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Hornets capture 6th consecutive GMOHL title

March 21, 2013   ·   0 Comments

The Alliston Junior C Hornets hoisted the Georgian Mid Ontario Hockey League championship cup for the sixth time on Friday night (March 15) after defeating the Midland Flyers in game five of their best of seven final series.

In a way, this year’s final was anti-climatic when the Hornets blanked the Flyers in three of those games.

Game one ended with a 6–0 win for the Hornets on home ice at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre on March 6.

A second shut-out in game two had the Alliston squad leading the series when they left with a 7–0 win in Midland.

The return to Alliston for game three on Sunday (March 10) was the only game where the Hornets faltered when they turned out a sluggish performance and lost 5–4 in overtime.

While Midland was back in the series with the win, the Alliston squad responded with yet another shut-out in game four back in Midland..

That set up the series for the return to Alliston on Sunday and while the Flyers fans may have been hoping to keep the series alive, the general feeling around the Alliston camp before the game even started was that the Hornets would end the GMOHL season in front of a hometown crowd.

At the end of the first period the Hornets had a 3–0 lead on goals from Drake Board, Mark O’Donnell, and Mike Campeau.

The Flyers did have some success in the second period when the Hornets seemed to rest easy on the lead but three more goals from Cole Parker, David LeBlanc, and Andre Lessard gave the Alliston squad a 6–3 win and the championship.

“We didn’t play a disciplined game in the second period and they got two powerplay goals,” said Hornets captain Ashton Duthie. “We’ve got to take every team with respect. We lost that one game and it kept us humble.”

The Midland squad had their best season ever as a Junior C club winning 25 games in the regular season and knocking out the second place Stayner Siskins in the semi-final round. But in the end they were no match for the Hornets fire-power.

“I think our guys deserved to win,” said Hornets head coach Sandy McCarthy. “I think we capitalized on our opportunities. We had some guys step out when (Randy) Cox went out.”

Forward Randy Cox who has been mainstay points earner for the squad was injured in game two and may be out for a few weeks.

The fact that Midland was shut-out for three games, McCarthy said, had a lot to do with “what our guy’s were doing” to stop them, not what Midland lacked in offensive play.

Cox’ line-mate and top scorer Mike Campeau said, ‘everyone has been asking me that,’ when queried about playing without Cox on his left – fans are used to seeing numbers 28 and five on the ice at the same time.

“It’s tough, we’ve been playing together for the last five years, but the thing about this team is we’ve got guys who will step up.”

The fact they out-scored the Flyers 27–8 in the series he said, wasn’t that big of a surprise.

“You can expect that when you’ve got the great goal tending we’ve had this year.”

The win means the squad will now enter the league playoffs in the quest for the provincial championship Schmalz cup.

For the sixth straight year, the Hornets will meet up with the Walkerton Hawks in the first round.

The Hawks have been the Western Hockey League champions for the six consecutive seasons but have never managed to beat the Hornets in the first round of play.

“It gets harder every year,” Campeau said of meeting up with the Walkerton squad again. “It’s always been a tough series with them, but you’re got to expect that.”

The Walkerton squad won the WJCHL championship after knocking out Kincardine in the final series.

The Hawks ended the regular season with a 28–8 record and a first place finish.

The first round of the provincial cup series gets underway in Walkerton on Wednesday, March 20. Game time is 8:30 p.m.

Game two of the series will be in Alliston on Friday, March 22.

The puck drop is slated for 8 p.m.

By Brian Lockhart

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