by Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN — The gloves went flying, as did the helmets and hockey sticks, onto the ice at the Astrolabe Arena Tuesday night about 11 p.m. — but it certainly wasn’t due to rowdiness.
The Upper Ottawa Valley Aces had just won the Major Midget Double A championship of the Eastern Ontario Minor Hockey League.
When the final buzzer sounded, the fans showed their jubilation with plenty of shouting and noise as the boys whooped it up on the ice.
It was game five in the championship game between the Upper Ottawa Valley Aces and Cumberland Junior Grads. In this seven point series, it was 5-3 in favour of the Aces, so if they won the game the series was over. And with a whopping 7-2 score, the boys took home the hardware.
The final game was at the Astrolabe Arena in Cobden in front of around 100 fans.
To get to the championship round, the Aces finished first in the league after playing 30 games with a record of 21 wins, 5 losses and 4 ties. Brandon English, an assistant captain on the Aces, was the scoring leader in the league followed by teammate Andrew McIntyre.
The Aces earned a bye in the first round of playoffs and then in Round Two defeated Nepean in a five point series in three games.
Prior to last night’s win, the Aces and Grads played back and forth games. In Game 1, the Aces shut down the Grads 6-0 while in Game 2 they tied 5-5. In Game 3 the Aces squeaked by with a 5-4 win. In Game 4, the Cumberland Grads scored twice in the last two minutes to come from behind for a 4-3 win.
Tuesday night’s score of 7-2 for the Aces was not a true indication of the game, because it was end-to-end action throughout the three periods of hockey, which lasted close to two hours.
Ted Davis scored the winning goal with help from Will Klawitter and Braden Zvonarich, at the end of the first period but didn’t know it until the final buzzer sounded.
Team manager Angela McGrath noted Captain Kevin Burchat, defence, of Wilno and goalie Danny McGrath of Douglas played their final game in minor hockey Tuesday night. The two began with the Aces when the team first formed in Renfrew County in 2007.
However, there are five others who have finished their minor hockey days as well. They are Brandon english, Zach Roberts, Mitchell Sennett, Johnathon Ready and Braden Zvonarich.
Coach Daryl Faught is proud of how his team gelled.
“They’ve been a good team all year,” he said after the game.
It hasn’t just been the same guys scoring, he noted.
“A lot of guys put pucks in the net,” he said, adding, “They’re very offensive minded.
“The biggest thing was to get them to play defence, which they did.”
This team has “great speed” which makes it a hard team to play against, Coach Faught said.
He noted the players got along and not one thought he was better than another player.
“It’s probably one of the best teams I’ve coached for comradeship” Coach Faught said.
He admitted the games were much closer than what the scores dictated.
“We got a lot of bounces in the series,” he said. “The pucks were going into the net tonight for us.”
Coach Faught noted this is the third championship in the last four years. They won it this year, last year, lost in the final the year before and then won it the year before that loss.
He noted there were “a lot of kids here capable of playing Junior A.”
Recapping Tuesday night’s game, Ace Andrew McIntyre opened the scoring in less than a minute into the game. Helping him was Brandon English and Mitchell Sennett. Cumberland Grad A. Cannell tied it up two minutes later, assisted by K. Diotte and A. Diotte.
Then, it was bang, bang, bang for the Aces as Grads netminder D. Thibodeau could not stop the pucks.
Before the first period ended, McIntyre scored his second of the night followed by Ted Davis, which ended up being the winning goal.
Brandon English was the lone scorer in the second period.
In the final period of play, Aces Braden Zvonarich scored a short-handed goal followed by Davis before Grads Z. Leblanc scored. But, the Aces weren’t done yet and Will Klawitter scored with less than three minutes on the clock, to end the scoring.
Aces assists were earned by English, Mitchell Sennett, Nathan Prince, Zvonarich, Klawitter, Zach Roberts, and Jacob Steege.
The penalty box was kept empty for most of the night, with the Grads in it twice in the first period while the Aces cooled off five times in the second and third periods, all of them two minutes each.
Each of the assistant captains on the two teams were presented with a banner to hang in their respective arenas.
Aces Captain Burchat was presented with the trophy. He hoisted it high above his head before showing his appreciation and kissing the hardware.
Editor’s Note: The cutline for the team photo won’t allow all the team players. These are the names in the photo:
goalies in front, Danny McGrath, left, and Calvin Williams. Middle row from left: Will Klawitter, Nathan Prince, Andrew McIntyre, Braden Zvonarich and Jacob Steege. Back row from left: Assistant Coach Kevin Ready, Chad Moore, Brandon Holly, Braeden Welk, Ted Davis, Andrew Chisholm, Carter Obasohan, John Ryan, Kevin Burchat, Zach Roberts, Johnathon Ready, Mitchell Sennett, Brandon English, Head Coach Daryl Faught, Trainer Jonathan Williams and Assistant Coach Tom MacMillan. Missing is manager Angela McGrath.
