Posted by Sudbury Northern Life 
It was a weekend that captured both my reliance on new
technology and the risks that come with it. Generally speaking,
Easter ensures a bit of quiet time for the local sports
community, a break from the craziness of a three-month stretch
that is absolutely chocked full of athletic competition.
With the Bantam AA OHF (Ontario Hockey Federation)
championships providing some game action within the boundaries
of Greater Sudbury, it was time to keep up with a handful of
local teams taking part in events staged out of town.
Along with the Sudbury Bantam Bulldogs, who played host to the
OHF playdowns at Countryside Arena, three other Nickel District
Minor Hockey League teams were in action across the province.
Likewise for a good mix of girls rep and house league teams
taking part in the Brampton Canadettes tournament, as well as a
pair of Northern Chill girls volleyball squads at OVA
championships in Kitchener-Waterloo.
Thankfully for a sports nut like myself, all of the events
being played out of town also featured excellent websites, both
easy to navigate and updated with regularity. And so it was as
I checked in Sunday evening on the only local hockey team to
advance through to the OHF semi-finals and beyond.
The Valley East Major Atom Rebels were looking for a repeat,
trying to follow directly in the footsteps of the 2007-08 team,
who walked away with gold medals at the Atom A OHF
championships a year ago.
A 5-2 win over the previously unbeaten Cobourg Jr. Cougars
(Broedy Bertrand and Daniel Walker paced the offense with two
goals apiece) vaulted the Rebels into a final matchup with the
Meadowvale Mohawks - an opponent who had bettered the local
boys 2-1 in round robin play.
While no individual scoring information had been uploaded late
Sunday evening, the final score (Meadowvale 6 - Valley East 3)
had been posted as I worked on a story, commending the Valley
East youngsters for their noteworthy accomplishments in
securing the only podium finish among local teams.
Within an hour of the story being posted, the e-mails began. It
seemed I had made both the mistake of selling the Rebels a
little short and relying a little too much on what can be very
fallible new technology.
Turns out the score had been entered on-line in reverse. Turns
out the Rebels had indeed managed to walk the same path as
their now minor peewee-aged brethren, returning to Sudbury
Sunday evening with yet another OHF banner in hand.
Daniel Walker recorded the hat-trick, David Ranger added a pair
of goals and Joel Grandbois chipped in with a solo marker as
the Rebels completed an incredible season, which also saw the
team garner an International Silver Stick banner and surprise
many by capturing the Sault Minor Challenge Cup in October.
While relying on Internet-based information may have its
drawbacks, I can certainly attest to far more value gained
than harm done.
While relying on Internet-based information may have its
drawbacks, I can certainly attest to far more value gained than
harm done. Throughout the weekend, I followed the steady
efforts of the SMHA Capital Drilling midgets, who competed
tooth and nail in London at the OHF Midget AA playdowns.
A pair of single-goal losses and a two-goal loss, combined with
a tie, may not have been enough to escape the basement of the
standings, but clearly left the team's opponents knowing they
had enjoyed one heck of a game.
It was a somewhat similar story for the Copper Cliff Redmen,
who matched Capital Drilling in posting an 0-3-1 record at the
Peewee AA tournament in Barrie and managed to remain
competitive with the best in the province.
Like a good number of the larger girls hockey tournaments that
are run in southern Ontario, the Brampton Canadettes
organization turned to "Sportacular Events" to handle much of
the administratia of tournament details, including tracking
scores and standings for a competition that welcomed a
staggering 386 teams to the area for their annual Easter
tournament.
That field featured a dozen or so teams from Greater Sudbury
and tracking their success, to be honest, was not all that
difficult. It was easy enough to follow coach Bruno Lapensee
and the Atom B Lady Wolves, who will enter the provincials on a
high after walking away with gold in Brampton.
The Peewee BB Lady Wolves are also likely to be in the hunt
come OWHA weekend after working their way through to the final
before falling to the North Halton Twisters. Still, second in a
field of 16 teams is extremely encouraging with provincials
less than a week away.
No, technology is certainly not perfect. While I can offer
congratulations to "coach Milks" and his Sudbury Peewee ladies,
I'm not entirely sure of the sponsor to congratulate on this
6-3 win over Smith Falls in the house league final.
The bulk of house league teams were listed only by location and
coach.
Still, I would not have given up for anything the excitement of
following the U-15 and U-18 Chill girls online, watching the
younger squad continue to break new ground for the still
growing volleyball club.
A Tier I placing, battling the absolute elite in Ontario girls
volleyball in their age group and besting the fourth-ranked
team in the province is an accomplishment coach Richard Breault
and company should be quite proud of.
Likewise for Mike Margarit and the U-18 ladies. Despite being
knocked into the Tier II playoffs after two days of
competition, the Chill rebounded to reel off three straight
wins before falling in the divisional final - good enough for
silver.
A performance I would not have known if not for the wonders of
the Internet.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Persona 10 Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.
