Hockey Thrills, Upsets and Noise

Lots of high school hockey in St. Catharines these past four days with 40 teams from across the province, big schools and small schools and some in-between, hoping this would be the year that they go home with gold medals.

Have to admit, some very impressive players and teams. But lots of hockey and it really came down to desperation, fitness and some luck.

Top-ranked St. Marcellinus from Mississauga lost one game this year — for the Ontario triple/quad-A gold medal.

Yikes, tough blow for a school that opened seven years ago, has an excellent hockey program and now has back-to-back silver medals. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, they were looking for gold and goalie Ryan Lenardon has been spectacular this year - five shutouts in seven provincial playoff games too. The Denis Morris Redmen, from St. Catharines, ranked No. 2 and playing with a boisterous home crowd that repeatedly chanted abuse at Lenardon, may have helped.

Some people sitting beside me also didn't like the drums and noise-makers pounding away that caused problems for players who couldn't hear the whistles of officials. Maybe I am wrong, but I thought these kind of things were a no-no by OFSAA. Says so in their rules. I do remember a drum being taken away at the basketball playoffs in Oshawa. Maybe the rules have changed since then.

I was also kind of curious about the hockey nickname for Denis Morris - the Redmen and the chant that goes with it. There was quite a bit of stink in Toronto about political correctness. Names, like the Runnymede Redmen, were changed and there was a rash of others. Out here, apparently it's all right. 

And players should learn not to think a game is over - until it is. The local favorites were cheering for St. Michael from Niagara Falls, leading 3-2 in the single/double-A final with seconds left in the third. Then, a goal by St. Mary of Sault Ste. Marie with 4.3 seconds left in regulation. There's more, 46 seconds into OT and - St. Mary scored to celebrate the long bus trip home with a second consecutive trophy.

One final note about hockey before we close the lid for another year. The Richview Saints. Yes, they were the only Toronto high school to win a hockey medal. It was bronze, but so what. The Saints came in ranked No. 13 of 20 schools in the single/double-A. They left No. 3. Take a bow, fellas.

Comments

[laughing at it all]

It's a good thing there isn't only 1 OFSAA hockey championship or Toronto would have been left out in the cold! Where is the regular comment of "there shouldn't be more than 1 championship"? I guess it's okay when the only city in Canada that matters benefits....

[M. Boyle]

Toronto is No. 1 baby and Richview has something some other jealous team doesn't. Too bad.

[Mr. Blake]

Thanks for outlining OFSAA's flaws yet again. Noise makers are not allowed at OFSAA championships. It says so on their website and yet dare they tell the organizers or hometown fans to get rid of the drums. Another black eye for OFSAA and they seem to be getting that far too often. Good work Mr. Grossman. Wonder what the OFSAA excuse is now?

[Eddie]

Great job with your blog.
I enjoy it very much and appreciate you telling it the way you see it.
Many of us parents are tired of hearing people only want you to write what they want. The facts, please, and you do a great job with lots of other things thrown in.

[Curtis]

It is very apparent that someone can't stomach success by a Toronto high school that was ranked number 13 and surprised a few people. My oh my, petty people out there.

[Mike from T.O.]

I certainly hope that this mysterious person who commented is not someone from St. Catharines possibly taking a shot at my great city of Toronto.
As for St. Catharines, yes, known for Laura Secord chocolates. That's it.

[Randy B.]

After reading the Toronto Star today and seeing some ridiculous suggestion by the Toronto Board of Education wanting speciality schools, it reminds me of the dumb decision by OFSSAA to have all those playoffs.
Stop with the nonsense. Leave the schools the way they are now, review teachers more often and give the good teachers all the resources needed to help our next generation.
As for OFSSAA, one championship. Make it exciting and none of this other stuff. If OFSSAA is stubborn enough to not see out of the box, then I can just imagine what's coming down the pipe like various other new Ontario playoffs. Maybe one set of playoffs for schools that have athletes from rich parents and on and on. Ridiculous.

[P. Forbes]

Alright, so OFSAA appears to be stubborn and dug in their heals on this strange playoff format. Here's a challenge to high school coaches who want to only have an Ontario playoff of the best and I mean the best. The best teams need to bow out of competing for OFSAA and have an Ontario invitational. That would generate lots of attention and get fans and some big sponsors. The current setup reminds me of elementary school when you have to do this and that or go see the Principal. No wonder high school sports in Ontario gets little attention.

[noah]

reading this article made me laugh
its disrespectful to try and take away the win from the hardest working and grittiest team in ontario, i know because im on the team and im wearing the gold right now. if youre going to try and make noise excuses for the goalie having a bad game get used to it because if he plans on going anywhere with hockey hes going to face larger and louder crowds. if ofsaa was held in mississauga im sure it would have been just as loud.
and really? bringing up the name of our school? its tradition and we bring pride to the name everytime we put on the jersey

[Giovanni]

Hey Noah, you missed the point buddy. I don't believe anyone is wanting to take the win away. Read the comments again.
The point that is being made, and you might need someone to read the rules to you since that gold medal is taking too much weight away from the blood leading to your head, is that OFFSAA has rules and no one followed them. End of the story.
On a personal note, I think it should be wide open with noise and more. But, rules were set down and they weren't followed. So, OFFSAA screwed up and it appears that this isn't the first time.

[T Robinson]

That guy Noah is the one being disrespectful.
By saying your team is the hardest working and grittiest team in Ontario shows cockiness and disrespect. Every team worked hard to get to the playoffs and there are likely other schools that either lost out on a fluke goal or chose not to enter the playoffs that deserve the same respect.
You won, fine. Leave it at that.

[Hockey Tips]

It is great to see a team ranked 13 make such a great comeback, great blog!

[Jim The Hockey Fan]

Denis Morris was lucky.
They were outplayed most of the game and they know it.

[monarchscoach]

Last weeks championships were outstanding, ther convenors and volunteers put together a spectacular event! Can we please focus on the positives of it rather than issues like team names and noisemakers. As for AA/AAA/AAAA, can we please put that to rest? Have you ever seen the US system, they have so many divisions they make their way down the alphabet and there seems to be no lack of support there. As for Toronto teams, really, is anyone dissappointed? As one OFSAA rep states 'you can't control the number of hockey bags that come in your school'. So lets give it a rest and applaud Frank and Billy for a well runned event, and bonus that their team won!

[Ryan]

Denis Morris was not lucky, we went through an overtime and shootout in the quarters and overtime in the semis and we pulled away with W's because of hard work and not giving up which we have been taught all season 3 times a week 2 hours a day. We were not lucky in the Gold Medal game i dont know if you were there but im pretty sure we hit them more then there shots on net doubled! Sorry if the goalie couldnt deal with the crowd if he is so good then he should be about to block it out and keep up with the hype of him. The Denis Morris Redmen aren't full of superstars and soon to be NHLers. Were full of guys who had a goal from day one and that was to win gold we never had our eyes of the prize and never gave up kept hitting and scoring goals like we have done all year. We were outplayed for the first 5 mins then we outplayed them for 40mins and didnt stop thats why we have the gold around our necks and st. Marce has another Silver (maybe 3rd times the charm). But your right we did have an unfair advantage we had someone up top looking over us like he has been all season. RIP Mr. Mahler this gold was for you.

[Parent Speaks Out]

Ever wonder what the problem is with high school sports, it's people like "monarchscoach" who like to spin only the ice cream and apple pie and choose to avoid the real picture.
As a parent of a St. Marcellinus player, I thought the lack of respect by some of the fans supporting the Denis Morris team was disgusting. Where are the school staff and advisers and even the local authorities? Rules should be enforced and they weren`t.
I give Mr. Grossman credit for telling it like it is. If noisemakers are disallowed, then that's something to be raised. You can`t make exceptions for some and OFSAA is negligent on this.
If you want to pat people on the back, so be it. By them a present or send them a letter. You also have no business telling me or others what to do, say or how to react.
Just a word about the system in the United States, stop 20 people. There are 10 people who likely support the U.S. and 10 more crap on it. This guy seems to like the U.S. but fails to mention the flaws. Even more of a ludicrous reference is that to ``Toronto teams, really, is anyone dissappointed`.
Please. Teams participate in a championship to win. Give your head a shake. If you don`t, sure you`re disappointed.

[J. Collins]

Here are my commen ts about thwe reent hockey playoffs in St. Catharines.
Great hockey but also too much in four days increasing potential for injury.
Great facility.
Officiating was good in some games on Thursday and deplorable in others.
Denis Morris won the gold medal game.
St. Marcellinus lost the gold medal game.
Dennis Morris fans lose because of harrassment of the St. Marcellinus goalie.
St. Marcellinus fans win because of appropriate conduct.
OFSAA loses because it does nothing.

[Saints Forever]

If St. Andrew's was in the playoffs, no one would beat them.
CISAA champs and Mid-West Prep league champs.
They don't need to play tiddlywink hockey.
The Saints have proven they are the best and have won far too many OFSAA gold medals.
If anyone disagrees, name the place, time and arena - and they'll win with even the eligible players.

[watching on cogeco]

Just one comment on noisemakers. The only difference was that the home team Redmen had more fans than the Spirit...after watching it on Cogeco, it simply came down to numbers. The St. Marcellinus fans had noise makers as well. I notice there are no comments on those fans using them. Hmmm. One team beat the other on the score board and that is what it comes down to...isn't it?

[Gladys]

Wow. Watching a game on cogeco. That's big time.
If you were at the game, like I was, you would have heard the pounding of drums which are much louder than a bunch of air sticks.
And, why is it that you say nothing about the un-sportsmanlike chants by those innocent group of name callers from Dennis Morris who spoiled it for the rest of the normal fans from that school.

[jeff]

Yes noisemakers and questionable team name are issues, but they DID NOT determine the outcome of the game! Congrats to Dennis Morris.

[R]

Parent speaks out's comment is digusting. He has no opinion and doesnt know what they are talking about.

[Fukafugi, get some]

Noise is part of the game, cheering is part of the game, but if the Redmen fans want to go above and beyond and have pride for there school then let them. Some cheering may not be respectful, but if the other teams had Ofssa in there city it would be the same thing. They would have there school and city cheering for then.
And sorry, DM did not win because of luck, it was 4-1, I watched the game on cogeco after the fact on a nice 52 inch plasma, it was clear to me that DM outplayed, outhit, and just dummied, they have been working hard all season, they deserved it, good job Redmen.
"Cashing cheques, and breakin necks."

[jeff]

DM won no big deal

[Scotty]

Message to Jeff: No one is questioning the outcome of the game
Message to Rj: You need a lesson in English grammar and spelling.
Message to Fukafugi, get some: Because others are stupid, that doesn't mean you have to be stupid.
Message to everyone and OFFSAA: Denis Morris won. Yes indeed. People need to act respectful and OFFSAA needs to enforce its rules - or dump them in the toilet where most of them belong.