Weekly Column now appears in Northern Life, every Thursday
For many of these kids, this was their Olympic Gold medal game. Sure, there may not have been thousands of screaming fans in attendance and millions of others tuning in on TV to catch the Sudbury Playground Hockey League finals last weekend.
But for the youngsters taking part, it might as well have been Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. And as is the case with many elite level showdowns, some live up to the hype while others lack the drama that fans so appreciate.
The best of the lot came early Sunday afternoon at Carmichael Arena as the Antwerp Leafs and McFarlane Lakers went to overtime to decide the Atom “B” SPHL title. Johnny Foisey (Antwerp) and Kolt Gour-Boyd (McFarlane) traded goals just nine seconds apart in the first period, but that would be the only scoring in regulation time.
Playing three on three hockey, Adryan Heath nets the game winner as the Lakers pick up their only banner of the day, edging Antwerp 2-1. The Atom “A” final provides a fitting cap to an undefeated season for the Westmount Wolverines as the New Sudbury powerhouse blanks Long Lake 3-0.
Steven Sagle scored a pair of goals, Jordan Loiselle sandwiches one in between and Simon Wood chalks up the shutout as the Wolverines run the table. Westmount also nabbed top honours in the Novice Division “A” loop, thumping McFarlane 7-1 as Dylan Dumontelle leads the way with a hat trick.
Nick Marcoux adds a pair of goals, Kalob Edwards and Jason Diotte chip in with one each while Luca Nardi registers the only goal for the Lakers as Westmount continues to stock their trophy case.
In Novice Division “B” action, Tyler Dunn opens the scoring midway through the first, adds an insurance marker early in the third and goalie Emma Carniello makes it stand with a whitewash as Riverdale slips past Long Lake 2-0.
The day’s festivities close out Sunday night at Countryside Arena with a pair of teams that asserted themselves late. In the Bantam “A” Gold medal encounter, Long Lake outscores Lo-Ellen 4-2 in the final frame, breaking open a 2-0 game and cruising to a 6-2 win.
Daniel Eddy enjoys a three goal effort, pacing the Long Lake crew, while Michael Gruntz, Alex Jibb and Curtis Williamson find the back of the net once each, with Thomas Costello answering with a pair of goals in a losing cause for the Lightning.
Similar story line to the Bantam “B” finale as Algonquin scores five times in the third, upending Westmount 7-2. Dave Niro and Marco Presot help power the offense with three and two goals respectively, while Evan Lielkalns and Stevana Mior round out the scoring for the victors.
Gabriel Carriere and Anthony Pomykala counter with one goal each for the Wolverines. Unfortunately, the Peewee finals could not be contested Sunday morning as planned due to a mix-up with ice time in Coniston Arena.
These games are expected to be completed within the next week or so. Of course, these were not the only championship teams being crowned in Greater Sudbury over the weekend.
For the second straight year, Ecole Catholique Jean-Paul II played host to a “fair play” elementary basketball tournament for youngsters in Grade 6 and younger. The competition is co-ed in nature, with the added provision that all team rosters must contain more girls than boys.
A good, solid base of future high-school basketball talent being developped and no huge surprise in the final as a pair of outstanding “feeder school” programs meet Saturday afternoon.
The St Denis Tigers, who have enjoyed success in several different sporting venues this year, doubled Jean-Paul II 44-22. The Tigers’ lineup for this event included France Courtemanche, Michaela Thorpe, Gabrielle Huneault, Camille Godin, Justin Tubin, Katryna Rogerson, Imho Traoré, Nathan Fong, Noah Serré, Kyle Mallette and head coach Martin Nadeau.
This is also the time of year when NOHA championship hockey banners are up for grabs and the opening weekend of playdown action produced a local entry to all-Ontario competition.
A very successful 2009-2010 campaign, which would see the Copper Cliff Redmen Major Peewees trail only the Sudbury Minor Peewee “AAA” Wolves in league standings this year, continues to earn accolades for coach Kevin Beauchamp and company.
The Redmen cruised to their Northern Ontario title in Timmins, downing the West Ferris Sports Blades (3-0), Timmins Mikey’s (5-3) and Sudbury Bulldogs (10-1) before crunching the host team in the final (10-0), earning a berth in the OHF championships next month.
The provincials are scheduled for the weekend of April 9th to 11th, with London serving as host as the Jr Knights join the Redmen along with three other entries in vying for a coveted OHF banner.