OBSERVER SPORTS |
A season of promise and accomplishment
BY: MARC MIQUEL HELSEN
When Sugar Kings general manager Keith Stewart was faced with the challenge of reassembling a squad last summer, he knew he would have a real job filling in the significant holes left behind by the departure of several key players.
When all was said and done, and the team was ready to go, Stewart was confident he had put together a competitive team that would likely place in the upper half of the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League standings.
Almost a year later, the GM concedes that he was pleasantly surprised.
“I knew we’d have a good team but I didn’t know how good we’d be,” he said, reflecting on a team that was made up of a mix of returning veterans and some promising acquisitions.
“But I think the players really bought into (coach Geoff) Haddaway’s system, and it showed in the end. … Everything just clicked and we picked up a couple key additions in Patrick Shantz and Troy Murray that really shored up the defence and that and we had the league MVP in (goalie Dan) Morrison, so, things came together.”
Elmira finished the season atop the league, boasting a 30-7-8-3 record for 71 points in 48 games. The Listowel Cyclones, who had battled with the Kings for top spot for the greater part of the season, finished in second place with 63 points; the Cambridge Winter Hawks came in third with 59.
After a solid season, the Kings carried the positive vibrations and fluid play into the Cherrey Cup playoffs, plowing through the Waterloo Siskins in five games, and the Stratford Cullitons, also in five.
Then came the match-up that everyone – players, coaches and fans – had been waiting for: a showdown with the Winter Hawks. After a rapid exit from the playoffs last season, the Kings were eager to exact some sweet revenge on their most bitter rivals, a team with whom they had split the regular season schedule 2-2-2. By all angles it promised to be an exhilarating series.
Indeed, the opening contest sent a chill through the Elmira Arena, as fans got a glimpse of the past and a repeat of the previous year’s clean sweep loss to Cambridge. But instead, the Kings bounced back and clawed their way through the series, pounding the Hawks in six. Despite a trip-up in game five (a 4-1 loss) the Kings concluded their vendetta in Cambridge’s own barn on Apr. 5, hammering the Hawks into 6-1 submission.
It was the Kings’ first league title since 2002 and their fifth since 1978.
“It’s certainly a special feeling just being involved with this group of kids, just unbelievable. I can’t say enough good about all the guys on the team … right from position number one to position number 22 … I just can’t say enough good things about these guys – it was a lot of fun going to the rink to be around them,” said Haddaway.
Riding high on their success, the Kings then played a round-robin series and qualified for the Sutherland Cup finals against the Tecumseh Chiefs. Unfortunately, the Kings were dispatched in just four games. The end results, however, were not all-indicative of the calibre of Elmira’s performance.
In the series against Tecumseh, the Kings came back from significant deficits to force the overtime in games one and three.
“When we got down we never gave up, we just kept going. There were times we were down two goals with a couple minutes left; we didn’t give up, we kept hacking away and sure enough we tied the game a couple times but we just weren’t able to get that extra goal to go ahead,” said captain John Lunney.
At the end of the day, a formidable Tecumseh squad, and perhaps a little lack of luck stood in the way of the trophy.
“I’m pretty proud of the boys: they came to play, they never gave up and a bounce here or there and we would have been right there; that series would have been going seven games but we just couldn’t buy a break, whether it was hitting a goal post or whatever; we had those two overtime losses and you win one or two of those and it’s a whole new series,” said Stewart.
“Not taking away anything from Tecumseh; they’re a good team, but I thought we skated with them, so, it’s just the way it worked out.”
With the season behind them, the Kings are focusing their attention on the future. With at least seven key players –Lunney, Morrison, Brock Zinken, Jeremy Hilliard, Garrett Rank, Murray, Chad Hepburn, and Cal Myerscough – leaving this year, the Kings will have some big skates to fill, and Stewart and his staff are already diligently pursuing future Kings.
The Kings will host a rookie camp in Hespeler this weekend, and expect to see up to 60 players, from Elmira to Timmins, including eight candidates for goaltending duties, vying for a spot on the final roster.
“There are some pretty big holes to fill, but I would have told you the same thing after last year,” said Stewart.