Caledon Blackhawks diffuse Bombers to win the league championship

Caledon Blackhawks minor atom Selects posed as 2007-2008 Intra City Champions after their 6-1 win Saturday.

The Caledon Blackhawks minor atom Select team traveled to Brampton's Memorial Arena Saturday, and came away as league champions after topping the Brampton Bombers.

Both teams enjoyed a good year. The Bombers had finished first in the regular season while the Blackhawks were fourth. If you looked back at the early part of the season though, not many outside the team would have expected the Blackhawks to be in the finals.

They began their journey winning only three of their first 14 games. It wasn't until the calendar turned to 2008 that the Blackhawks' season began coming together. In the last seven games, they would go 4-2-1. That momentum would carry on through the playoffs, as they went 3-1-1 and ended the playoff round tied with the Bombers for first. For the most part, their regular season games against each other would be close, with the Bombers holding a slight upper hand. In their playoff game together the score was tied 3-3. They both showed they were deserving and ready.

Michael Upshall was on the attack in the late going of saturday's championship match.

After opening ceremonies, a brief warm up and some final instructions from Coach McCanna, it was finally game time.

Both teams started off strong, but it would be the Blackhawks that set the early tone. At the twominute mark of the first period, the Blackhawks' Michael Upshall, assisted by Zachary Infusini and Christopher Cola, would score, putting them up by one. After a short celebration, it was back to work for the now pumpedup Blackhawks. At the midpoint of the first, Hudson James would take a pass from Lucas Mizzi at his own blue line and take it the rest of the way, scoring to make it 2-0. The fans went wild.

The Bombers weren't about to let up. They kept pressing. With 3:30 left in the first, the Bombers finally got on the board. This brought the game to 2-1, seeming to give the Bombers new life, but not for long. Each time they entered the Blackhawks' zone they were met by strong resistance from the likes of Luke Caleca and Nelson Learn. Less than 30 seconds later Ethan Clarke would send away Michael Upshall, who would fight his way deep into the Bombers zone and put his shot from behind the net in off a Bombers' defender, making it 3-1 for the Blackhawks. But they wouldn't end there. In the dying seconds of the first period, David Ryan scored. Chris Hunter and Hudson James would get the assists. The period would end with the Blackhawks up 4-1.

After a brief huddle by the bench, it was back to the game. The Blackhawks would continue to dominate. The defence, led by Gavin Stone and Tyler Gillis, continued to play strong. The forwards constant fore checking, with Eric Lowry and Chris Hunter leading the way, pinned the Bombers deep in their zone at every opportunity. The goalies, Russ McCanna and Steven Nelson, continued to turn away any and all Bombers attempts to score.

The Bombers had a hard time getting the puck out of their own end. Four minutes into the period, Ryan, on a power play, would pocket another insurance goal. Christopher Cola would get the helper. The period would end 5-1.

While history had shown between these two teams, ties were common, but this time the Blackhawks had a big cushion and they would continue to dominate. With just less than five minutes left in the game, Steve Luongo would take a pass from the boards from John Sopinka and take advantage of a well positioned Chris Hunter screening the goalie to slide a shot into the net. The minutes would continue to melt away. With two seconds still left on the clock, the Blackhawks would clear the puck for the last time. Time to commence the celebration - piling up on the goalie.

These boys had worked so hard as a team. The game would end 6-1 for the Intra City Champions 2007-2008.

The Blackhawks would like to thank all their team and player sponsors, without them the opportunity to win the Intra City Championship may never had been possible, Caledon Phoenix, Steeles Paint and Decorating, Secure-Lee Alarms, Karen Wilcock Royal LePage RCR Realty, MARS Canada Inc.