A great game and a great series came to an end last night in Aurora with the Oakville Blades defeating the Aurora Tigers in overtime to take the series 4-2 and claim the North/West Championship.

As they say "all good things must come to an end". The Aurora/Oakville series provided such great hockey and excitement that it was a shame that one team had to lose. Both teams played their hearts out and gave the fans a series that I'm sure many will not forget for a while. Unfortuntely for the Tigers, an O/T goal by Mark Thorburn was disallowed when referee Brian Holdsworth called it a high stick. The goal would have sent the series to a 7th and deciding game on Wed night. After checking the ACI tapes after the game in slow motion, it showed that the goal was a good one, the puck was knocked down by Thorburn at waist level. But as we all know, teams are at the mercy of the refs, some are competent some are incompetent. On this call I think incompetence took over. Thorburn's goal would have sent the series into a 7th game Wed night in Oakville. Too bad, Wed night would have been a fantastic finish to a fantastic series.

Goal scorers for the Tigers were Mark Thorburn with 2 and Cody Smith with 1. Jordan Watts and Jeff Vanderlugt contributed 2 assists each, while David Morley and Sam Yearsley added 1 each. For the Blades, it was Dustin Alcock with 2 goals including the O/T winner unassisted, Jeremy Welsh and Luke Moodie scored the other Blade goals.

Not too sure what happened at the end of the game in the Tiger's end, but I believe it had something to do with the Tigers claiming the goal by Alcock may have been offside. Anyway what ever it was, Julian Cimadamore and Matt Thomson received Travesty of Game penalties that carries a 2 game suspension each. Obviously the suspension doesn't matter to Thomson but it sure does to Cimadamore and the Blades. The Blades had better control Cimadamore's temper if they are planning a possible trip to the Dudley or RBC. His display in the penalty box in the 4th game in Aurora while serving a 10 min misconduct, had everyone within hearing distance wondering whether he had "lost it". To give an idea as to how close this series was, going into last night's game both teams had scored 12 goals each, so in the goal department the Blades ended up outscoring the Tigers by 1 goal, 16 to 15. You can't get much closer than that.

Anyway, the North/West series is over and to the victorious Oakville Blades go the spoils. The Blades are a great team with a lot of depth, speed and talent. They remind me of the the RBC Tigers of last year, they should go a long way. Having now seen the Waxers and the Blades, I would say that the Waxers will have to be at their "ultimate" best to take out the Blades. I'm calling the Blades to win the OPJAHL in 6 games, win the Dudley and go on to the RBC. Congratulations to you Oakville, to your coaches, your players and your entire organization, good luck from here on.

To the Aurora Tigers, to head coach Jerome Dupont, his assistants Bryon DiSera & Craig Evans, the players and the entire Tiger organization, congratulations for another fantastic successful season and winning the North Division Championship for the 6th time in 7 years. I'm sure that the Tabbies will be back next season as contenders once again.

So now it's on to the OPJAHL final between the Blades and the Waxers. If the series proves to be half as exciting as the Aurora/Oakville one, then we are all in for some more great Junior"A" hockey. Hopefully everyone will attend and support 2 great teams, that have the potential to keep the Royal Bank Cup in the OPJAHL.

JUNIOR "A" HOCKEY AT IT'S BEST

smc good synopsis. i thought the disallowed goal call was ok but i didnt see any replays. youre right on about cimdamore. his temper and lack of discipline at the end of the game resulting in missing two very important games is surely a character flaw in a very talented player and possibly one of the reasons he was waived by the kitchener rangers. too bad as he will be sorely missed in those first two games. i thought that haltigin from oakville was the best player on the ice in both games i watched and will do well at R I T joining ex tiger andrew favot. i thought that the lack of depth for the tigers showed and the d were very tired and it cost them. nothing you can do about it. they know the players and im sure that if jerome could have he would have played six d throughout the playoffs. great effort by aurora as oakville is a very good hockey team. the next series will be a fitting final. i pick markham in six as i think their goaltending has been outstanding and i think the waxer forwards will be a huge test to the oakville d corps..congrats to the tigers . they surely gave all they had.

Congrats to Oakville on their series victory and to the Tigers on their great season. Looking forward to a great final!

"Having now seen the Waxers and the Blades, I would say that the Waxers will have to be at their "ultimate" best to take out the Blades. I'm calling the Blades to win the OPJAHL in 6 games, win the Dudley and go on to the RBC."

Kiss of death :-D

Toronto Maple Leafs= Ford Motor Company

Congratulations to Oakville, a very talented team, and to the Aurora Tigers who gave us another exciting year of hockey. 

As a Tiger's fan, I'm already looking forward to what next year will bring.  I'm very hopeful that we'll see the entire coaching staff back behind the bench next year.  They've proven repeatedly to be a class act and focused on success.

Lastly, I'd like to thank the ACI team for an incredible job!  We're lucky in Aurora to have such a dedicated crew and an exceptional on-camera team.

 

 

i heard that rogers has bought aurora cable. i hope you continue to get the support that you have had. the aurora announcers are very well informed about the team and do a great job. too bad the broadcasts havent put more fans in the seats during the regular season. aurora deserves a full house on most nights as they have put a great team on the ice for many consecutive years and the ownership deserves to offset the costs through the gate. i would also like to say that if aurora had a half decent snack bar like stouffville or others it would make going to the rink there a little nicer. great webcasts as well however i had trouble getting sound sometimes. probably my fault.

I got no sound for the two games I watched(4 & 6).






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WEXDOG
09,11,01
Lest We Forget
11,11,11

Congrats to the Blades and congrats to the Tigers on another strong season.

Looks like the league champ will be from one of the "weak" divisions.

Toronto Maple Leafs= Ford Motor Company

Matty B. wrote:

"Looks like the league champ will be from one of the "weak" divisions."

That's been a trend the last couple of years