They came to their first AAA tournament as a AA team, they saw the level of competition of some of the better teams in the province and The North Bay Descon Construction U11 AA Trappers were very close to conquering the ultimate goal of winning the Oshawa AAA Challenge this past weekend.
The NBT12 Trappers, as they are also referred to, opened the tournament facing the North Central Predators. The team found themselves in a 2-2 tie after the first period in a very tight hockey game. he Trappers came through with two quick goals in the middle of the third period to seal the victory.
That evening, NBT12’s second contest was against the host Oshawa Generals. The Trappers opened the scoring off of the second period face-off, to get in front and hold that lead going into the 3rd period. In the 3rd period, the Trappers doubled their lead, but shortly after the Generals scored two quick goals to bring the game to a deadlock. With little time left in the third period the team found a way to win by scoring with 1:37 left in the third, before adding an empty netter to win the game 4-2.
Day two of the round robin began with NBT12 facing off against a very strong Upper Ottawa Valley Aces team. This game had an interesting extra element as Head Coach Justin Carré faced off against his former minor hockey coach Bryan Verreault. In the first and second periods, both teams exchanged goals a 2-2 draw heading into the final period. The Trappers scored two in the third, followed by a late tally by the Aces, to see NBT12 go to 3-0 and clinch first place in their division, with a fourth game versus the Kitchener Rangers that evening. The Trappers completed their undefeated run in the round robin by winning 4-2 and setting up a semi-final matchup against one of the stronger teams in the province, the Markham Majors of the GTHL.
In the semi-finals, the Trappers scored the lone goal in the first period and entered the second with a 1-0 lead. The Majors scored a powerplay goal, followed by another quick strike, which saw the lead change very quickly. The third period opened with a powerplay goal by the Majors to see a 3-1 lead, but this resilient Trappers team was not going to quit. With lots of hard work and determination, they scored two powerplay goals to bring the game to a 3-3 tie with just over 3 minutes left in the third.
Unfortunately, the Majors capped off their win by scoring with 3 minutes left in the third period to see the final score 4-3.
The Majors then went on to beat the North Central Predators 3-1 in the final to become the Oshawa AAA Challenge Champions.
The Trappers continue their tournament season with the Silver Stick Regionals in Sudbury December 1-4, with the winner heading to the International Silver Stick Finals in Sarnia, Ontario in January.
Team Roster: Jordan Adekoya, Ari Anello, Ben Belfitt, Colton Brunette, Sam Carré, Mac Degagne, Hudson Demeis, Liam De Jourdan, Landon Forsyth, Sawyer Gedanitz, Jacob Krajci, Jordon Moore, Rylan Ringler, Jackson Ross, Campbell Stickland, Graham Twigg and Noah Walkling.
Coaching Staff: Justin Carré (Head Coach), Wade Ringler, Wayne Stickland, Shawn Degagne, MJ De Jourdan (Trainer).
