By Ron Valentine and Jim Mason/OJHL Communications
Party on, Collingwood!
Your Blues are national Jr. A champions.
They got to hoist the Centennial Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan champion Melfort Mustangs 1-0 in a nailbiter in Oakville this afternoon.
It was a day of redemption for the Blues, who were knocked out of the quarterfinal at the 2023 Centennial Cup but returned to go undefeated through this year’s tournament.
The last Ontario Junior Hockey League team to win the national championship was the 2017 Cobourg Cougars.
Noah Pak recorded his 30th career shutout for the two-time defending OJHL champion Blues.
“Net front on the power that’s where I always play,” Silverman said of his game winner. “It’s where I score 99 percent of my goals. “I’ve been working on tips my entire life with my dad (Mitch) in the backyard rink growing up. And now five or 10 minutes at the end of every practice. It really paid off today.”
“These past four years have been incredible and the support we receive at every game as you can see here is incredible, too,” said Pak looking into the section packed with Collingwood fans. “And to finish it here in Oakville where I grew up and played minor hockey is really a cool ending.”
Pak, who will play at NCAA Division I Yale next year, grew up five minutes from the arena in Oakville. About 20 family members and friends attended.
At the other end, Melfort player of the game James Venne was outstanding.
Collingwood outshot Melfort 36-23.
Mark McIntosh was Collingwood’s player of the game.
It had to feel like home-ice advantage for the Blues with the vast majority of the fans at 16 Mile Sports Complex sporting Collingwood blue and gold. For those who didn’t make the two-hour drive from Simcoe County to Halton Region, there were watch parties at licenced facilities where the TSN national feed was shown.
Collingwood outshot Melfort 13-4 through a scoreless first period. Jack Silverman scored the game’s only goal 4:01 into the second period on the Collingwood power play. Shots were 13-9 in favour of Collingwood during the second.
The North York resident has scored game winners in minor hockey.
“Back in the day, but nothing like this,” Silverman said in the postgame on-ice madness. “It’s still pretty surreal.”
The big forward tipped home a Jack Robertson point shot from his office in front of the net.
“Net front on the power that’s where I always play,” he said. “It’s where I score 99 percent of my goals. “I’ve been working on tips my entire life with my dad (Mitch) in the backyard rink growing up. And now five or 10 minutes at the end of every practice. It really paid off today.”
Collingwood was undefeated through the preliminary round to win Group A at the Centennial Cup with a perfect 4-0 record. The Blues posted wins over the Calgary Canucks (5-4), Greater Sudbury Cubs (10-2), Collège Français de Longueuil (8-0), Navan Grads (3-2) and a 5-2 semifinal win over the Miramichi Timberwolves.
The OJHL’s Collingwood Blues pose with the Centennial Cup and the national championship banner in Oakville May 19. (Hockey Canada photo)
Two players on the Blues roster are Collingwood natives, Damen Boose and Marcus Lougheed.
Boose had a goal and two assists going into the Centennial Cup final. He was part of the club that went to the Centennial Cup tournament in Portage-La-Prairie last year but only dressed for one game. He was a big point producer for the Stayner Siskins with 113 in the regular season and playoffs. This time around the 18-year-old has taken a much more prominent role.
Lougheed, 19, is an assistant captain of the club and he is in Year 3 with the team. He had a 50-point regular season and added 15 more in the OJHL playoffs. He has a commitment to NCAA Division I Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He is also a former Siskin.
Both players are graduates of the Grey-Bruce Highlanders minor hockey system.
“It’s an indescribable feeling to lift the Cup,” Lougheed told the OJHL. “It sure feels different than Portage last year, the guys put everything out there in this one as we have been doing all season. The Mustangs are a very tough team, they came at us from the start, they didn’t give us a lot of room but we got it done. It was tighter than some of the other games with so much at stake but we played our game and kept at it.”
Native son Damen is really happy for the local pair: “We have known each other since we were three years old, grew up together, played our minor hockey together and I couldn’t be happier right now. Everyone has a role on this team and they know it. Each game someone steps up and today Jack’s (Silverman) goal shows that. I almost got one a few seconds before. That would have been something but I’m so happy for all my teammates and grateful to our coaches and staff.”
Andrew Campoli, head coach of the Blues: “It was such a tight game but as they have all season the guys came through. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy and it wasn’t. I’m so happy for Marcus and Damen, it’s especially big for them and something they will be remembered for by people in Collingwood for the rest of their lives.”
“All the work that everyone puts in—we worked so hard for this. To get it done means the world. I’ll be honest, it hurt leaving last time and [coming into this year’s tournament] we had some unfinished business and the job is done.”
The Blues (49-6-0-1) won the Brant Snow Memorial Trophy as OJHL regular season champions, finishing with 99 points, 11 more than the next closest team, the East Conference regular season champion Trenton Golden Hawks (43-11-1-1).
In the OJHL playoffs, the Blues went 16-3, getting by the Brantford 99ers, Oakville Blades Leamington Flyers and Trenton, in the Buckland Cup final.
UPDATE: The Blues are hosting a Tailgate Celebration Saturday, May 25, from 12-4 p.m. at Collingwood’s Royal Canadian Legion. Fans are invited to meet their national champions and enjoy live music and a barbecue presented by Nutrafarms, with proceeds going to Special Olympics.
For more information on the Centennial Cup, go to: https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/national-championships/men/national-junior-a/2024
