Life at the Big Nickel Hockey Tournament is always peachy when local teams ensure a measure of success – and even better with out of town teams that walk away with championship banners also enjoy strong connections to Sudbury.
Both situations were in play this past Sunday as the Nickel City U12 AAA Sons completed a flawless (5-0-0) weekend with a 3-0 whitewashing of the North Bay Trappers in the final, with the Sons joining the Mississauga U18 AAA Senators in the winner’s circle – a team coached by Sudbury native Scott McCrory, no less.
Rounding out the list of those with bragging rights was yet another impressive northern formation as the Soo U15 AAA Jr Greyhounds slipped past the Richmond Hill Coyotes, 3-2 in a shootout, to capture their division.
Of the three champions, the Sons enjoyed the most breathing room, their closest game being a 3-1 victory over North Bay in their final round robin affair. They opened with a 5-2 win over the Mississauga Rebels (André Beaudry-2, Max Falcioni, Padraig Courtney, Zachary Tyson) and closed off day one with a huge 7-3 triumph over the North Central Predators (Max Falcioni-2, André Beaudry-2, Zachary Tyson, Myles Talbot, Padraig Courtney).
More of the same early Saturday morning as the Sons downed the Timmins North Stars 5-2 (Padraig Courtney-2, Zachary Tyson-2, Camden Poirier), closing off a 4-0-0 run with their win over the Trappers (Jonny Croome-2, Sam Frappier).
In the gold medal encounter, it would be goaltender Max Barros posting the goose-egg, receving offensive support from Padraig Courtney, Sam Frappier and Zachary Tyson, all scoring in the third period as the Nickel City crew are leaving later this week for the nation’s capital, site of the Ottawa Myers Automotive AAA Shootout.
“We had a lot of upside this weekend,” said Sons’ head coach Joey Talbot, the Wahnapitae native who starred with the Ottawa 67’s and went on to play pro hockey for another eight years in locales ranging from Alaska to England. “The team really came together, sticking through the tough times and not getting down if we were in a close game.”
Given his experience, Talbot and his fellow coaches have a very good handle on the biggest adjustment that his troops, playing AAA hockey for the first time and combining youngsters from the rival NCHA and SMHA hockey groupings, will have to contend with this year.
“It’s the team play,” said Talbot. “Coming out of AA, U11 and down, there’s more of a one-man show atmosphere. As kids get older, they are finding out that there’s a lot less space out there and the gap is closing between kids. Teaching them to move the puck around, use the guys around them to their advantage is probably the biggest thing.”
Rounding out the 2022-2023 Nickel City U12 AAA roster are Brayden Bouillon, Blake Bubalo, Coen Chretien, Shean Gray, Ryder Penny, Van Sakellaris, Max Thompson and Jonathan Valade.
If the Sons had the benefit of a margin for error almost from start to finish this weekend, the same could not be said for McCrory and his U18 Senators.
The younger brother of Big Nickel chairman Barry McCrory and son of the man for whom the sports complex is so appropriately named would see his squad drop their first outing (2-1 to the Hawkesbury Hawks), emerge victorious in no less than four separate games by a single goal and require a shootout to subdue the Waterloo Wolves 3-2 in the final.
“When push comes to shove, these guys buckle down and worry about the defensive side of the game,” said coach McCrory, who now trails his older brother 2-1 in terms of Big Nickel banners as a coach – though Scott also played on the very first time to win the event: the 1980 Sudbury Maslack Peewees.
“We focus on capitalizing on turnovers and our goaltending made some big saves – and that’s what you need if you want to win championships.”
In fact, even as the Wolves and Sens took to the ice for the five minute three on three overtime session, McCrory was still in his defense-first mentality. “Waterloo went with two forward and a D and I went with two D and a forward,” said the man who led the OHL in scoring in 1986-1987, racking up an astounding 150 points (51G-99A) in 66 games.
“I didn’t want to give up a goal in overtime. I would rather take it to a shootout.”
Trailing 2-0 after the second period, Mississauga forced OT on goals from Matthew Indovina and Anthony Tarsitano, with Henry Ghenov capping the comeback, the only one of the six shooters to hit paydirt in the skills competition that would decide the tournament.
Finally, the Soo U15 AAA Jr Greyhounds kept picking up steam right through round robin play, culminating in a 10-0 win over the Richmond Hill Coyotes that secured their birth in the final – and may have provided somewhat of a false sense of security.
With both the Hounds and Coyotes posting records of 3-1-0, it would be a winner take all rematch on Sunday, with the game substantially more competitive. Sault Ste Marie received a pair of regulation time goals from Nik Rossetto to battle back from a 2-0 deficit, with the talented sniper completing an unofficial hat-trick (shootout goals are never included in individual stats) as the U15 banner remained in the north.
Netminder Cameron Ingram surrendered a pair of goals early but then shut down the ‘Yotes through the entire second half of the game and overtime, putting a bow on his performance with three key saves in the shootout. Rossetto finished the weekend with five goals (+ S/O winner), Danny MacDonald added four and local product Ryker Young enjoyed his homecoming as a member of the Hounds, scoring in their first game of the tournament.
