The
Allstate/Copetown Woods Novice Blues took to the ice for a final two games this
past weekend, both of which to make history for the Dundas Minor Hockey
Association.
Never before has a DMHA team won an OMHA Championship in the category of single ‘A’ and never before has a DMHA team combined an OMHA Championship with a League Championship title.
On Saturday the Blues traveled to Windsor to take on the Riverside Rangers in Game 5 of the OMHA Novice ‘A’ West Championship. After being down 2-0 in the best of five series, the Blues had battled back to tie it the week before. Saturday proved another difficult emotional and physical test for the Blues as they found themselves in a Riverside rink filled to capacity and extremely loud.
After a rough start, the Blues found themselves down 3-0 in the early stages of the second period. After a timeout was called by the Blues bench to regroup, the Blues found the back of the net the very next shift. After getting within one goal of Riverside on three separate occasions, the Blues were down by a score of 5-4 with just over three minutes left in the game when Kai Sulentic broke free and tied the game. A 10 minute overtime period followed where things could go either way. The Blues carried the play the entire overtime, only allowing one shot by against, while the Blues continued to get multiple shots on the Riverside goaltender that was playing unbelievable. After almost six tense minutes with 4:15 left in overtime, Kael Andrew found his legs as he walked around two Riverside defenders and went high glove for the win! Gloves, sticks and helmets went flying as this ecstatic group of kids flooded the ice for their victory celebration to be crowned OMHA Champions!
As if that wasn’t enough excitement for this group of eight and nine year olds, the Blues traveled to Welland on Monday night looking to close out their series to become the Novice ‘A’ Niagara District Hockey League Champions after posting a 6-1 victory in game one last Thursday in Dundas. The Blues were still in fine form and the thought of bringing home two championships to Dundas in two days came to a reality after the Blues battled back from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 4-3 victory ending the year on top of the Niagara District Hockey League.
The 2014-15 Novice Blues will be remembered by many for years to come. Along with the NDHL Championship and the OMHA Championship, the Blues also came out on top as Champions at the Caledonia Challenge Cup Tournament and the Guelph PowerPlay Tournament. After all was said and done, this talented group of kids racked up an overall season/playoffs/tournament record of 51-2-3, one of the top records in the entire Ontario Minor Hockey Association!
To honour the success of the Novice Blues, the Dundas Real McCoys have invited them to take part in the pre-game ceremony prior to game one of the Renwick Cup vs the Kenora Thistles; Friday April 3rd at 7:00PM at Market St. Arena.