Two Clipper teams keep trophies at home

Two Clipper teams keep trophies at home

Sports

Mike Hayakawa

Two Stouffville Clippers teams familiar with the winner’s circle iced titles and another won second-place during a Whitchurch Stouffville Minor Hockey Association tournament last weekend.

The tourney drew 26 peewee A, bantam A, minor midget A and midget A teams from across Ontario to the Stouffville Arena.

The Clippers minor midgets won their division crown with a hard-fought 3-1 win over the Vaughan Panthers Sunday.

Arena ice malfunction

In the peewee division, the Clippers had an easy time of things after defeating Oakridge (London) 6-0 in their title tilt.

Both teams won Ontario Minor Hockey Associations A titles as bantams and minor peewees, respectively, last spring.

The Clipper midgets advanced to the final against the Markham Waxers but were blanked 2-0.

In the minor midget division, the Clippers defeated the Scarborough Sabres 5-0 and Willowdale Blackhawks 10-1 in round-robin play.

The Clippers’ third game against Essex was cancelled due to a malfunction on Pad A that resulted in 10 hours of ice time being lost. Both teams had advanced to the playoff round.

The Clippers then blanked Hillcrest 4-0 in a semifinal game and advanced to the final where they faced the Panthers, a team they had met as bantams in April at the Ontario Hockey Federation finals.

“We had a pretty good feeling coming into the tournament that it could be Stouffville and Vaughan in the final,” Clippers’ head coach Don Easter said. “They (Panthers) were the GTHL champions last year and they’re leading their division again this year. They’re a good team and any time we play them it’s going to be a close game. We’re registered in the Vaughan Silver Stick qualifying tournament during Christmas so what’s turning out to be a good rivalry could resume at that time.”

The Clippers jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one period on goals by Daniel Perry and Chris Smith.

No further goals were scored until the third period when Connor Cadaret added an insurance marker into an empty net. Cadaret also collected an assist along with David Beloff and Josh Machesney.

Helping to preserve the win was excellent netminding from Kyle Pontone, the most valuable player of the final.

Easter attributed his club’s success to their speed and puck movement.

“We play a lot of teams with players who are physically bigger on average than our guys. But if we’re playing our game and investing the effort many of our opponents simply can’t keep up,” he said. “The challenge for the coaching staff is to make sure the players remember to play to their strengths. We’re blessed with some pretty intelligent and motivated players and the message gets through most of the time.”

In the peewee A final, the Clippers took a 2-0 lead through one period and padded their cushion to 3-0 after two.

Josh Burkholder and Evan Smith propelled the Clippers’ attack with a pair of goals and one assist apiece. Chris Cadaret and Mitchell Smith rounded out the scoring with single tallies. Bob Lamirande, Rob Armstrong, Bill English and Matt Carrick each earned one assist. Cameron Nowikow played in goal and recorded the shutout.

To reach the final, the Clippers routed Scarborough 17-0, Oakridge 10-3 and Hespeler 3-2.

to quebec peewee tourney

Clippers’ head coach Joe Lombardo wasn’t surprised.

“Our team hasn’t lost all year and we’ve been on a bit of a roll since September,” he said of his club, which is 15-0-3 in Ontario Minor Hockey Association play and won the Richmond Hill Early Bird Tournament by going 4-0-1.

“Their work ethic and systems we’ve set with the kids. They follow our system and they’re willing to learn.”

The team will play in the prestigious Quebec Peewee International Tournament in February.

In the bantam final, Wellington blanked Innisfil 4-0. The minor bantam A division was cancelled.

The next Clipper tournament goes Jan. 2 to 4 for minor peewee AE, peewee AE, minor bantam AE, bantam AE and midget AE teams.

For more information, go to wsmha.com

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