Blackhawks atom selects repeat champs in Vaughan tourney

Cucci's Hair Salon, Aspen Architectural Millwork, RBC, Roll-AWay Screen Systems, McCreary and Associates Insurance Agency and Caledon Minor hockey were all very well represented in the Marshall Drewnowsky Memorial Select Tournament held in Vaughan.

Many of the players enjoyed success last year while playing minor atom select and were returning to defend their championship title.

The first game saw the Blackhawks facing their Intra-City rivals Brampton Bombers. The Bombers were riding a high after beating the Blackhawks a week earlier and they continued their strong play with a 2-0 win.

The Blackhawks quickly put this loss behind them and burst out of the gate against their next opponents, the George Bell Titans. Michael Arena and David Rebelo counted one goal each while Jesse Gatt tallied two. The playmakers in this game were Mark Anderson, Philip Iozzo, Kyle Hauck, Brendan Mizzen, Gatt, Rebelo and Riley Telfer with two, ending the game at 4-0.

Another strong game was shared between the pipes by Ernesto Colacito and Matthew Campanella while the defence in front of them was virtually impenetrable.

Their final game of the round robin matched the Blackhawks against a tough Raider team from Georgetown. Marc Anthony Di Nenno worked his magic down low in front of the net and potted the game's opening goal in the first period. Georgetown pulled even half-way through the second period but a late goal by Gatt put the Blackhawks up by one heading into the third. Strong defensive play supported by great two-way play by the forwards resulted in Gatt collecting his second goal of the game. The goal scorers would not be mentioned had it not been for the hard work and smart passing of Anderson, Vincent Figliomeni, Kyle Hauck and Rebelo who counted one assist each in this game. Campanella and Colacito continued their strong play as protectors of the twine. Make the final Blackhawks 3, Raiders 1.

The semifinal match was played against the host Vaughan Rangers. The Blackhawks controlled much of the action early but were unable to get a puck past the rather large Vaughan goaltender. The first period ended scoreless.

Off the opening puck drop of the second period, a Ranger player split the Blackhawk defence and fired a shot past Colacito to open the scoring. The Blackhawks' first goal was scored by power-forward Anderson when he buried the rebound off a Gatt shot, who was set up by Hauck. Aaron Hauck then got the second Blackhawk goal of the period, a wrap-around, finishing a play that was started by Iozzo and Jake Mathieson. Strong goaltending by Colacito and Hauck's late goal had the Blackhawks leading 2-1 entering the third period. Goaltender Campanella came in to start the third and stood tall in the early going. Unable to clear the puck, the Raiders stormed the Blackhawk goal and were able to poke the puck over the goal line for the tying marker.

With a little over eight minutes remaining in the game, Luca Dovigo made a smart heads-up outlet pass to Iozzo to move the play up ice. Iozzo then found a speeding Mathieson through the middle of the neutral zone who then out-legged two Raider defencemen and went in on goal. His first shot was stopped but the rebound came right back out to him and he one-timed a nice low shot through the five-hole for what was to become the games winning goal. The Raiders pressured but the Blackhawks preserved the 3-2 score and moved on to face a tough team from North Toronto in the tournament final.

The Blackhawks were an energized group as they took to the ice for the final. Each team traded chances but both goalies played well and the first period ended in a scoreless draw.

The turning point in the game came on a play made by Rebelo (though no assist was credited to him) as he stood in check at the top of the right face-off circle in the offensive end. The puck was on its way out along the boards but was headed off and kept in nicely by pinching defenceman Brendan Mizzen. He firmly shot the puck in Rebelo's direction. Rebelo smartly lifted the defenceman's stick that had him in check, which let the puck slide all the way to Arena standing off to the side of the North Toronto goal. Uncontested, Arena stopped and shot the puck past a startled goalie.

The place went wild. What a play, what a goal! The second period ended, Colacito made his way to the Blackhawk bench and Campanella entered the game to backstop the Blackhawks in this very important period of hockey. Through some strong board play in the offensive zone, Mathieson managed to dig the puck out and get it to Gatt who fired a quick shot by the North Toronto goalie to extend the Blackhawk lead to 2-0.

Dovigo then showed us his finesse as he feathered a nice pass to a wide-open Gatt who fired his second goal of the game to solidify the victory! Final score 3-0. Congratulations to Jesse Gatt as the finale MVP.