Our Oshawa Minor Bantam AAA team was proud
to represent and participate in the Oshawa Challenge Tournament on the weekend
of January 6th. After a roller coaster weekend including a couple of
come from behind wins on Sunday, our boys took away Gold with an exciting 2:1 victory over the Central Ontario Wolves.
Thirty AAA teams and five divisions from Atom to Bantam, made for a fine Oshawa tournament. The team faced their first opponents, The Winnipeg Monarchs on Friday morning. It was a hard battle against a talented team with an ending tie score of 2-2. Our next game against Central Ontario Wolves on Friday afternoon was a heartbreaking 0-1 loss, followed by a 1-6 loss to Barrie Colts on Saturday. It was time to regroup and refocus. The boys knew they needed to get back to basics, dig in and work as a team, which they did with flying colours and a stunning 5-1 win over Upper Canada Cyclones on Saturday night, securing the last place spot in the semi finals on Sunday. After this late night victory, Oshawa was facing the #1 placed team from Barrie with an early 8 am start. As underdogs in this game, the team played smart and strong hockey. The defence paired well, moving the puck up to the forwards who worked equally as hard. Tied at 2-2 at the final buzzer, we moved into a tense 4 on 4 over time. The goalie and players kept their cool. With seconds left to the end of first period OT, the defence received a pass and sent a hard slap shot that tipped off a forward stick and into the net.
The championship game against Central Ontario Wolves (COW) was exciting to say the least. The opposing team parents clutched tightly to their cowbell’s and celebrated with shrilling chimes after scoring the first goal. Being down one goal would not deter the boys, and the battle was on. At start of 3rd with the score still 0-1, Oshawa started strong and scored to tie it up 1-1. With 7 mins left, Oshawa continued to apply pressure, thanks to solid goaltending and efforts from all three lines. Oshawa drew a penalty and we quickly took advantage scoring the winning goal. The cowbells did not ring and it was a sweet hometown victory for the Minor Bantam team, who dropped gloves and helmets to celebrate their win with the all the coaches who had helped direct and focus the boys throughout the tournament.
Congratulations to all the boys and coaches on their gold medal win, and to the gracious runner up, COW all the other opponents in this division. All the teams challenged our Oshawa boys with their skill and work ethic, giving more meaning to the name Oshawa Challenge. We hope to see everyone back next season.