Winning a tournament title is always special for young
hockey players, but to be able to do it in front of their families and friends -
and a cheering hometown crowd - was a moment that many players on the Burton
Team of Investment Planning Counsel Major Atom Orillia Terriers will never
forget.
“The boys were excited right from the opening puck drop on Friday,” said Terriers’ assistant coach, Gary Maracle. “But when they arrived at the arena for the championship game on Sunday, the packed parking lot and the crowded arena really got them fired up.” And it showed on the final scoreboard, as the Terriers captured that energy and played their best hockey game of the tournament on the way to a dominating 5-1 defeat of the Grimsby Peach Kings in the championship final.
Despite the lopsided championship game, however, winning the tournament title didn’t come easily for the Terriers.
Orillia opened the tournament on Friday morning with a hard fought battle against the Whitby Wildcats. Carter Balkwill had an outstanding tournament, and he got things started on the right foot for the Terriers when he scored just one minute into the game with assists going to Sam Reda and Matt Bush. After Whitby had evened the score, Reda replied for Orillia early in the second with help from Bush and Ridley Tucker. Balkwill then potted the eventual game winner with a gutsy unassisted effort, and Aiden MacDonald rounded out the scoring for Orillia when his hard work was rewarded with some help from Tucker and Colsen Maracle. Whitby kept coming at Orillia and added a goal late in the third, but the Terriers held them off the rest of the way to earn the 4-2 victory. James Pritchard was solid in the Orillia goal for the win, especially late in the third with Whitby pressing.
Later that day, the Terriers took on the Greater London Hockey Association Jr. Mustangs. Orillia was plagued with penalty trouble the entire game, but still managed to fight off the Mustangs for a 3-2 win. After a scoreless first period, London took a 1-0 lead early in the second. Nolan McMackin answered the call and gave the Terriers the spark they needed when he tied things up with a highlight-reel unassisted effort before the period ended. Aiden MacDonald then took control of the game for the Terriers in the third, scoring a pair of goals for Orillia to secure the win. Assists on MacDonald’s goals went to Reda, Bush and Curtis Ashkewe. Carter Oakley had a great game in the Orillia goal, turning away 17 of the 19 shots he faced, many of them on key scoring chances.
With a 2-0 record, the Terriers earned a bye and a berth in the semi-finals on Sunday morning, which turned out to be a rematch with the Whitby Wildcats who won their quarterfinal contest over the Napanee Stars. Orillia once again proved to be too much to handle for the Wildcats in a convincing 4-1 victory. Whitby got on the board first, but it was all Orillia after that. Tucker tied things up on a nice goal with assists from MacDonald and Maracle, and Balkwill continued his impressive play by notching the game winner with an end-to-end unassisted goal. Ashkewe added to the Terriers lead when he redirected a beautiful feed from Matt Bush and Will Timpano, and then Maracle finished off the scoring with an assist from Tucker. Pritchard was excellent in net for Orillia once again, as evidenced by his 21 save performance.
The semi-final win put Orillia in the championship final against Grimsby, who needed a shootout to squeak past the Glanbrook Rangers in their semi-final match. Orillia’s defensive corps of Balkwill, Dylan Rankin, Cooper Long and Timpano was exceptional for the Terriers in the final, and strong back-checking by Orillia’s forwards helped limit Grimsby to only 14 shots in the contest. That was all the defensive help that Oakley needed, stopping all but one and coming up big on several occasions. Tucker got the ball rolling on offence for Orillia, with a powerplay marker on a nice assist from MacDonald, and then MacDonald notched the eventual game winner with only two seconds on the clock at the end of the second period with Bush and Reda assisting. The Terriers ran away with it in the third with three unanswered tallies. Tucker added his second of the game only eighteen seconds into the final frame with help from Reda and Rankin. Balkwill made it 4-1 with assists from Ashkewe and Bush, and then Maracle put the icing on the cake for the championship win when he picked the top corner after receiving a nice pass from Long.
The tournament win was the second for the Major Atom Terriers so far this season, having captured the Sudbury 80’s Invitational in mid-October. They hope to make it three in a row when they compete in their final tournament of the season in Newmarket in early December.