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Exciting finals highlight Big Nickel closing day
A very long weekend of hockey went even
longer at Countryside Arena Sunday evening but few of the hundreds of
fans in attendance seemed to mind as the Big Nickel Hockey
Tournament wrapped up with championship play in all three
divisions. The Soo North Stars midgets provided the local event
with their first Northern Ontario Gold medallist since 2002 as
Kurtis Travaglini scored the game-winner in overtime, lifting the
Soo past the Mississauga Ice Dogs 3-2.
One year ago, the Nepean Raiders and
Sudbury Nickel Capitals went to triple overtime before the Raiders
forged out a hard fought 2-1 win. The North Stars became the first
squad north of Parry Sound to walk away with a championship banner
since the Thunder Bay King Midgets turned the trick in 2002.
Travaglini's game winner represented the
game's only goal after the opening twenty minutes of play as Sault Ste
Marie jumped out to an early lead, only to have the Ice Dogs even the
score at two before the end of the first period. Mike Rivard
and Jerry Petingalo handled the remaining offense for Sault Ste
Marie who benefitted from a largely supportive local contingent of
fans, something they are surely not accustomed to within the confines
of the south-end arena.
The Bantam final proved equally as close
even if it didn't extend beyond regulation time. That was thanks to
the North York Jr Canadians' Cody McNaughton who broke a
scoreless draw with under five minutes remaining to lift the Canadians
to a 1-0 win over the
Toronto Marlboros.
In Peewee play, James Lappin
enjoyed a two-goal effort as the York-Simcoe Express
garnered their first ever Big Nickel Tournament banner, downing the
Toronto Marlboros 3-1 in the final. Connor Crisp
rounded out the scoring for York-Simcoe with Jacob Hand
replying in a losing cause for the Marlies.
Following is a breakdown of individual
award recipients honoured at the tournament:
Divisional MVPs
Midget - Jerry Petingalo
(Soo North Stars)
Bantam - John McFarland (Jr Canadians)
Peewee - Chris Tierney (York-Simcoe Express)
All-Star Teams
Midget
Goaltender - Mathieu Cadieux (Markham Waxers)
Defense - Paul Janetta (Toronto Marlboros)
Defense - Victor DeJulio Jr (Jr Canadians)
Forward - Stephon Thorne (Mississauga Ice Dogs)
Forward - Nick Esposto (Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats)
Forward - Jerry Petingalo (Soo North Stars)
Bantam
Goaltender - Steven Gleeson (Jr Canadians)
Defense - Anthony Dotchinson (Toronto Marlboros)
Defense - Dylan Connolly (Soo Greyhounds)
Forward - Tyler Toffoli (Jr Canadians)
Forward - Drew Collinson (Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs)
Forward - Aaron Pearce (Toronto Marlboros)
Peewee
Goaltender - Jon Hubacheck (Brampton Battlion)
Defense - Adam Pelech (Toronto Marlboros)
Defense - Michael Zanardo (Toronto Red Wings)
Forward - Matthew Campbagna (Mississauga Rebels)
Forward - Connor Crisp (York-Simcoe Express)
Forward - Scott Laughton (Toronto Marlboros)
F. McCool Memorial Award (best overall team player)
Midget - Kevin Closs (Soo North Stars)
Bantam - Freddie Hamilton (Toronto Marlboros)
Peewee - Tim Tanahill (Lambton Jr Sting)
One of the truly enjoyable components of
the Big Nickel Hockey Tournament, outside of the obvious on-ice
competition, is the opportunity to peruse the yearly program in search
of noteworthy names who will have the chance to enjoy Sudbury
hospitality for an extended weekend. Following is a cross-section of
names I came across in this year's search:
Big Nickel Notepad:
Former Sudbury Wolves forward Terry Chitaroni
returned to the area once again at the helm of the Superior Eagles
Midget team, benefitting from a much more competitive team than he has
fielded in the past few years... OHL commissioner David Branch
and family (assistant coaches Wade, Kyle and Barclay Branch)
were behind the bench of the Whitby Wildcat Bantams...former Sudbury
Wolves defenseman Jim Koudys, now a firefighter in
the Hamilton area, is taking his crack at coaching his son (Patrick)
with the Hamilton Jr Bulldog Bantams...
....former NHL defenseman Jeff
Beukeboom is Head Coach with the Central Ontario Wolves of
the Bantam Division... former Toronto Maple Leaf (and a few other NHL
outposts) forward Steve Thomas is an assistant coach
with the Toronto Marlboro Bantams, joining forces with his former
junior teammate and Garson-Falconbridge native Garry Lacey
who serves as team manager...
While the tournament will occasionally
find itself in need of an extra dressing room due to female players
suiting up with some of the Peewee entries (York-Simcoe Express had a
pair of girls on the roster), it's quite unusual to see any young
ladies playing "AAA" hockey at the Bantam or Midget ranks. But
Oakville Bantam Rangers goaltender Ali Binnington is
not only the lone member of the fairer sex on her team, she's also the
only minor-aged player to have cracked the roster.
Binnington is hardly a stranger to the
Rangers crew. "I've been playing AAA hockey since I was in Novice so I
decided to keep going for as long as I could," she said after a game
Saturday afternoon. While she acknowledges that this may well be the
year in which she crosses to the girls hockey ranks, she remains
pleased with her performance to date.
"Things are going alright...I haven't
seen much of a difference from last year," notes the 5'7" thirteen
year-old. She provides this self-assessment. "I'm tall, so I cover a
fair bit of the net but I'm still pretty good down low."
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