The host teams did all right at Nickel Centre Minor Hockey Winterblast 2020.
NCMHA representatives would lay claim to three of the five championship banners that were doled out in late January, as more than 40 teams, including half that came from out of town, gathered in Garson and Coniston.
Owen Mainville snapped a 1-1 tie with just over five minutes to play, lifting the Nickel Centre Blast White to a 2-1 win in the Peewee final over the Schumacher Vipers, after Gavin Stuart (Blast) and Kaden Vickers (Vipers) traded goals earlier in the game.
Nathan Cranston, Leland Keith and Parker Tilbury lit the lamp once each as the Nickel Centre Bantam Blast White crew disposed of their Nickel Centre Blast Black counterparts by a final score of 3-1, with Jack Hersfall registering the only goal of the game for the lads from the dark side.
A two-goal effort from Ty Parsons powered the Nickel Centre Blast Orange to a 5-2 win over the Blast Black crew in the midget final, wrapping up the weekend festivities. Hayden MacDonald, Matthew MacKenzie and Hunter Lewis joined Parsons on the scoresheet for the winners, while Mikka Koski and Carson King countered for Blast Black.
One other local team earned bragging rights as the Rayside-Balfour Wildcats doubled the Coniston Flames 8-4 in the Atom gold medal affair, with Jordan Boyer and Jackson Barrette finding the back of the net twice each for the Cats.
The remaining Rayside goals came courtesy of Logan Descary, Kage Lariviere, Ty Glaude and Ruben Hone, while Jenna Cole, Jeffery Anderson, Cooper Lisk and Nicolas Mallet answered for the Flames.
Finally, by Sunday morning, it was a given that the Novice banner would makes its way back to Kirkland Lake, as the Lakeshore Motors Blue Devils tripped up the Kohut Electric Blue Devils 5-3 in a match-up of a pair of teams from the Highway 11 mining town.
Colton Lafreniere enjoyed a four goal outburst for the winners, the other goal netted by Coleman Lacroix, while Olivier Daviau recorded a hat trick, accounting for all of the scoring for Kohut Electric.
