Walden hockey teams clean up at local tournament

It’s time for minor hockey officials in Walden to run out and purchase lottery tickets. The Walden Minor Hockey Association (WMHA) played host to its annual Battistelli’s Independent Grocers Novice/Atom/Peewee/Bantam Tournament over the weekend, with championship finals taking place Sunday afternoon.

Of the six gold medal encounters, four were decided by a final score of 2-1, with another finishing 3-1. Only the South Porcupine NorFab Jr. Gold Kings Major Atoms proved too strong for their divisional foes on a near perfect day for tournament organizers.

The tone was set early as the Rayside-Balfour Tigers and SMHA Bulldogs clashed in the novice affair, with the teams having played to a 4-4 tie one day earlier. The Bulldogs’ Chase Lammi opened the scoring the second time around, netting his eighth goal of the weekend.

But Rayside evened matters before the end of the first period, courtesy of a goal from Jacob Gaudet, setting the stage for the game-winning tally midway through the third. Ethan Rogers provided the heroics, lifting the Tigers to a 2-1 win over the Bulldogs.

In minor atom play, Walden’s Kiel Cress provided all the offensive punch he and his teammates would need, netting a hat trick, as the Devils upended the SMHA Bulldogs 3-1 in the final. Matthew Belanger replied with the only goal for the Sudbury crew.

The Bulldogs advanced to the championship affair thanks to a goal from John Tulio with just 52 seconds remaining in the semifinal, knocking off the Timmins North Stars 4-3.

As noted earlier, the only lopsided result came in the major atom Division, where captain Brent Young and the South Porcupine crew were too much to handle for the remaining four teams.

The Jr. Gold Kings won four straight games, outscoring the opposition 33-1 as Young chalked up 13 goals in leading his troops to victory. South Porcupine blanked the Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds 6-0 in the Sunday showdown, heading north with a little extra hardware in hand.

A 2-1 victory by the Humberview Huskies over the Valley East Rebels set the stage for the minor peewee final, as the Huskies managed to duplicate the feat for a second time on the weekend.

Humberview netted a pair of second period goals less than five minutes apart, with Derek Humphrey and Matthew O’Brien doing the honours. The Huskies held on through a frantic final two minutes for the 2-1 win. The Rebels’ Nathan Thompson made things interesting, narrowing the gap to just a single goal with 1:59 remaining.

It was déjà vu in the major peewee grouping as the host team registered a pair of victories over the Valley East lads by identical scores, keeping the divisional banner on home turf.

Jacob McDonald broke the ice for Walden, drilling the only goal of the first period, and Connor Tessier doubled the lead for the Devils in the second. The Rebels countered quickly, as Andre Frappier scored just 18 seconds after the second Walden marker. However, that was the last of the scoring as the Devils captured their second banner of the day, edging Valley East 2-1 in the major peewee final.

The Manitoulin Panthers rounded out the list of championship teams, slipping past the Nickel Centre Flyers in the bantam battle. Brandon Pheasant picked up the only goal through the opening two periods, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Jeffrey Delange increased the advantage to a pair of goals midway through the final frame. That insurance came in handy late in the contest when Harrison Rollins put Nickel Centre on the board with just 1:25 remaining in regulation time.

But as fate would have it, it was one more 2-1 final to add to the list as Manitoulin fended off the Flyers.

In tournament action outside of Greater Sudbury, the Lady Wolves contingent continues to post impressive results almost on a weekly basis. The organization went three for three at the first Annual Etobicoke Dolphins Tournament last weekend, capturing the novice B, midget AA and intermediate A divisional crowns.

After squeaking past the Belleville Bearcats 4-3 in the semis, the Novice Lady Wolves blanked the Kanata Rangers 2-0 to strike gold. The midget AA ladies needed a shootout to beat the West Northumberland Wild 1-0 — the same score used to eliminate the Clearview Ice Cats in semifinal action.

And finally, after picking up a win and two ties in round robin play, the Sudbury Intermediates put it all together with everything on the line, blasting the Kitchener Lady Rangers 7-1 in the championship affair.

Randy Pascal is the founder of SudburySports.com and a contributing sports editor for Northern Life.