U13 A Boys win OMHA provincial championship
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
By Spencer Seymour
The St. Marys Firefighters U13 A Boys St. Marys Rock captured a provincial title at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Provincial Championships in Whitby April 3-5.
Head coach Merlin Malinowski told the Independent the tournament was a culmination of everything the team had been building all season.
“What really impressed me was the way they put it all together,” said Malinowski. “I think everything that we talked about and worked towards during the year; we talked about controlling our emotions during the game and discipline on the ice, as far as not taking bad penalties. All those little things that we talked about that we worked on all came together on that final weekend. At times, games were tight, and they kept things in check. They really played as a team and really worked for each other. They were each other’s top fan, and those are the kinds of things that impressed me as I look back on it.”
Malinowski added the group’s ability to keep their emotions in check was vital to finding success at provincials.
“The discipline and holding their emotions together was big because we talked about losing at the International Silver Stick; it was all about losing our emotions,” Malinowski said. “Losing our emotions in that game and getting unfocused cost us. We had a couple of things that challenged us over the weekend, and they came through and remembered and did it right.”
The Rock won every game at provincials, maintaining an unbeaten record all season. Malinowski said the weight of preserving their unbeaten record never entered his players’ thought process.
“They never really thought about their record,” said Malinowski. “No one ever said, ‘Come on, let’s win another one, let’s stay undefeated.’ It was always just the next game, and let’s go out and play. It was always just the challenge in front of them, and I think that kind of focus was what carried them right through. All of a sudden, you’re looking and realize, ‘Hey, we didn’t lose a game.’ ”
St. Marys met a familiar foe in the semi-finals, battling the South Oxford Storm, a massive game for Malinowski’s squad.
“South Oxford is our biggest rival in the province and in our league, so we were really looking forward to that game. South Oxford took some penalties, but we stayed focused and kept our cool, and we were able to cash in on that, and then bouncing back after that. When you have a game like that in the morning, which is just so full of emotion, and you win it, and you just feel so good about it, but now three hours later, you’re getting ready for the finals, to be able to regroup and get focused again was great.”
Owen Leslie-Robinson opened the scoring in the semis with the eventual game-winner with just over five minutes left in the first period. The Rock then exploded for three goals in the span of a minute by one minute and 54 seconds, including by Theo Keller, Attley Ehgoetz and Hudson Monteith. Lucas Savile picked up the shutout in between the pipes to push the Rock to the 4-0 win and advance to the gold-medal game.
In the finals, St. Marys came up against the West Coast White Caps, with Malinowski noting the team still delivered a strong effort even though they were somewhat emotionally depleted after the game against South Oxford.
“We didn’t play our best game of the tournament, but we still played as a group, and even though it was a tight, one-goal game, pretty much for most of the game, they stayed together,” Malinowski said. “Sometimes, you can turn into an individual, thinking, ‘I’m going to win the game for us,’ and they didn’t. They just kept playing the same style of game that we’ve talked about all year, and we were able to hang on.”
Malinowski added he began to really feel confident in the team’s chances in the finals when they went up by a pair of goals.
“I remember standing on the bench going, ‘Where’s the emotion?’ I talked about emotional control, but there’s also that emotion that you have to have. But I also know we left it all out in the morning against South Oxford, so you’re trying to talk them up and lift that energy level.
“We got out to that two-goal lead, and once we did, I was starting to feel pretty confident in the way we were playing,” Malinowski continued. “We were defending really well, and that’s been a trademark of our team. We only gave up four goals at provincials. I knew our goaltending was on, our defence was really solid and I saw that’s how we were playing, so I started feeling pretty confident that we would be okay.”
After a scoreless first period, the Rock got two goals just two minutes and 36 seconds apart, first by Leslie-Robinson followed by Myles Havens scoring the eventual game winner. The White Caps got one back later in the second, but Savile shut the door the rest of the way to backstop St. Marys to a 2-1 lead and the provincial banner.
Malinowski described how special the moment was when the game concluded.
“The greatest pleasure is watching the kids when that final buzzer goes, and they’re throwing their gloves and their helmets off, and they’re racing to the goalie, and the arms are up in the air, and they’re hugging each other and the smiles. You can’t beat that feeling. That makes it all worthwhile, and you just feel on top of the world.”