Sure, some of the championship banner distribution across Ontario came part and parcel of the fact that the Valley East Renegades Tournament offers an "A" and "B" title game in most divisions - and often more.

But some of that geographic breadth is simply a function of the fact that in attracting more than 80 teams to the area a few weeks ago, the annual March tradition drew extremely well in terms of our of town entries.

The Oro Thunder (outside of Orillia) had plowed through their first four opponents, outscoring U18 teams 22-1 heading into the final but were pushed to the limit by the Valley East Fountain Tire Mighty Pucks before eking out a 2-1 win.

A first period tally by Jake Duffy stood as the only goal until the final frame when Rhys Davies doubled the advantage, only to see Ayden Courtemanche make things interesting for the final five minutes, putting the Mighty Pucks on the board.

Vincent Hardy handled all of the offense in the remaining final in this age bracket as Hearst Fern Girard Construction rode his four goal effort to a 4-2 win over the Wasaga Beach Stars, with Malcolm Thorn and Jacob Dopp replying in a losing cause.

The U15 Division featured a dramatic end to one encounter when Bentley Larochelle drilled home his second of the game, pulling the Timmins Ecowerx & MCL North Stars even at 4-4 with VEMHA NetSpectrum - only to see Logan Marshall pot the game-winner for the local entry less than a minute later.

Marshall's tally was his second as well, an output matched by teammate Liam Roberts, with Alexa Goulard capping off the scoring while Yanik Courchesne also reached the scoresheet twice for the North Stars.

Timmins entries were extremely prevalent in this age bracket as a second final pitted some very familiar adversaries, with Timmins Moneta Rec-Orange blanking Timmins Team Roy / Green 4-0.

Benjamin Ethier registered the shutout with Bryce Morin (2), Rocco Ladouceur and Daxton Duchesne giving him plenty of breathing room between the pipes.

The Walden Laurentian Chrysler Hellcats pulled a U13 title out from the fire as Braeden Merkley sent the final to overtime, scoring with 27 seconds to play and giving way to a game-winning strike from teammate Alex Gray early in OT.

Beaten 2-1 in the heart-breaking final, the Onaping Falls Huskies had taken a 1-0 lead in the first courtesy of Liam Robillard, protecting that advantage for almost the entirety of the contest.

Still with U13 championship tilts, second period goals from Chace Trudel, Callen Fox and Liam Bona pushed Valley East King Sportswear past Iroquois Falls Apitipi Anicinapek 3-0 as puckstopper Reid Chamberland was flawless for the host crew.

The top U11A banners remained close to home as the Sudbury Storm bounced Valley East AtomMC King 4-1 (Martin Eso with the hat-trick) and the Rayside Tigercats thumped the Porcupine Thunder 10-0 (Aidan Bignucolo with four goals; Karson Beaulne with three).

Remaining U11A finals saw the Valley East AtoMC Flyers edge Valley East Atomic Jets 3-2 while the Porcupine Storm outscored Timmins Alliance Wealth Management North Stars 4-1.

A mix of U11B finals included VE Atomic Stars beating VEMHA The Stars 3-1, Onaping Falls Huskies rallying for a 3-2 win over NCMHA Blast Orange and the Coniston Flames trimming the West Nipissing Sting 5-4 (Jack Zahorouski with two goals for winners).

Loads of Timmins talent in the U9 T1 bracket as MSN North Stars stopped Technosub North Stars 5-2 and Praztek Nailers North Stars clipped Creighton Nines (WMHA) 3-2.

The Blind River Minor Hockey Association should be commended for their distribution of the U9 A talent in their area as the Thunder Black and Thunder White went to overtime before Curtis Aalto scored the game-winner for the latter (5-4 in OT).

The Parry Sound Shamrocks posted a 2-0 whitewashing of the Sault Ste Marie Miya Mayhem Huskies and the Rayside Tigercats completed a four game winning streak with a 8-3 victory over SSM Carpet One Sharks.

Last but not least (U9 C), the Chapleau Huskies doubled the VEMHA Tim Horton's Oilers 6-3, Alec Mills completed his hat trick 20 seconds into overtime to lift the Gore Bay Bruins past the West Nipissing Sting 4-3 and the Porcupine Bears defeated the VE Tim Horton's Bruins 5-2.

The 43rd edition of the Renegades Tournament featured a prize for every single entry, thanks in part to the generous support of sponsors, with four-man officiating crews assigned to all U15 adn U18 finals.