The Collingwood Blues are national champions.
“I think at first you get lost in all the excitement,” explained Blues head coach Andrew Campoli, of the aftermath to being crowned champions on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s an amazing feeling…from top-down in the organization of all these puzzle pieces coming together.”
The Blues won the Centennial Cup on Sunday in Oakville with a nail-biting 1-0 win over the Melfort Mustangs. It’s the team’s first national championship. Last year the Blues made it to the quarterfinals in Portage la Prairie, Man.
The decisive goal came in the middle frame on the powerplay and was the work of a pair of Blues named Jack. The first was Blues defenceman Jack Robertson, who set-up the goal with a nifty walk-the-line play before launching a seeing-eye puck through traffic that Jack Silverman tipped in past Mustangs goaltender James Venne.
It was precisely the type of grinding goal that decides important games and it held up as the winner.
The Blues had earned a spot in the final by beating the Miramichi Timberwolves 5-2 on Saturday in the semi-finals.
The pair of wins over the weekend followed an unbeaten run through preliminary play that put the Blues at the top of their five-team pool and gave them a bye into the semi-finals.
The Blues, who took top spot in the national rankings in February and remained in that lofty perch the rest of the way, were the lone team from last year’s tournament to return this season.
The Mustangs, who earned their spot in the Centennial Cup by winning the Saskatchewan league, finished atop the other five-team pool and were one of two undefeated teams heading into Sunday’s final.
That bye was important and a key difference from last year when a preliminary round loss late in the game forced the Blues into a quarter-final matchup that Campoli’s team ultimately lost.
Avoiding the quick turn-around, playing while deflated after a disappointing loss, and one less game overall to win the championship was a vital difference from last year in Manitoba.
“It gave us a good background on what we needed to do,” said Campoli.
The Blues earned a spot in the national tournament by winning their second consecutive Ontario Junior Hockey League title last month by downing the Trenton Golden Hawks in six games.
It would be inaccurate to say the Blues dominated Sunday’s final but they enjoyed a clear edge in play, outshooting Melfort 36-23. The difference was Collingwood’s stifling defence and the rock-solid goaltending of Noah Pak.
Time and again, the Mustangs were mostly unable to penetrate a wall of defenders in front of Pak and when they did, the Blues goaltender showed the type of form that won him the national goaltender of the year award earlier this week.
“We put a premium on defence and that extends to not just our own zone,” explained Campoli, pointing out that his team allowed just a miniscule 88 goals against during the regular season, “…it helps to have Paker, who is the best goalie in the country by (a wide margin).”
Sunday's finall ended with a series of icing calls and re-rack face-offs in Collingwood’s zone but Melfort was unable to generate any clear scoring chances.
Played on international-sized ice, the game was surprisingly physical. Both sides dished out punishing body checks, particularly once the Blues went up by a goal. Melfort kept coming but
The Blues turned away every physical challenge that came their way.
With a full compliment of 2003-born players, the Blues will be transformed next season with a fresh batch of new players. Pak is one of those who will be departing, he’s headed to Yale, one of a handful of Blues players who will embark on U.S. college hockey over the next two seasons.
Included in that group is Silverman, who will attend Middlebury College. Forward Spencer Young, who led the Blues in playoff scoring, is slated to attend Niagara University in the fall, while Ryan Cook and Dylan Hudon are expected to stay in Canada and
enroll at Wilfrid Laurier and Guelph, respectively.
Another handful of Blues are slated to move to U.S. colleges in the fall of 2025 and could be back in Collingwood colours next season.
Campoli said that he expects to have 11 players return, with nine leaving, mostly due to graduation.
“Our goal is to keep the momentum going,” said Campoli.
Campoli, who has also coached in Stouffville and Markham, said that the differences between playing in a bigger centre where Junior A hockey can get lost in the shuffle and a small town was significant. While praising all facets of the Blues organization, he heaped his greatest compliment on the community for the support and opportunity it provided his team in their championship run.
“The community support we receive throughout is amazing,” said Campoli, “sold-out games, our guys going out into the community and being role models, skating with (young) kids at birthday parties…we had 23 billet families, just incredible support.”
The title triumph by Collingwood is the first by an Ontario-based team since the Aurora Tigers won in Prince George, B.C., when the tournament was known as the RBC Cup.
The victory by the Blues is the second Centennial Cup crown won by an area team after the Orillia Travelways won the national title in 1985. There is also an Orillia connection on the winning Blues' squad as assistant coach Nick Ricca is from Orillia.
Next year’s tournament will be held in Okotoks, Alta.
