Mustangs Bur Bear
The Mustangs of Manitoulin Secondary won the Championship in the Purple Division of The Burlington Bur Bear Tournament this past weekend! The ‘Stangs rolled on with six consecutive victories despite having only 11 players. The wins included: 4-0 over North Bay’s Scollard Hall; 6-1 over Burlington’s Lester Pearson; 5-3 against Burlington’s Nelson Flames; 12-1 in a dominant rematch over Scollard in the Quarter finals. This game saw goals from Carter Noble (3), Justice Corbiere (3), Ben Haner (2), Jacob Moreau (2) as well as singles from Alex Smith and Matthew Craig.
Then they got by St. Thomas Aquinas in the semi-final with a 5-4 victory before taking on their traditional SDHS League opponent, Confederation of Sudbury. Confed had just beaten Sudbury’s Lo-Ellen to get to the final. In the championship, MSS prevailed 4-3 against an opponent they could very well meet in their upcoming league championships. Congrats to the Mustang players and staff. The MSS squad will play their best 2 of 3 semi-finals this week in SDSSSA play this week, when will play Sudbury’s St. Charles who advanced to the quarter-finals in the Gold division in Burlington. Notable to Island fans is that Gregory Trudeau-Paquet led the Cardinals with 4 goals and an assist while Tanner Webkamigad was strong on defense. The series vs the Cards should be a barn-burner!
Panther Points!
The Novice Panthers split games and remain in 3rd in the league and with only eight players this past weekend. Their victory was all the more after a great comeback on Saturday in the 3rd after being down 3-1.
On a relaxing note, the team recently gathered for the second Annual 2-on-2 backyard Pond Hockey Challenge. With a double elimination format, 7 teams were battling for the coveted “Caribou Cup.” With the 2015 winners returning but being drafted to different teams, they wouldn’t be repeating as Champions. However, both players helped get their teams to the finals with Team Gage coming out on to win a very close and intense final game.
Also being the NHL All Star weekend, a mini skills competition was held with three events, passing accuracy, shooting accuracy and the hardest shooter event. Winning the most accurate passer and shooter events was 2015 Caribou Cup champion Keannu Bisschops. Winning the hardest shooter event was first year Panther D-man Greyson Brewer-Case with a shot registering at 65 km/h!
The Atom Panthers had a superb showing against the top team the Chelmsford Crushers on Saturday after losing spirited forward Jared Toope to injury last week. The remaining 12 did a fine job. The team did an amazing job to keep the score at 3-1 against the powerhouse Crushers.
Hats off to several of the Bantam Panthers that have been getting ice-time with Coach Greg Doane’s Midgets.
Hockey memory highlight!
A congratulatory shout-out to Councillor Lawrence Enosse of Wikwemikong who wrangled VIP seats to a recent Ottawa Senators NHL game. The Wikwemikong Midget Hawks were in Arnprior for a tournament and Enosse was able to get Box seats for the squad! They actually travelled (players, coaches, family and fans) on the Barrie Colts bus. The team was clearly visible (as they all wore their team sweaters) on the TSN broadcast of the game. Mr. Enosse is the director of the Wikwemikong Youth Centre and is always active in youth activities in the community.
House League Tournament Triumph
The Wikwemikong Tyke Thunderhawks had a great weekend in Valley East winning the Championship handily. A good number of little ones scored their first-ever goals as the Thunderhawks filled the net with 55 goals in just four games on their way to their ultimate triumph. Scores included: Wikwemikong 10 – Nickle Centre Industrial 4; Wiky 20 – Tim Horton’s 1; Wiky 13 – Cousin Vinny’s 3; and Wiky 12 – Nickle Centre Industrial 8.
Congratulations to players: Gian Dube, Mylah Trudeau, Trenton Trudeau, Alyssa Peltier, Olive-Marie Bomberry, Patience Manitowabi, Radim Eshkawkogan, Jolten Pitawanakwat, Trinity Cheechoo and Treyton Manitowabi. The Coaching staff consists of Saul Bomberry, April Peltier and Marcia Trudeau. It’s nice to see that half the roster consists of girls as Manitoulin continues to produce top-flight female hockey players. Congrats to all.
Meanwhile Gore Bay Bruins made it to the semi-finals in the Novice Division. They defeated Nipissing 6-2, Nickle Centre Jets 8-1 before dropping a close one 3-2 to North Channel Lighting. Good show players and coaches.
Gore Bay also had a team in Atom. Their results included a 2-0 loss to Dominion Construction and victories over Valley East Renegades 4-1 and Schumacher Grizzlies by a 6-2 count. This advanced them to the championship against Timmins Concrete where they won silver, dropping a 4-1 decision to Timmins.
The Mindemoya Thunder Bantams had a super strong Tournament, taking the silver medal in the A division at the Coniston Tournament. Congratulations to players: Taylor Smith, Hunter Cranston, Chris Haner, Maddy Niven, Quinn Coker, Avery Sheppard, Sean Orford, Ethan Smith, Matthew Redmond, Marjorie Scott, Teigan Seabrook, Jasen Millette, Trinity Leeson and Connor Mack!
LNHL to hit record participation!
The Little NHL tournament to be held in Mississauga during the March Break with numerous local skaters playing has announced that the tourney will have a record 193 teams! Good luck to all players.
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