Chargers took an early 2-0 lead leaving the Cudas a bit frazzled. Fortunately the Cudas were able to get it together in the 3rd period as (13) Hunter Buben took a drop pass from brother (25) Austin Buben as he was absorbing a hit and skated it coast to coast through an opening in the Charger D and deked the goalie sliding the puck in the right side of the goal. With a 2-1 lead the Chargers were stingy with the real estate and kept the Cudas at bay until 6:59 in the third when the Cudas forced play to the front of the Charger net where (61) Kyle Secor was able to capitalize on a (10) Alex DelVecchio shot rebound and poke the puck past the goal line for the Cudas 2nd goal.

Goal 1: (13) Hunter Buben from (25) Austin Buben

Goal 2: (61) Kyle Secor from (10) Alex DelVecchio

Atlanta Fire ’99: 4    BARRACUDAS: 3

Game two was Saturday afternoon in Kennesaw which pitted our Cudas against the Atlanta Fire ’99 team. This was clearly a game the Cudas would like to have back. The Cudas came out flat and just did not play to their potential. Despite the fact that all the bounces seemed to be going the way of the Fire team, the Cudas did manage three goals and tied the game with 7:10 left in the third. Then just a few minutes later the Fire netted their fourth on a terrible angle shot that deflected off of a player in front and found its way in the net. It was just one of those kind of games. Cuda goals were netted by (10) Alex DelVecchio on a shot from the slot area assisted by (23) Donovan Tehan. Goal two was scored by (25) Austin Buben on a rebound with the assist to (19) Adam Zager. Goal number three went to (17) Tim Lynch as he lifted a shot from the left half wall assisted by (25) Austin Buben.

Goal 1: (10) Alex DelVecchio from (23) Donovan Tehan

Goal 2: (25) Austin Buben from (19) Adam Zager

Goal 3: (17) Tim Lynch from (25) Austin Buben

BARRACUDAS: 3    Carolina Storm: 1

Game three was Sunday morning and the Cudas came out flying. Solid body checking, crisp passing, smooth transition play and clever neutral zone play all came out as the Cudas took care of the then #1 seeded Carolina Storm. This was clearly the highlight game of the tournament as the the Cudas took no prisoners. (61) Kyle Secor started off the scoring as he hammered home a rebound of a (13) Hunter Buben offering from the blue line only a minute and a half into the game. (10) Alex DelVecchio also got into the action with a long range shot from the deep left circle which fooled the goalie and soared by his blocker and stick handle and into the net. The final nail in the coffin was provided by (19) Adam Zager as he forced a rebound past the Storm goalie on a shot from (17) Tim Lynch and secondary assist by (25) Austin Buben.

Goal 1: (61) Kyle Secor from (13) Hunter Buben

Goal 2: (10) Alex DelVecchio from (19) Adam Zager

Goal 3: (19) Adam Zager from (17) Tim Lynch and (25) Austin Buben

BARRACUDAS: 3    Jr. Everblades Green: 3

The consolation game pitted two league rivals whom have split their regular season meetings each beating the other 1-0 in both contests. This was a hard fought and physical game in which the Cudas found themselves in a deficit situation again down 3-0. The Cudas did not quit and began to chip away at the lead late in the game. (23) Donovan Tehan started the scoring on a 5-on-3 power play in which he pulled the puck to his forehand in front and lifted the puck into the net after some tight passing from (18) Chase Malone and (17) Tim Lynch. Goal number two also came from the defense in the form of a shot from the point from the stick of (13) Hunter Buben as he took a D-to-D pass from (23) Donovan Tehan. The shot appeared to have gone unseen by the goalie as a timely screen created havoc in front. The final goal was the highlight goal of the tournament as (17) Tim Lynch skated on a breakaway behind the D only to be hooked from behind by his skates and taken down. Clearly a penalty shot situation, the crowd erupted. However, Tim had other plans as he continued to fight for a shot which he was able to get off while sliding on the ice. The puck found its way under the goalie and into the net for the goal. No penalty shot needed!

Goal 1: (23) Donovan Tehan from (18) Chase Malone and (17) Tim Lynch

Goal 2: (13) Hunter Buben from (23) Donovan Tehan

Goal 3: (17) Tim Lynch unassisted