This past weekend the Silver Stick Minor Midget Finals were held in Whitby, Ontario. Over the course of the weekend, the team played a total of seven games, four of which were won by shutouts; accolades to the goalies and the players in front of them.
The finals saw the two top ranked teams in North America, #1 Toronto Marlboros facing #2 Oakville Rangers. Despite dominating the early part of the Finals the Marlboros gave up two short-handed goals and a 3rd at full strength. The Rangers smelled the Gold. Miraculously the team came back and fired off two quick goals to bring them to within one by the end of the 2nd period.
The early part of the 3rd period was played at a stalemate as Oakville was determined to protect their lead, and the Marlboros found difficulty penetrating the goal. With time running out the team found the energy to put on a tenacious press. Two back-to-back goals were scored with under 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd to give the Marlboros a go-ahead goal.
Coach Richard Power was so very proud of the team’s efforts and the comeback victory. “Looking at the player stats over the course of the tournament, we had point production from all 3 forward lines, outstanding goaltending from both our goalies; and enough cannot be said about the work of the defencemen and the number of blocked shots.”