Capturing the Nickel District Minor Hockey League (NDMHL) Jim Conners Division "A" Midget final might have provided some consolation for the Nickel City Rebels.
To a man, however, they are quick to admit that it is small consolation.
The Rebels took the six-point league championship 7-3 Tuesday evening with a 4-1 win over the Copper Cliff Redmen at the Ray Plourde Arena in Val Caron.
Unfortunately, it was these same Redmen that upset the Nickel City crew 3-0 in the NOHA Tournament of Champion semi-finals a few weeks back, denying the Rebels a trip to the OHF (Ontario Hockey Federation) all-Ontario playdowns in Hearst in mid-April.
The backdrop provided an interesting dynamic to this emotional series. "We really wanted to win that (NOHA title), and when that didn't happen, we had to win this, no matter what," noted 17 year-old Nickel City captain Aidan Byrne.
With their backs against the wall, the Redmen opened the scoring as Curtis Greasley backhanded home the ice-breaker at 12:22 of the opening period.
It would take the Rebels less than three minutes to draw even, courtesy of a power-play tally from defenseman Denis Lemieux, and from that point on, it was all Nickel City.
Copper Cliff netminder Mathieu Kingsley was sensational, finishing with 42 saves as the Rebels outshot the Redmen 46-15. Luc Seguin provided the homeside with their first lead of the game early in the second, again with the man advantage, with Nickel City gaining some valuable breathing room thanks to a goal from Alain Sicard late in the frame.
Brady Jones completed the scoring midway through the third as the Rebels continued to pull away against easily their toughest foe in the NDMHL this year.
"They're a tough team to play against," acknowledged Byrne. "They put up a good fight - they're fun to play." Byrne capped off his minor hockey career with an outstanding season, winning the league scoring title and serving as team captain for the first time ever.
In a series that got chippy at times, with multiple game misconducts incurred over the span of six games, the grand finale was a relatively timid affair, with 56 minutes shared between the two teams, including a pair of misconducts.
Through it all, the game plan for the Rebels deviated very little. "We wanted to move the puck more, get open and play better defense," said Byrne.
The 2012-2013 edition of the Nickel City Midget AA Rebels included goaltenders Ryan Ayerst and Justin Hebert as well as skaters Jeremi Polsky, Alain Trottier, Denis Lemieux, Aidan Byrne, Jesse Henry, Dylan Lloyd, Cody Boileau, Stetson Troscinski, Alain Sicard, Luc Seguin, Tyson Troscinski, Alex Lafreniere, Jordan Piette, Brady Jones, Curtis Campbell, Tyler Rochon and Paul Recollet.
The team's head coach was Richard Piette, with assistants Ken Whitehead and Troy Troscinski, trainers Gerry Lemieux and Jamie Lloyd and team manager Linda Hébert.
The championship final spells the end of the line for the Rebels, while the Copper Cliff crew will continue practicing in anticipation of the all-Ontario event from April 12th to the 14th.
