Well, no one stood taller and grew stronger than the Ontario Ball Hockey Association in 2011. The OBHA took out the brooms and made a clean sweep the National Championships at every level of competition, Junior U15 (Toronto Selects), Junior U17 (Team Ontario), Junior U19 (Belleville Bulls), Womens (Vanier White Lightening) and Mens (Brampton Midnight Express)!!!
Saskatoon (July 28 to 31) ~ The parade to the gold medal podium began in Canada's Bread Basket - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as the Toronto Selects (made up of a compilation of players from Vaughan, Brampton, Withrow Park and Penetang) quietly wrestled the U15 title from seemingly bigger, faster and more skilled teams at the event. In the end however it was defence that was the difference as Ontario defeated BC 4-1 in the semi-finals before frustrating Manitoba 2-0 in the final. Kudos to general manager Joseph Ferretti and his coaching staff made up of Domenici Russo, Nelson Lajeunesse, Gary Wong, and Eric Goldstein.
The gold medal presentations continued in the U17 division as Beeton and Penetang formed Team Ontario and this team would capture the title. The U17 championship has never left the province of Ontario and this year the team was led up front by Cam Nicholl, Justin Maiolino and Brendan Alward, the trio were dynamic and unstoppable throughout the tournament. Congratulations to the administrative team and coaches made up of Carlo Carlucci, Frank Hall and Tony Moreau for their hard work and accomplishment.
The Belleville Bulls capped off the Junior National Championships in an all-Ontario final. This team simply dominated from the first drop off the ball lead up front by Darcy Greenaway, Jack Davison and Darcy Murphy combining for 21 points in the tournament. In net, the team, back stopped by MVP goaltender, Kevin Bailie, comfortably upended their provincial rivals from Beeton by a score of 5-1 to claim the premier prize in the weeklong event. Congratulations to the staff, Doug Shaw, Mark Bailie and Darlene Shaw.
Brampton (August 9-13) ~ The 2011 Championships were hosted in Brampton, Ontario. In the womens championship game, GOLD was guaranteed as the powerfully offensive Oshawa Stampede played the defensively sound Vanier White Lightening. The Lightenings defensive game plan to outnumber the opposition in every zone on the floor would prove to frustrate and keep the high flying offense of the Stampede at bay. The Vanier White Lightening defeated the Oshawa Stampede 3-2 in a come-from-behind overtime thriller on a goal by Candace Moxley for their second consecutive National title. Ottawa Rebels made it a full podium sweep for a 3-0 win in the bronze medal game over Team Manitoba.
The hometown Midnight Express in their teams 20th year did not disappoint their family members and fans in attendance as the made short order of the defending champions from Newfoundland (8-0) in the quarter finals and Montreal Red Lite (6-2) in the semi finals enroute to a 7-2 victory over the Montreal Black Knights in the gold medal game to win their seventh Canadian title. The Express got contributions from all their scoring lines, but in the end it was the top three lines, the Magnificent 9 that would come together and seemed unstoppable winning every loose ball and capitalizing on every opportunity. The team would score an incredible 21 goals for and only allow 4 goals in the last three games. Chris Morrison Jr. was selected the tournament MVP. The Ottawa Capitals would claim the bronze with a 5-2 win over Montreal Red Lite.
Ball Hockey in Ontario has never had as much success or such a positive outlook...some might even say, "the future is so bright that the players may have to start wearing sunglasses at night." For those of us who have been in the sport for many years we can appreciate the skill and determination each of these teams showed throughout the tournaments on the road to capturing championship gold. These experiences will be memorable for all involved and it was with their participation they can all share in a lifetime of memories and friendships within our ball hockey family.
We are BALL HOCKEY and THIS IS OUR GAME!!!!