By Darren Friesen /
Bench boss John Bird was confident his Majors team was going to be competitive but he never imagined his squad winning the title at the Markham Majors Fall Classic. This was the case, though, as Bird’s Peewee squad defeated the Whitby Wild Cats 2-1 in the final game to capture the championship on Oct. 11.
“We were a real longshot,” explained Bird. “Most of these guys hadn’t played together before this year and they’re just trying to get to know each other.
“I know we would hold our own because we’ve got some great talent on this team and as a unit we play really well together. In the end, we played terrific hockey and definitely played beyond our expectations to win the trophy.”
After two decisive victories against the Ajax Pickering Raiders and the Ottawa Valley Aces, the Majors suffered some injury trouble on the blueline and were only able to beat the Soo Jr.
Greyhounds by a goal and drew even versus the Nickel City Suns. That was enough, however, to get the Majors into the semis, which according to Bird was one of the most memorable games of the tournament.
“After beating Ajax so handily in the first game, they were more prepared for us in the semis and they were up by two at one point,” said Bird. “We kept playing hard and all three lines were playing well and we managed to tie it to take it to overtime.”
Ultimately, the Majors once again bested the Raiders and went on to face Whitby in the final. It took overtime in the final game but the Majors were able to pull off the triumph, 2-1.
Besides the Peewee Majors, the only other host team to win its division was the Atom team, who beat Clarington 4-2 in the final.
In the Minor Atom division, the Central Ontario Wolves edged the London Junior Knights. Meanwhile, in the minor Peewee division, the Gloucester Rangers took home first place.
The Minor Bantam Majors were crushed 8-0 in their final versus the Ottawa Jr. 67s and the older Bantam boys were beat were also beat by an Ottawa squad – the Senators – 4-2. The Ajax Pickering Raiders Midget team topped the Ottawa Jr. 67s to win that oldest division. |