NEWS

By Jamie Neugebauer

The Buckland Cup is back where it belongs: safely at Westwood Arena.

The Toronto Patriots repeated as Ontario Junior Hockey League champions with a resounding 6-1 victory over the Kingston Voyageurs in North Etobicoke on Wednesday.

Toronto head coach Jason Fortier could not hide his emotions post-game.

“It’s pretty unbelievable and surreal,” Fortier said.

“I didn’t think I would have too many emotions but I am absolutely proud of these guys. Coming here with our fans, we had a great crowd, and the support we have had has been getting better every month it seems. These kids deserve it, the atmosphere in here was phenomenal and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Jacob Hayhurst opened the scoring 7:10 into the first period when he banked a rebound in off Kingston goaltender Daniel Urbani from the side of the net.

Marcus Rose netted the eventual winner on a rebound of his own at the 11:58-mark of the second, and then Tyler Currie’s one-timer from the high slot 20 seconds later gave the Pats their first comfortable lead in the series since Game 3.

Mitch Emerson jammed home a puck from the side of the net at 13:13 of the third, and then after Adam Moodie got one back for the Vees, Emerson and Quinn Syrydiuk preceded to seal the victory with an empty netter apiece.

Mat Robson was excellent once again, making 31 saves in the win, and was named MVP of the post season after topping the save percentage and goals-against average categories league wide.

Despite the recognition, the team win was all Robson wanted to talk about.

“I can’t even put it into words, the feeling right now is just unbelievable,” said Robson.

“The last couple of years have been a great learning experience for me, but I couldn’t be happier to be with the group of guys we have here. Back in my hometown and winning it all has really proved that it all was worth it; it all worked out great. The MVP feels great, but the Buckland is all that we wanted.”

The Pats let a 3-1 series lead slip away as the Vees rallied to take both Games 5 and 6, but the resilience and hard work that has characterized the organization the past two years took over in the end.

“(Winning in seven games) makes this sweeter to be honest,” said Robson.

“We let a couple slip through our hands there, and we all agreed we wouldn’t let it happen again – and we didn’t. Now we have it and the Buckland is all ours.”

The Patriots will now have a few days to rest and practice before they head to Fort Frances for the Central Region Junior ‘A’ tournament, better known as the Dudley Hewitt Cup.

There they will battle the host Fort Frances Lakers, the Superior International Junior Hockey League runners up Dryden Ice Hogs, and the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds for a spot in the national tournament, or the RBC Cup.

At time of this writing, Fort Frances was ranked No. 9 nationally, while the Soo Thunderbirds were ranked No. 13.

“Yeah we’re really looking forward to it,” said Pats’ captain Luke Carter.

“All the teams are going to be good and we cannot take anything for granted. We are ready to go, however.”

“We are going to do our best to represent the OJHL,” added Fortier.

“We’re going to go out there, do our best. The kids are going to spend a night celebrating, but we’re going to do our best out there and see where it goes.”

The Dudley Hewitt Cup Tournament begins on Apr. 28, with the Pats taking on the host Fort Frances Lakers at 7:30 p.m.