With the help of the Greater Sudbury Police Department, the 2010 SPHL Police Cup became the latest incarnation of the annual mid-season tournament hosted by the Sudbury Playground Hockey League (SPHL). Four divisions officially took part, with the Mickey Mouse/Tyke youngsters also involved on a non-competitive basis.
Likely the highlight of the Sunday finals came in the Peewee Division as the Antwerp Leafs and Long Lake went to overtime before Nicholas Watkins netted the game winner with the teams playing four on four, propelling Long Lake past the Leafs 3-2. Antwerp stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the second period as Maxime Carrière and Braeden Lewis scored for the Leafs, but Cody Lavoie would cut the margin to just one, picking up a power play marker late in the middle stanza.
It stayed that way until the latter stages of the game when Bradley Lavoie sends the game to overtime, drilling the equalizer with just 3:23 remaining in regulation time, and setting the table for Watkins' game-winning heroics. Long Lake earned a measure of revenge, walking away with the Bantam banner after doubling the westmount Wolverines 6-3 in the final.
Carter Jibb paced the winners with a two goal effort while Alex Jibb, Daniel Eddy, Maverick Laksso and Michael Daggett chipped in with one apiece. Steph Beaudry, with a pair, and Jesse Dalcourt replied for Westmount, which survived a round robin loss to Riverdale and tie with Espanola before working their way to the finals.
In the remaining championship affairs, the Atom crown was awarded to the Riverdale Sharks after edging the Algonquin Hawks 5-4 while Westmount takes the Novice title with a 5-1 win over McFarlane Lake. Dylan Dumontelle led the way for Westmount, registering a hat trick with Gowin Piastioski and Stephanie Frappier tallying once each. Chad Sweeney managed to break the shutout for McFarlane Lake.
In exhibition play, the Cedar Park Red Wings took top spot, besting Algonquin as the Tyke Division would see six teams take to the ice. One of the other highlights this weekend was the appearance of a team of youngsters from the Children's Aid Society, many of whom were taking part in organized hockey for the first time ever.
Along with the wonderful work done by a handful of volunteers, the team also received necessary support from both Norm Bouffard at Skater's Edge - Source for Sports as well as the Canadian Tire locations in town, which provided the equipment to the kids that allowed them to compete in Canada's national passion.