For the second straight year, the Nickel City Minor Bantam Tigers found not only great competition in La Belle Province, but a championship banner as well, returning victorious from the Canadian Cup Tournament in Montreal.

Falling behind early in their opening game, the Tigers battled back, edging Acton-Boxborough (Massachusetts) 3-2 on goals from Nick DeSantis, Matt Quennville and Brendan Ranney.

With penalties being the story of the game against the St Laurent Titans, the failure to capitalize proved costly for the northern Ontario crew, dropping a 3-0 decision to their Quebecois counterparts.

Needing a win to advance to the finals, Nickel City produced their best effort to date, besting the Sackville (Nova Scotia) Flyers 3-1 as Adam Hinds paced the attack with a goal and two assists. Anthony Talevi and Zack Thibault rounded out the scoring for the winners.

With payback on their minds, the Tigers overcame on early 1-0 deficit to St Laurent, scoring three unanswered goals before surrendering one late as Nickel City topped the Titans 3-2.

Quennville enjoyed a memorable outing for the locals, scoring all three goals for his team, while Thibualt garnered Tournament MVP honours. "The kids played well as a team all weekend and really picked up their efforts in games three and four," noted head coach Rick Poitras.

"I asked for two small changes in the game plan against St Laurent and the kids responded well, playing their best game of their year, he added. The Nickel City Minor Bantam Tigers will close out the 2011-2012 campaign, competing in the Nickel District Minor Hockey League (NDMHL) playoff weekend from March 22nd to 25th in Sudbury and Rayside-Balfour.

This year's edition of the Tigers includes Zackary Lessard-Dubé, Brad Boivin, Sean Antonioni, David Withers, Zacharie Thibault, Colin Potts, Joshua Duckett, Jacob MacDonald, Brendan Ranney, Adam Hinds, Nickolas DeSantis, Matthieu Verreault, Mathieu Quennville, Brett Boileau, Anthony Talevi and goaltenders Jacob Chartrand and Josh Kneblewski.

The coaching staff featured Rick Poitras, Mitch White, Gerry Viau, Michel Chartrand and team manager Denise Duckett.