Cheltenham hockey players come up big for Mayfield
By Jon Yaneff

The Magnificent Seven after the long-time Cheltenham friends participated in the OFSAA championships in Ottawa April 2 to 5. (Left to right) Tanner Wadden, Robbie Mair, Jordon Francis, R.J. Oswald, Jed Wamsley, Jake Smolak and Mason Kortekaas. Submitted Photo

They have been proclaimed The Magnificent Seven by some of their parents, and for good reason.

Seven young men (Grade 12 students) from Cheltenham had the privilege to attend the OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletics Association) championships in Ottawa April 2 to 5 and they all made the experience one to remember.

Five of them wore antique bronze medals as the Mayfield Mavericks boys' senior hockey team won their second straight fourth-place finish in the AAA/AAAA division at OFSAA, after the Mavs lost a close 4-2 game against A.B. Lucas in the bronze medal match.

Mavericks Head Coach Paul Van Zant described the moment of the heart-breaking loss.

"We all gathered at the net with a group hug," Van Zant emphatically declared. "It shows that win, lose or draw, it's a team game and they're there for each other."

Tangled in that group hug were the Cheltenham boys Jordon Francis (centre), R.J. Oswald (right-winger), Jed Wamsley (defenceman), Jake Smolak (defenceman) and Robbie Mair (left-winger).

The other two are former Mavericks, but after being awarded scholarships this season to play for the Appleby College Blue Dogs in Oakville, they jumped at the chance.

Appleby with the help of defenceman Mason Kortekaas and forward Tanner Wadden, took home a silver medal after losing to Stouffville DSS 5-1 in the A/AAfinals.

What's amazing about the Cheltenham connection is that the seven young men are all close childhood friends with several of them living two doors down and all on two streets of the hamlet. The duo of Wadden and Wamsley reside on Creditview Road, while Kortekaas, Smolak, Oswald, Francis and Mair live on Kennedy Road.

Though most of these young hockey players have also played together with the rep Caledon AA midget Hawks (Kortekaas played in Brampton), they always had The Pond where the boys would compete against each other and experience hockey the Canadian way.

"Adults such as Mr. Lyons would make a pond for us behind our homes every winter," said Mair. "Firefighters would also make hockey ponds and flood baseball diamonds so we could play hockey."

Mair said it was definitely different when Wadden and Kortekaas left for Appleby, but the friendships weren't cut off.

"They were just on the different side of the bench," he explained. "Hockey has been the one thing that's held us together as friends."

The Mavericks had a 3-1 record in roundrobin play during OFSAA, with the lone loss a slim 3-2 defeat against the eventual AAA/AAAA champion, Denis Morris, who beat St. Michael's in the final.

The most thrilling game of the tournament for Mayfield came against Brother Andre in the quarter-finals, as the Mavs won in a shootout with the 10th shooter, Francis scoring the goal.

Much praise goes out to Mayfield's goalie, Jared Lockhurst, who had a 1.00 goals against average (GAA) at OFSAA and stopped 10 consecutive shots in the shootout to help seal the victory for the Mavs.

Mayfield lost 4-2 to St. Michael's in the semi-finals to play in the bronze medal game against A.B. Lucas.

Van Zant spoke volumes of the Cheltenham boys and his whole team.

"I don't know what they have in the water in Cheltenham, but we should bottle it in a factory and give it to everyone," he joked. "The fact the boys were close extended to the whole team and it made the whole team easy to coach because they were cohesive. They would never do anything to hurt or demean each other, as they are incredibly supportive of one another and it speaks precedence to the way they were raised."

"I am so pleased for these outstanding young men, as they are a tribute to themselves, their parents and anyone would be proud of them," he added.

The Maverick line of Kyle Davis, Mair and Cody Dawe were each ranked one, two, three in AAA/AAAA division scoring throughout the OFSAA tournament.

Davis had 11 points (five goals and six assists). Mair had 10 points (three goals and seven assists) and Dawe, who was second overall in the division with seven goals (with two assists to equal nine points).

Each player also had impressive regular season campaigns, as Dawe had 32 points (11 goals and 21 assists), Davis had 30 points (19 goals and 11 assists) and Mair produced 29 points (17 goals and 12 assists) during Mayfield's 19-season and playoff ROPSSAA (Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association) games this year.

Mayfield had a 15-2-1 regular season record and won the ROPSSAA Tier 1 championship by beating Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School, 4-1 March 6. They scored 96 goals with 32 against, which is attributed to the defensive and offensive play of everyone on the team.

Next season will be a rebuilding year for the Mavericks as only five of their 20 players are expected back.

"We have to start searching the bushes to mold the next group into another championship caliber team," said Van Zant.