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Alliston Hornets celebrate another successful season

April 27, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It was a good year for the Alliston Hornets, and they can celebrate another successful season on the ice now that hockey is over.

The Hornets finished the regular season in second place with a 30-9-1 record, including two overtime losses and recording 63 points.

They held second place most of the season after knocking the Schomberg Cougars out of the number two spot early in the year.

After dispatching the Cougars in the semi-final round of playoffs in a series that went seven games, they had a final showdown with the first-place Stayner Siskins for the North Carruthers Division championship.

The best-of-seven final series went five games, with game one taking place on April 6. In game five, the Hornets took a 6-2 loss giving the Siskins the Division title.

“I think we did quite well this season with a mix of older guys and a lot of younger guys,” said Hornets general manager Blair Molto. “I think we gelled together as a team. We were able to compete with anybody in our league. We beat Stayner three other times we played them. Unfortunately, we ran into a good team in the playoffs who were able to eliminate us. 

Molto added, “All in all I’m quite happy the way the season ended. Right from the start we had faith in everybody and every position, and it didn’t matter if we put out a third or fourth year vet with a rookie. I think we were a talented team from start to finish and we worked hard. The unfortunate thing is somebody has to lose.”

The Hornets took a few losses in the early going, but it all came together, and they went on a winning streak.

“We came out quickly, which for us was a bit of a surprise because normally we have a slow start,” Blair said. “We build and build and finish hard at the end. We came out pretty quick – had a bit of a lull in the middle. It took a while for us to gel and we had to figure out the Junior C game. We did have a lot of rookies this year but once they got it figured out, we were playing as a team, and the way the game is played at this level I think that’s what made us successful.”

Even though the season is over, coaches and management won’t get much rest as they have to start building a team for next season.

“We lose our four overages, which we do every year, and there’s a good chance we’ll lose a couple players to a higher level of hockey, but that’s what our league is about,” Blair said. “And it’s what the Alliston Hornets is about. Our young guys, if they want to go higher, we’ll do everything we can to promote them higher and then we’ll have to fill in those holes when training camp starts in June.”

This year’s graduating players are Ben Taylor, Adam Hoppe, Andrew Maltby, and Jakob Power.

The team had a lot of fan support this season. Games were well attended all through the regular season, and once playoffs started, there were 850 to 900 fans in the stands. That’s a really good number for Junior C level hockey.

Fans will be looking forward to the start of the next season in September.

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