St. Charles off to defend NOSSA A/AA crown

BY SCOTT HADDOW

The St. Charles boys' hockey team played second fiddle all season long to Lasalle, but it was big, loud and impressive fiddle.

The Cardinals placed second in the Division I standings with an overall record of 14-2-0. St. Charles then smoked Lo-Ellen Park two-games-to-none in the semi-final series before bowing out in four hard-fought games to Lasalle in the city championship.

Locally, St. Charles only lost to Lasalle as they went 16-0 against all other squads in regular season and playoff action.

Now, the Cardinals are firing up the fiddle again for the boys' A/AA NOSSA Hockey Championship in North Bay today and Wednesday, but this time they want to be the main act and be the big winners.

St. Charles won the A/AA NOSSA crown in 2007 and isn't satisfied with resting on their laurels.

"We're the defending champions, and we believe we're one of the strongest teams in Northern Ontario, so we're out to win NOSSA again," head coach Rob Zanatta said. "We want to win and return to OFSAA and have a better showing. We lost all four games at OFSAA last year...we didn't play to our potential and we want a chance to redeem ourselves."

The Cardinals feel they're a much improved squad compared to last season's team. The entire group of players have worked hard all season to become a unified unit, one determined to be the best in Ontario at the A/AA level.

"We have a lot more talent on the team this year," goalie T.J. Pugliese said. "it's not the only reason we've done so well. We gelled better and played together better this season. It's made us  more stronger. Our confidence is strong too...everyone is positive and ready to get the job done."

St. Charles features a group of dedicated players who want to win.

"The players all work hard and we have a great commitment level...we rarely had any players missing games or practices," Zanatta said. "They all work well together and believe in themselves."

The Cardinals know they have to ignite their offence and generate more goals if they hope to take another NOSSA crown in enemy territory.

"We have great goaltending...when we don't play well our goalies keep us in games," Zanatta said. "We have to score more goals...something we didn't do enough of in the city championship against Lasalle. We have the goaltending and a strong defence. We just need our offence to get going again...if we can score three or more goals a game for our goalies, we can be successful."

Winning NOSSA gold is the only thing that matters to the Cardinals.

"Obviously we want to win and go to OFSAA again," Pugliese said. "We want another chance to show teams across the province that we can compete with the best in Ontario. We're ready to go."