Apr 07, 2018 | LNewhall | 1310 views
A Message from Roger Crandell, NCP President
Congratulations to the McLean & Dickey Major Bantams on a very successful season - a 76 game season to be exact!
The Preds finished the regular season with a 22-10-2 record and went undefeated in two rounds of ETA playoffs to earn a spot in the OMHA tournament. They played 5 games where the boys brought home the bronze medal! They had a few days to regroup and focus on their upcoming All Ontario Championship Tournament as host team.
The Preds went 3-2-1 in round robin play at the OHFs, defeating Thunder Bay & Whitby on their first day of action. Facing the tournament favourites and eventual tournament champions, the Don Mills Flyers, the Preds battled hard and played one of the most physical and challenging games they've seen all season. Our boys were leading late in the third but found themselves in some penalty trouble and eventually DMF tied it up with a power play goal. This was a great accomplishment for the boys and playing in front of one of the biggest crowds in their home arena!
The boys lost their next two games to Nickel City & Ottawa Valley Titans but won over Waterloo to finish the round robin action in third place which earned them a spot in the semi-final game. It was a rematch with Ottawa Valley where they came out just short in a 4-3 finish. The boys were battling hard to try to go for the gold and left everything on the ice, which eventually took it's toll in the bronze medal game against regular season ETA rivals, The Whitby Wildcats. A late empty netter in that game made it a 5-2 final for the Wildcats.
The Bantam team should be very proud of their level of play competing with the top teams in Ontario!
What a week for all the teams - a 25 game schedule, an opening ceremony, a banquet for 312 people and a closing ceremony all packed into 5 days!
A special thank you to the Executive & Tournament Committees who have been working on the event since August, to the Bantam Coaches (Dave Bressette & Luke Dubbin) and Bench Staff and Managers (Paul Sharpe, Cory Bath, Michelle Quevillon, Christa Phillips & Heather Bressette) for their dedication to our team and support of our players, our parent group who fundraised, volunteered and gave so much of their time to make the tournament a success. We also would like to thank the grandparents, non-parent volunteers and other NCP coaches who filled in and allowed us to watch our own kids play! And wow - what a hometown crowd - it was so fun to see our home arena packed with supportive, cheering fans! The Rama Community and students from MKES who came to cheer our team was very special and our boys appreciated the support.
The Rama arena staff were absolutely amazing this week - and frankly all year. They were so willing to kick in and help out wherever needed and we appreciate you!
And finally - to our sponsors - THANK YOU! We could not have pulled off such a great event without your generous support!