Tournament Trouble

Well the Silver Sticks tournament is over and once again the Flint Phantoms laid an egg. They made it to the quarter finals before succumbing to the Wellend Tigers 3-2. Devin got a shutout the first game and the second game the back up was put in. After allowing 3 goals and with 6 minutes left in the game, down 3-2 Devin was put in. He held off a storm of bodies to allow his team to score and the game ended with a tie. The third game was played against a Calif. select team and Devin was again in net. It was a nailbiter game but the Phantoms persevered and won 3-2. Following the game the Calif. coach told Devin's coach that he had never seen a goalie who can play the puck like Devin, it was like having a sixth defencemen on the ice. He thought Devin was an awesome goalie. In the quarter final the team did not come to play and lines were changed constantly. Though we managed to tie the game with five minutes left, they came down and scored the winning goal almost immediately. It was very disapointing, considering the Phantoms could have beat this team. Now its on to Districts and LC playoffs.

Summary of The 2008/09 Season

Well the Little Caesar's regulation season is over and the Phantoms ended up winning their division. They went 13-1-0 with the only loss coming from the backup goalie. Devin's G.A.A. was 1.72 which is very good, (meaning he allowed less than 2 goals per game.). Including scrimmages and tournaments the team did great, going 32-7-3 and Devin's GAA was 2.07 with a 91% save percentage. All games were played with teams in their division or higher. They will be advancing to the number 1 division for playoffs so the games will get tougher and only four teams will advance. So the team is now getting ready for not only the playoffs, but districts, selects and silver sticks in Port Huron. The Phantoms have been invited to this tournament in thanks to their great play at silver sticks in Midland, where they lost the championship in overtime. They were ahead and should have won; however, they played the backup goalie first and he allowed two easy goals. When Devin was put in he only allowed 1 goal which tied the game and took it into overtime.

A New Beginning...

Well Devin is now the number 1 goalie on the Flint Phantom team. There were alot of issues as to which division this team would play in and when all was said and done they ended up in Howe 3. They are hoping to prove to everyone that they belong in a higher division. At this juncture the team is 13-3-1. We have beaten 3 division 2 teams and tied a division 1 team; however, ended up in a consolation game at the Brad Stone tournament due to one bad game and they played the back up goalie in the one game we had to win, which we tied. Devin's goals against is 1.84 in nine games and his save % is 92 so he is doing well. He has been invited to attend a AAA tournament in Philadelphia next summer and will be trying out for Selects around that time, a tournament that highlights the top players. We are hoping to get him into the Goalie Mentor Program at Ann Arbor, which follows the top 5 goalies in each age group in the country; however, he needs to make the Selects team to do that. He has also been asked to practise with Compuware AAA once again and for the practise and experience he will go down once a week.

A Chapter Closes

Well the Bay County Blizzard Travel Team has folded and Devin is now officially a Flint Phantom. Though its sad to see this chapter end, it was a great run with three trips to the LC Championship, including back to back Champions, what a way to end. Unforturnately several of the families decided to "jump ship", which did not leave enough for a team for 08-09. Devin was asked to be the starting goalie on the Flint Phantoms team, along with two of his Blizzard players so a new chapter will begin in the fall. In the meantime, Devin was also asked to come to the CW AAA practises all summer. Though they have their roster picked, the experience will be good for him and maybe open the door for next springs tryouts.

Disapointment Again...........

Well, because of Devin's hurt little finger the CW coach decided not to wait to see if he could play and used two of his regular goalies for the tournament. Though we did go to one of their practises prior to the tournament weekend, Devin did not roster with them; however, ended up playing all three games for the Blizzard. Unfortunately we ended up having to play teams in the #1 ranked division (who rostered three AAA players each just for the tournament) and did not fare well. The CW coach watched one of the games, and though they only won one of their three games, decided to stick with the goalies they have. Devin was notified by email and once again the coach told him he wanted to stay in touch and have him come down for practises this summer. (Doesnt want to take him but doesnt want to let him go either............?) A Flint team is now in hot pursuit of him; however, this would mean a lateral move vs. a move up. So it looks like Devin will remain a Blizzard another year and will just have to try out for AAA again next spring, maybe for a different AAA team. In the meantime he is going to a camp in Peterborough this summer and will have his goalie coach Mike, for the season, to fine tune him and prepare him for next springs tryouts.

The Saga Continues..........

Well once again we have good news and bad news. The good news is the AAA Compuware coach called last night and wants to reconsider Devin. Apparently the three AAA goalies they chose are not panning out and he wants to take another look at Devin in a game situation. He wants to roster him for a tournament this weekend, of which the Blizzard team is also entered, though the CW team is playing at the 94 level. Now for the bad news................last Thursday before practise, while Devin was getting ready to go out on the ice, one of his team mates tripped and came down on Devins left pinkie finger, slicing it lenghtwise to the bone. He ended up having to get seven stitches to close the wound and wont get the stitches out for ten days. That takes us past the tournament weekend. Devin feels he can still play and wants very badly to show the CW coach how he plays; however, it is his catcher hand and very active during games. What a dilemma! Devin is going to try practising tonight and see if he has any problems with it, which will determine whether he can play this weekend. (The doctor said it was up to him; however, he is not to split the stitches open). So here is his opportunity to move up to AAA and he may not be able to. The saga continues...............................

A Rising Star

Once again Devin gets his picture in print, this time in a weekly publication that covers the state of Michigan. He not only gets his picture in the magazine, he rates the front cover, next to the likes of Gordie Howe. The picture was taken after the BC Blizzard reclaimed their title of LC Adams Division Champions in March of this year. The writeup at the bottom of the picture did not fit the printer................"Goaltender Devin W. holds the trophy aloft after backstopping the 95 BC Blizzard to the LCAHL PW AA Adams Div. Championship. It was their second consecutive crown. See story.........." Within the magazine is an article about the win, including that Devin received a shutout in the game. (take note of the "C" on his jersey.)