Staff
A Ryan O’Hara goal 8:44 into the second period proved to be the game-winner as the Oakville Blades (OJHL) blanked the Hearst Lumberjacks (NOJHL) 2-0 Saturday night in the final of the Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Junior ‘A’ Championship in front of nearly 1,000 fans at the Tim Horton Events Centre in Cochrane.
With the win, Oakville now advances to represent the Central Region at the Canadian National Jr. ‘A’ Championship slated for May 11-19 in Brooks, Alta.
An action-packed first period failed to produce a tally, but there was no shortage of opportunities in the fast-paced frame.
The best chance to score came midway through as O’Hara was taken down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot.
Hearst goalie Nicholas Tallarico was equal to the task, however, outwaiting O’Hara before making a left-pad save.
O’Hara did convert in the second stanza, though, as some hard work along the end boards by Holden Doggett allowed him to feed the open Oakville forward in the slot, where he made no mistake in snapping a quick shot low blocker side to put the Blades in front.
It stayed 1-0 for the OJHL champs through the remainder of the frame.
A smooth-flowing final period saw the time fly by as the two sides skated end-to-end at a feverish clip.
Picking up a late power play, and with Tallarico on the bench in favour of an extra-attacker, Hearst pressed for the equalizer, but it was the Blades that sealed the outcome as defenceman Nicholas Aromatario put one into an empty net for a short-handed marker at 18:28 to give Oakville their first Dudley-Hewitt Cup title since 2010.
Will Barber finished with 29 stops to post the shutout for the Blades, who put 29 attempts towards the Lumberjacks’ net.
Player-of-the-Game honours went to the Blades’ O’Hara and the Lumberjacks’ Tallarico.
The SIJHL’s representative at the DHC, the Thunder Bay North Stars, had a tough time at the tournament last week in compiling an 0-3 record in round robin play to finish shy of medal contention.
Thunder Bay opened play last Tuesday with a 4-1 loss to the host Crunch as Zach Hayes tallied twice and added an assist to pace Cochrane’s offence.
The hosts had a great early chance to score, but Trent Grimshaw rang one off the post just a minute in.
After not seeing game action in over six weeks, Cochrane had plenty of energy to commence the contest and out shot Thunder Bay 16-11 in the first frame.
The Crunch kept up the pace in the middle session and opened the scoring 3:42 into the frame as Nicholas Flanders neatly redirected, out of mid-air, a Liam Anderson left-point attempt as part on an 18-shot barrage in the stanza.
They then added another four minutes later off a giveaway by a North Stars’ defender that resulted in a wide-open net for Hayes, who easily buried his opportunity from close range in what turned out to be the game-winner.
It was more Cochrane in the latter half of the frame as they capitalized on a power play chance when Jonas Leas was given time and space and allowed to walk out from behind the goal line and was left untouched as he made it 3-0 at 16:33 from the right of Thunder Bay starter Brock Aiken, who left in favour of back-up Dougie Newhouse the rest of the way after being injured moments earlier.
Following a face-off win deep in Thunder Bay territory, Cochrane added to their cushion in the third as they worked it around to Hayes, who wired one past Newhouse from the right circle midway through the final frame.
The North Stars did dash Crunch goalie Bradley Dobson’s shutout bid with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining as defenceman Kyle Auger skated the length of the ice and snapped a low shot in from the left side to trim it to 4-1.
However, Dobson and his teammates held firm the rest of the way to earn the well-deserved decision.
Dobson finished with 34 saves to earn the win while Aiken faced 33 attempts in taking the loss.
Newhouse handled eight-of-nine attempts he saw in over 23 minutes of relief.
Then in their second game on Wednesday afternoon, Tallarico of the Lumberjacks handled all 28 shots he faced to post a historic shutout for the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League as they blanked the North Stars 3-0.
According to files from NOJHL statistician/historian David Harrison, the shutout was the first of any kind by a NOJHL side in Dudley-Hewitt Cup participation over the years–dating all the way back to the 1978-79 campaign.
Last Wednesday’s contest saw Hearst use their first power play of the day to open the scoring just past the 12-minute mark of the opening frame.
Working the puck around nicely on the man advantage, Jake Desando took a pass and moved into the top of the right face-off circle and snapped a shot past Newhouse, who got the nod in favour of 2018-19 SIJHL Top Goaltender Award recipient Aiken, who was injured in Tuesday’s opening contest and was out indefinitely with an upper body injury.
The NOJHL champion Lumberjacks added to their lead late in the frame when J.J. Berdal chipped one up to Dawson Waddell who put one short side on Newhouse to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Hearst kept it going in the second as they broke out on a mini two-on-one chance and extended their cushion when Waddell fed a feed in front to Daniel Fisher who batted one in out of mid-air and in to make it 3-0 at 6:06.
Thunder Bay had a trio of power play chances in the period, including a brief five-on-three, but could not take advantage as they were stymied by NOJHL regular season and playoff MVP Tallarico and the Lumberjacks defensive corps.
The North Stars pulled Newhouse late in the third for an extra-attacker in an effort to get on the board, but they could not solve the Hearst stopper before time expired.
Newhouse finished with 23 saves in defeat for Thunder Bay.
Player-of-the-Game honours went to Tallarico and the North Stars’ Josh Bryant.
In the North Stars’ final game of DHC play on Thursday, the Blades’ prolific special teams were pivotal as they scored four times on the power play, and added another while shorthanded, as they went on to dismantle Thunder Bay 9-4.
It took the OJHL-champion Blades just 153 seconds to open the scoring in the contest as Harrison Israels collected the rebound of a Jack Lyons’ point shot and snapped it past Newhouse.
Oakville added another via the power play at 11:09 as they worked the puck around freely and eventually saw Josh Nixon bury it from slot for his third of the week.
Going back to the man advantage moments later, the Blades flexed their extra-man might yet again with Ryan Nicholson and Israels again both finding the back of the net, in rapid succession, while up a skater for their second and third power-play tallies of the frame.
They then capped off the one-sided session at 17:55 with Spencer Kersten also connecting for a third time at the DHC to finish off the offensive onslaught in the period.
A fourth Oakville man advantage effort, which came off the stick of Nathan Ribau, extended the Blades’ lead six-and-a-half minutes into the middle stanza.
The North Stars eventually got on the board midway through the second when Kyle Auger snapped one from the point that beat Chris Elliot in the OJHLers net.
Thunder Bay came back and added another at 10:36 with Jayden Mrakic firing one in from the right side.
But Oakville got that back before the session expired while shorthanded, as Tanner McEachern outraced a North Stars’ defender to the front of the net and chipped one over the blocker of Newhouse with one hand to make it 7-2 after two.
Kersten collected another, on a deflection, four minutes into the third to give him seven points in three DHC outings.
After the Blades’ McEachern and the North Stars’ Auger traded tallies, Keighan Gerrie rounded out the scoring for Thunder Bay in the late going to wrap things up.
Elliot made 17 stops to nab the win while Newhouse allowed nine against on 28 attempts in the season-ending loss for Thunder Bay.
Player-of-the Game honours were presented to defencemen Cameron Hatziloannou and Auger.
