Congratulations to all our teams for a great Playoff Run.

Championship Weekend on April 9 & 10, 2011 was a very exciting time for many CMHA members.
       
GHA League Champions

          
GHA League Finalists

The sweaty heads and the gapped-toothed smiles says it all! It's hard not to be proud of the progress of our Novice B2 Cumberland Cobras. With only 4 second-year Novice players, there were a few bumps in the ice early on. By the time January rolled around, those early morning practices, the fun scrimmages on the outdoor ice, and those out of town tournaments got these kids looking like a real hockey team. Suddenly our boys were showing skills they had been working hard on all season and the Cobras found themselves in their league finals. Facing a strong-skating Russell team, our boys trailed 1-0 after two periods. With "Let's Go Cobras" rattling the rafters on the classic wooden beauty of the Armstrong Arena, our boys skated hard and came away with their first championship win. Talk about being spoiled in their first year! 

Congratulations to everyone involved with this team and for making this such a fun and positive experience for our kids. 

Front Row: Goalie Éric

Second Row:  Kyle, Thomas, Austin, Jacob, Nathan, Keiran, Joshua

Third Row: Yan, Will, Alexandre, Jalen, Noah, Joshua, Tyler

Fourth Row: Manager : Angela Hatfield,  A. Coach Bob Howard, Coach François Côté, A Coach Alain Lemay, Trainer:  Thomas Turnbull

Absent from Photo: A Coach Bryan Alberton, Player Tristan

Third time’s a charm, congratulations to Head Coach Wesley Krause & the Cumberland Snipers for claiming their third regional championship. The Snipers took solid ownership of the GHA Bantam B Division Title Banner,  defeating Metcalfe’s top team 8-4 in the GHA Bantam B Division Championship Game. In an outstanding display of team effort, the Snipers came out strong, scoring 5 goals in the first period & 3 more in the third, to put the game home.  MVP’s of the game go to Josh & Connor for finding the back of the net 6 times between them.

Front Row: Goalies Theo & Devlin
Second Row: Nate, Joe (Captain), Jocelyn, Eric, Alex
Third Row: Josh, Nich, Shaun (A Captain), Matt, Jesse, Andrew (A Captain), Connor (A Captain)
Fourth Row: Trainer Nadim Naoufal, Manager Suzanne Mitchell, A Coach Alain Deschamps, A Coach Brooke Mitchell, Head Coach Wesley Krause, A Coach Troy Vail

Absent from Photo: A Manager Alison Davis, Player Colton

Congratulations to the Cumberland Spartans Bantam B9 team for winning the Aurora March Break Madness tournament this past weekend in Aurora, Ontario. The players came focused and worked very hard to win Gold and truly represented the CMHA with pride and team spirit.
 
The 3 game round robin play included two “come from behind” wins. One of those games, found the Spartans down 3-1 after the first period to the host team Aurora. And in dramatic fashion, with just under a minute to play, the Spartans scored to win 4-3, assuring a spot in the Semi Finals.

In the Semi Finals, we played the Orangeville Flyers, who were no match for the Spartans as they cruised to an 11-1 win and the Finals Sunday evening.

 The Finals featured two undefeated teams battling for the prize. The team from Newmarket had a roster of all majors (96’) and the Spartans had lost one of their top snipers to illness. But through this adversity, the boys rallied together, committed to each other, and defeated the Newmarket team 3-0 and were crowned the 2011 Aurora Bantam Tournament Champions.
 
Thank you to all the coaches, managers, and trainers for their commitment to the team and the development of our players. And a HUGE thank you to the Spartan parents and number one fans for the constant support.

From Left to Right:
Players
(Bottom): Antoni (G), Matt, Alex, Mark, Eric (Captain), Morgan, Mathieu (Assistant),Alex (G)
(Top): Rajan, Nick (Assistant), Dillon, Alexander, Jacob, Kyle

Jean Richer (Asst. Coach), Dave Byrne (Head Coach), Brian Walsh (Asst. Coach), Fernando Dasilva (Trainer).

Congratulations to the Cumberland Phantoms, which this past weekend, won the "Spirit of the North" hockey tournament in Sudbury, Ontario.

The Phantoms had to leave in the wee hours of the morning on Friday in order to make their 12:00pm game in Sudbury.  With only 11 skaters, the Phantoms put on their best performance of the season winning their first game 3-0 against the Valley East (Sudbury) team.  The Phantoms faced their second challenge later in the afternoon against the 20-0-0 Onaping Falls Huskies squad.  The Phantoms played a smart defensive game and won the game 3-1.

The team returned to their hotel later that evening to go swimming and play mini-sticks.  On Saturday, the Phantoms faced their final game of the round-robin play, against another Sudbury team.  The Phantoms were just too much to handle for the opposition, allowing the Phantoms to score 4 goals, sending the Phantoms straight to the Championship game with a 4-1 victory.

On Sunday the Phantoms faced the Valley East team that they beat earlier in the tournament.  The Phantoms were mentally prepared for the game and that translated onto the ice with the Phantoms going into the third period at a score of 4-0.  However, the Phantoms began to let up on their opposition who scored 2 quick goals to make it 4-2.  The Phantoms took a timeout and told the kids that they have 6 minutes to give it their all. The Valley East team, however, responded quickly to the Phantoms timeout when their scored their 3rd goal.  With 3 minutes left, the Phantoms were able to find the back of the net and secured their victory at a final score of 5-3.

Congratulations to Coach David, Coach Ryan, Coach Henrick and the 11 skaters (T. Ouellet, J. Bourgon, N. Turner, J. Ross, A. Di Paolo, V. Tremblay, Z. Weston, P. Levesque, R. Teichroeb, M. Baccardax and J. Bender) and 2 goalies (J. Ward and B. Guitor) who travelled the 1000+ km's (round trip) to bring home the championship!!!

Accepting an invitation to participate in a couple of exhibition games over the course of “Hockey Weekend Across America” was the highlight of the Cumberland Midget A2 Bulls season to date.  

The Bulls travelled to Syracuse, NY for two "friendship" games on 19-20 February against their hosts, the U18 Cicero-North Syracuse North Stars Hockey Club.

Their first game was played at the Onondaga County War Memorial Arena, home of the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. The Bulls experienced the long walk (in skates) that so many pros have made over many decades - complete with a climb up a couple flight of stairs from their basement dressing room to the ice surface. Talk about "old time" hockey!  Once on the ice, the Bulls played a very good puck possession game, defeating their hosts 6-1.

After a few hours of shopping at Syracuse's Carousal Mall, many members of the team returned to the War Memorial Arena that night to watch the Syracuse Crunch (Anaheim's farm team) defeat their rivals (Rochester Americans) 7-1.  Before returning home the next day, the Bulls played another very inspired game at the Cicero Twin Rinks Complex, earning themselves a second win.

It was a privilege to participate in the Cicero, NY, Hockey Association's celebration of “Hockey Weekend Across America”.  The Cumberland Midget A2 Bulls were the perfect CHMA ambassadors!

Coming off their successful win at the Rockland Nationals Juvenile Tournament in January, the Cumberland Crunch continued its winning record in the Toronto Select Juvenile Tournament held February 4–6. Despite work, school and other commitments, all players and team officials made the trip, setting the stage for a memorable team experience.

The boys in Black, Gold and White went undefeated to win the tournament and did so with class, leaving the tournament with a reputation of being well-disciplined both on and off the ice.  
The Crunch met their first opponents Friday night after a long day at school or work before the drive to Toronto. Our goalie took a late afternoon flight and made it in time for the pre-game meal. Our first opponents were the Weston Dodgers on Friday night, and The Crunch emerged as victors with a 3- 2 win.

The next day saw some of the players heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame for inspiration, while others took in a little shopping or time at the pool.  After the downtime, the boys headed to their second game where they won a decisive 3-0 victory over the host SHA Selects, which led them an 8:15 tilt against the Cobourg Selects and another win, 5-4, sweeping Division 1 with a perfect record.

This set the stage for championship day on Super Bowl Sunday, with the Crunch facing the undefeated Weston Select Team 2 from Division 2. Players and Coaches watched Weston 2’s last division game on Saturday, and it was clear that teamwork and clutch performances would be needed from all players.  With a 2-0 Crunch lead at the end of the 1st, the game looked very different at the end of the 2nd with the score tied.  The 3rd period saw Weston score early and pull ahead, but the Crunch fought hard to regain the lead and never looked back, eventually winning 6-3 to take the Championship home.  Congrats as well to Aaron for taking the MVP honors with a record of 7 goals and 2 assists, and 4 of these goals in the final game.

Congratulations to all the players James, Aaron, Matt, Marty, Brian, Harry, Mat, Kenny, Todd, Shane, Ben, Kenny, Sean, Sam, and our goalie Seb.  Thanks also to Head Coach Mike Doyle, Assistant Coaches Steve Dowding and Louis Upton, Trainer John Holmes, and Manager Selene Commerford.

Aaron receiving his MVP Honors!

Congratulations to Head Coach Wes Krause and the Cumberland Bantam “Snipers” on winning Cumberland’s Bantam B Tournament Championship Jan 28-30.  The Snipers met their rivals, the Cumberland Spartans, in the semi-final game, and after being down by one goal, came back to win it with four short handed goals!  A couple of hours later, in their third game of the day, the Snipers then played a hard fought battle against the Metcalfe Jets, with Josh Belanger scoring the winning goal in the final seconds of triple overtime to clinch the Championship.   Players stormed the ice to receive their medals & collect the Banner.

Players: Front - Devlin & Jad,  2nd Row - Eric, Josh, Nicholas, Nate, Jocelyn, Matt, 3rd Row – Joe (Captain), Andrew (A. Captain), Colton, Theo, Alex, Shaun (A/Captain), Connor (A Captain) & Jesse
Coaches from right to left are Wes Krause  (Head Coach),  Brooke Mitchell, Nadim Naoufal, Troy Vail & Alain Deschamps
Absent from the photo:  Team Managers Suzanne Mitchell & Alison Davis. 

The Cumberland Novice C “Jets” won the Leitrim Tournament, held on January 15-16, 2011.  For many of our players, this was their first real tournament and they certainly rose to the occasion!

Fueled by complimentary Slushies gulped down between games, the Jets gained confidence and momentum as the tournament progressed.  Goaltending duties were shared between our two ‘Sams’.  

The Jets are:
Front Row, left to right:  Maddox, Owen, Anthony, Sam, Ryan, Sam, Ronin, Sam, Arielle and Graydon
Back Row (standing): Ryan, Niko, Ryan, Dylan, Mac and David
Coaching Staff:
Ray Charron (Trainer), Warren Skippon (Head Coach), John Eisnor (Asst Coach), Remo Vicars (Asst Coach).

Congratulations Jets!

Congratulations to the CMHA Peewee A2 Rebels who won the Blackburn Minor Hockey Association Peewee A tournament that took place at the Blackburn Arena, 14 - 16 January 2011.  The Rebels went undefeated during the round robin, defeating the Orleans Giants earning two hard fought draws against the NDG Cougars and Nepean.

On championship Sunday, the Rebels won its semi-final game against the Kanata Hitmen 5-2 with a tremendous all-round team effort.  In the final, the Rebels faced a strong team in the West End Dynomite.  The Rebels played their most complete game of the season and forged a 2-1 victory for the Championship.  The two victories avenged losses to both of these teams during the Bell Capital Cup.  The Rebels displayed a pure team effort during the tournament.  The passing, back checking, hustle, and determination the boys showed were the best of the entire season.  Way to go REBELS!!

Photo: (front) Charles, Jad (left to right) Evan, Owen, Mathieu, Jamie, Jéremy, Jared, Alec (on injured reserve), Ted, Bryce, Maxime, Xavier, Jacob, Iain, Kameron, and Austin. (Back) Paul Ridyard (Assistant Coach), George Morris (Assistant Coach), Rob Douthwright (Head Coach), John Busnarda (Manager).

Cumberland Bandits PeeWee B6 team participated in the Green Mountain Avalanche Holiday Showdown in Jay Peak, Vermont  January 7-9, 2011

An A-level tournament – we were playing UP as we are a B team, and placed 3rd overall, after winning the consolation game in a nail-biting 7-round shootout.

In the photo are:
Goalies: Jacob and Christian
Players: Nicholas, Noah, Matthew, Jérémie, Jeremy, Nikolas, Maxime, Jordan, Nathaniel, Eric, Francois, Dmitri and Tyler
Coaching Staff: Jim Facette, Marc Bélanger, Jim Bell and Richard Lalonde
Players with us in spirit: Amish and Simon

The Bandits won the consolation game, placing 3rd after defeating the West Island Aces in a nail-biting 7-round shoot out.  The attached photo is a wonderful display of sportsmanship.  Bandits goalies # 1 Jacob, and # 30 Christian giving a supportive hug to a visibly upset and disappointed West Island’s goalie, telling him he played an awesome game, which he did.

Sportsmanship at its finest.
 

Congratulations to the Cumberland Novice A4 Wildcats for placing 3rd in the skills competition out of 24 Novice “A” teams at the 7th Annual Ottawa Senators Holiday Classic held at the Bell Sensplex.