Detroit Rock City

The day started out nice and slow. Those staying at the Best Western in Trenton got up and had breakfast and some time in the indoor pool. The players who were staying with their host families had various activities including playing video games to doing pregame work for the Plymouth Whalers to working at a soup kitchen. Everyone met back up at the Best Western at noon where the teams boarded the bus to the CompuWare Arena.

A short 45 minute ride brought the team to the home of the Plymouth Whalers, a Junior A team owned by Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmonos. Several current NHL players played their Junior hockey with the Whalers including Justin Williams and Chad LaRose. The amazing thing is some of the players were just a few months older than the Lighting Midget players.

The CompuWare Arena was at near sold out capacity. The single level bowl is similar in size to the lower 2/3 of the lower level of the RBC center. 60 minutes of hockey, 7 goals and 1 fight later, the Whalers dominated the Windsor Spitfire (just across the River from Detroit) 6-1. The players however missed the last couple of goals as they were being led into the under side of the rink to meet the players and get autographs.

The Lighting teams filled the lower corridor. Several smaller teams and birthday party went in first, then the Lightning players got to go in together. Several autographs later, it was out of the arena and back to the buses as the sun set on day three of the tour. But the fun was just about to begin as the buses headed back to Trenton to the Kennedy Recreational Complex, a 3 sheet facility to await their advisories.

The host families arranged a hospitality room with food for the players. Fresh baked bread awaited spagetti and meat sauce, pizza and cake. The PeeWee's would however have to wait on their meal since they had to get ready for their game. The Mayor of Trenton was on hand to meet and greet the out of town visitors. He addressed the PeeWee's in the locker room and then talked to the Bantams and Midgets as they enjoyed the hospitality.

The teams from North Carolina got a quick introduction to northern hockey. Playing the Trenton PeeWees, a real AA program, the PeeWee's got a quick introduction to hitting and speed and found themselves in a quick hole and ended up loosing 8-3. The Bantams were up next and without the heroics of their goalie, the score would be similar, but the bantams manged to keep the deficit 5-1. By the end of the game, the Bantams were skating with the Trenton team and had brought their hitting up to speed, but it wasn't enough. Tyler Bateman had the lone Carolina Goal.

Finally the Midgets got to take the ice. Trenton and the Lightning battled back and forth to a draw until Trenton found the back of the net with 3:48 left in the first. Cameron White found the back of the net with 1:10 to go to knot the game 1-1 from a D. J. Witherspoon pass. The second period was not good for the lightning as a series of penalties and hard play by the home team game Trenton a 5-1 lead at the end of the second period. Early into the 3rd, Carolina decided it wasn't over and after a few hard shifts Chris Miracle found the back of the net at the 11:56 mark. Alex Baldy picked up the assist on the play. Trenton pretty much erased any momentum scoring a couple of more goals. With the game 7-2, Witherspoon finishes off a White pass to bring the game to 7-3. But there wasn't enough time left and another goal later, the game ends 8-3. While the score shows a complete domination by Trenton, the game was played a lot closer. The team seemed to hit just as well and seamed to keep up with them fairly well.

The kids left with their host families and headed back to the hotel for quick showers and an early lights out as they await their 8am departure on Friday.