High School Hockey Notebook
It was 1948.
That was the first year a provincial high school hockey championship was held in Ontario. Copper Cliff High, from a hockey crazed community near Sudbury, won it and went on to win seven in total. That school is long gone now. By the way, Toronto's Upper Canada supposedly is next with five gold medals - and the Blues are back for a shot at another one later this month in St. Catharines.
Since the post-war days, many things have happened to the high school game. The playoffs have been carved up in two sets - Single/Double and Triple/Quad. Not sure why there aren't four playoffs? That seems to be the pattern for team sports by OFSAA, who claims to always be doing the right thing.
The sport has also witnessed the development of many very good players. Others opted for the Junior ranks. The private schools entered the race for gold - and many coaches didn't like it. In fact, there are some who still point thumbs down accusing them of recruiting athletes under the guise of something else. Lots of recruiting too. New coaches have appeared. Many more have gone to coach elsewhere, quit, retire or, sadly, watch from up above.
Some leagues have grown, others have shrunk. Costs escalate and it sure does hit the taxpayer, through the school boards of education, to help finance teams going to provincial playoffs - sometimes in remote rural communities.
Well, the provincial playoffs start a few days after the March break.
St. Catharines is hosting both sets of boys playoffs. Big job too. The two teams ranked No. 1 have never won this event. St. Marcellinus of Mississauga is the favoured team for the Triple/Quad-A while Appleby of Oakville, a private school, has been picked as the team to beat for the Single/Double-A.
All right, the top five teams in Triple/Quad: St. Marcellinus, Denis Morris (St. Catharines), Orangeville, St. Mary's (Pickering) and Sherwood (Hamilton). For the Single/Double-A, it's Appleby, St. Mary's (Sault Ste. Marie), St. Michael (Niagara Falls), St. Thomas Aquinas (Oakville), Bishop MacDonnell (Guelph).
Puck drops from March 23 to 26.
How could Gonzaga come away with the gold again if they are not even there representing AAA/AAAA?
Posted by: Billy McLaren | March 13, 2010 at 09:08 AM
Regarding Gonzaga, the initial information provided to us said they were competing in the provincial boys' hockey playoffs.
They are competing - but the other sex.
The girls team is going to the Ontario playoffs trying to accomplish what the boys team did last year - win the gold medal.
This time, Peel is hoping to win again - but with St. Marcellinus (ranked No. 1) spoiling the show for the No. 2 hometown team (Denis Morris).
As our results list and blog both show, it's St. Marcellinus and Mayfield at the boys playoffs..
Posted by: David Grossman | March 13, 2010 at 02:58 PM
How isn't Christ the King in the top 5? They have beaten Dennis Morris?
Posted by: Peter | March 15, 2010 at 01:27 PM
Once again, Mayfield comes into the OFSSAA Championships under the radar. A 3-2 loss in the Peel Finals to the #1 seed - pretty good for a school that didn't even ice a team last year!
Posted by: Laura | March 18, 2010 at 07:41 PM
Alright Laura, but can you be a bit more specific on why Mayfield didn't ice a team last year?
Posted by: Johnnie | March 22, 2010 at 07:55 AM