For the second time in as many months our Toros team took to the road in search of tournament glory and brought home hardware again. Starting the tournament with a spirited Don Mills Mustangs team, the boys took a little bit of time getting up to speed during an early morning game, but found their stride in time to tame the Mustangs 2-0. Followed by an afternoon tilt with the Kitchener Rangers, where we managed to control the majority of the game, but in the end came up a little short in the final push to win, with Kitchener adding an empty-net goal to seal their victory. So the boys came away 1 and 1 for the first day of tournament play.
With another early morning start against the Cambridge Hawks, the Toros knew that they needed to secure a victory to keep their Finals aspirations alive. In the dying seconds of the third period, down a goal, the Toros fought back to tie the game and secure a vital single point from that contest. Entering the final game of the round-robin with a record of 1-1-1 the Toros faced a solid Waterloo Wolves team who had home ice advantage to add to their stingy style of defensive play. Having a defensive battle unfold was the expectation, and it did not disappoint. Taking the majority of the game to secure a single goal, the Toros went on to defeat the home team in their own tournament and home rink. Finishing second overall in the round robin set the Toros up for a semi-final against a large and skilled LaSalle Sabres team with the earliest start time of their tournament. Going down a goal early, the Toros battled back to take dominant control of the ice and the scoreboard with 5 unanswered goals, skating to a spirited 5-1 victory. Expecting to play a ‘white-hot’ Orangeville Flyers in the Final, the Toros were surprised to have a rematch with the home team Waterloo Wolves. Without seeming too cliché, the Toros – like Napoleon - met their own Waterloo, facing some solid goaltending, a fierce fore-check and shut-down style of defense from the Wolves. The boys battled hard and made us all super proud but came up just a goal short in their second tournament Gold medal game in as many outings. In spite of the loss, Coach Brent was quoted as saying “I am extremely proud of all the boys for the commitment and feel that they are on the right path to make another run for the OMHA’s”
I think we would all agree that the past (2) tournaments were a solid team effort which has set the stage for our Toros making a huge impact on the upcoming North American Cup appearance in Buffalo December 8th -10th. The Toros play teams from Buffalo, Detroit, Syracuse and the Markham Waxers in round robin play. We are all hoping that Christmas comes early with Buffalo gold and our Toros hope to help set the stage for our Canadian World Junior team to repeat the same feat just a few weeks later. Stay tuned for the update after we ‘Shuffle off to Buffalo’…
Written By Paul Hindman