U18 A Boys win league title, set for ‘one last dance’ at provincials
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
By Spencer Seymour
The St. Marys Cement U18 A Boys St. Marys Rock captured their Shamrock League Championship and will compete at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Provincial Championship April 3-5.
Head coach Gord Cookson told the Independent the trip to provincials is a fitting conclusion to the minor hockey careers of their large graduating class.
“I think it’s big,” said Cookson. “A lot of these guys, it’s their last year. They’ve had pretty successful minor hockey careers, and I think they want a big push here. With it being their last year, everyone, even the second years, are fighting for the third years also. It’s one last dance for these guys, and just to be there and have a chance is all we want. It’s going to be a really hard tournament to win, but usually, when we play good teams, it brings the best out of us.”
After grinding out a win in their semi-final series against the London Junior Mustangs, the Rock took on the Strathroy Junior Rockets in the league final. A depleted St. Marys squad fell in the opening game of the series, but a thrilling overtime victory, according to Cookson, propelled the Rock to their championship banner.
“We were missing four guys in Game 1 due to injury and suspension, and they got away with a 3-0 win which included an empty netter. But the big game was Game 2, when we won in overtime, and I feel like just that win in overtime and the excitement that surrounded that with it being playoffs and at home.
“I think it got the boys ready for the rest of the remaining games and catapulted us to go on and beat Strathroy the next two games,” Cookson continued. “Just having the home crowd and getting a win in front of them in overtime was exciting. I think everyone got chills and there was a lot of adrenaline going through us after that, and that excitement helped us reset our goal towards getting these OMHAs.”
Cookson added the team has shown a great ability to generate momentum in high-pressure situations.
“As a whole, it’s just about trying to turn the momentum in the game. Sometimes, we just need to get one line going, and then every other line follows suit. We did a good job at that when we needed to win. We had people step up, and then everyone else followed suit, so it was a good team atmosphere.”
Although the team boasts a winning pedigree and a strong ability to perform in big moments, they have strangely come up short in all of their tournaments so far this season, a dubious record Cookson says the team is determined to change at the biggest tournament of the season.
“All year, we haven’t won a tournament,” Cookson said. “We’ve had no problems getting in. We’d finish first in our pool, we’d make it to Sunday, and we just can’t find a way to win on Sundays, and I feel like us not winning a tournament through the regular season has meaning behind that where maybe we just win one tournament all year, and that’s these OMHA Provincials coming up.”
Cookson added reaching provincials marks an incredibly special way for him and the rest of the coaching staff to wrap up their tenure with the group of players they’ve coached for many years.
“Me, Kyle (Spence) and Lucas (Spence) have had a majority of these kids for the last five years, and they’re graduating this year, and it’s also our last year. So, we’re going out together, and there’s no other way we would want to go out. Hopefully, it’s with red hats, but being able to finish off the season with the bulk of these kids is what’s really special.”
Looking ahead to the provincial championship, Cookson said the team’s pace and puck movement are key to finding success.
“If everyone buys in, we get on a roll, we just find tape out there, get some good passes in and we can move up and down the ice pretty quickly, then we might find success,” Cookson said. “We have some guys who can finish, so if we can get our passes where we want them to go and don’t grip the stick too tight, I think we’re going to be successful.”
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