Puck drops on hockey tournament season

For fans of local hockey of all ages and levels, most notably those who immerse themselves in the drama only tournament play can provide, the fun has just begun.

The Sudbury 80’s Tournament has become the unofficial kickoff to a parade of house league and rep tournaments played within Greater Sudbury. Between now and Christmas, minor hockey organizations in Walden, Nickel Centre, Rayside-Balfour and Valley East will all play host to tournament action.

With any luck at all, the Sudbury 80’s event, which celebrated its 23rd anniversary of providing an October measuring stick for local A and AA teams, has set the bar after a Sunday filled with overtime drama.

There was no lack of local flavour within the late weekend heroics. The Sudbury minor bantam Bulldogs needed not only a win in their final round robin game Saturday, but a margin of victory of at least three goals in order to maintain their championship final aspirations.

Things appeared bleak as the team was tied 1-1 facing the Sudbury major peewee AAA Wolves with less than three minutes remaining. But a power play marker from Cameron Etherington provided the spark and Cody Pasanen took care of the rest, netting a pair of goals in the final 30 seconds, vaulting the SMHA crew into the gold medal encounter.

Facing the Pickering Panthers, an opponent who had doubled the Bulldogs 4-2 in preliminary round play, the locals stressed a defense-first system that showcased the netminding talents of Tristan Hanna. The strategy worked to perfection as the teams entered overtime dramatics, locked in a scoreless draw. Four-on-four hockey gave way to three-on-three and finally two-on-two before Jeremy Maillet provided the heroics as the Sudbury Bulldogs laid claim to the minor bantam banner.

There was more local content in the midget final, as coaches Tom Faganely and Dave Laporte renewed what now seems like an annual rivalry. This time around, Faganely’s Copper Cliff Redmen walked away with bragging rights, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and holding on for a 4-1 win over the Sudbury Rhythm & Cues Sharks. Matt Keetch, Jeremy Faganely, Matt White and Devin Swanson handled the scoring for the Copper Cliff crew, while Tyson Pilkington replied in a losing cause for the Sharks.

The Redmen made it a pair of trophies to add to the showcase courtesy of the major peewee squad, as the Redmen stopped Les Forestiers Peewee Minuer (Abitibi-Temiscaming) 4-1. Third period goals from Ty Beauchamp, Tanner Schroeder and Pierce Wallingford broke a 1-1 tie after Talon McGregor (Copper Cliff) and Christophe Lemay (Forestiers) traded goals in the first 28 minutes of play.

There was more overtime drama, this time at Carmichael Arena, but once again provided by the Sudbury Bulldogs’ side. The local major peewee AA team avenged a 5-1 loss at the hands of the West Ferris Hilltop Blades, edging the North Bay crew 2-1 Sunday afternoon to garner the consolation final.

Christian Lariviere scored both goals for Sudbury, while Mitchell Hocevar-Lavigne answered with the only goal for the Blades. Finally, major bantam divisional play saw the Oshawa Generals emerge as the class of the field,
outscoring their opponents 26-3 in racking up four straight wins and nabbing top honours. The Sudbury Bulldogs captured the consolation crown with a 5-0 win over West Ferris as Aaron Dent, Jonathan Wennerstrom, Matthew Cashmore, Jesse DiGiglio and Riley Lefrancois all scored for the locals.

Meanwhile, in the land of the fairer sex, the decision to downsize and limit certain divisions, made for a much smaller Sudbury Lady Wolves contingent at Apple Fest 2009. Where all nine Lady Wolves’ rep teams traveled to Clarington last October, only five of 11 made the journey this year.

The highlight for the locals saw the intermediate A squad claiming its second tournament of the young season, surrendering just three goals against in five games and disposing of the Brampton Canadettes (4-1) and Scarborough Sharks (6-1) in semi-final and championship final games, respectively. Might it be time for head coach Doug Foley and company to test their mettle at the Intermediate AA level?

Fielding a third team, in a division other than midget for the first time ever, the Sudbury Lady Wolves peewee B crew appeared very well-matched, finishing first in their pool, before falling 3-2 in overtime at the hands of the tournament-winning North Simcoe Capitals.

Similar result for the novice B Lady Wolves, who lost to Kitchener in overtime in the semis, while the bantam B (1-1-1 playing up one level) and atom B (1-2) teams did not advance beyond pool play.

A number of the Lady Wolves groupings that bypassed Apple Fest, opted to get an earlier start in tournament play as both the peewee AA and bantam A squads settled for silver medals at the Willowdale Tournament in mid-September.

Meanwhile, out in Oshawa, the intermediate ladies picked up their first tournament banner of the new season while the atom A Lady Wolves advanced to the championship final, but fell just short.

Randy Pascal is the voice of Eastlink Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.