NEWS

The Toronto Lakeshore Patriots captured their first Dudley Hewitt Cup in franchise history after a 2-1 victory over the host Wellington Dukes in the championship game.  Played in front of a loud and boistrous crowd of 1525 spectators at the Essroc Centre, the OJHL Champion will now travel to Vernon, B.C. for the RBC Cup, National Junior 'A' Championship.

So the dream season for the Toronto Patriots continues.

Rory Bell one-timed home a picture perfect feed in the slot from Jacob Hayhurst at the 10:50-mark of the third period, and Evan Buitenhuis was almost flawless as the Patriots downed the Wellington Dukes 2-1 to take the Dudley Hewitt Cup championship on Saturday night.

Andreas Tsogkas had the other one for Toronto as the club earned a spot in the Junior ‘A’ national tournament, the RBC Cup, set to take place in Vernon, B.C. from May 10-18.

Patriots’ bench boss Jason Fortier was beyond proud of the way his team battled through a hostile environment and a host of other adversity throughout the tournament.

“The guys did battle through and I thought that they persevered whenever there was pressure,” he said.

“Today was like a heavyweight boxing match – we landed a couple good ones, they landed a couple good ones, but in the end I really think the reason we stepped out of here on top was the fact that the guys were so grounded and just kept plugging away no matter what was happening. Hats off to our staff because they did a great job of keeping everyone level headed.”

Tsogkas’ goal came on the power play at 13:14 of the first period when his perfectly aimed wrist shot from the left wall beat a screened Tyson Teichmann in the Wellington net.

Chad Thibodeau controversially evened the score with 23 seconds remaining in the opening frame as the referee initially had signaled that the puck has not crossed the line on his wraparound. Yet the goal would count and the tension at the Essroc Centre in Wellington continued to mount.

Bell’s winner was his only point of the Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament and fifth goal of the post-season overall.

With mere seconds left on the clock, the puck came out to Wellington’s Braydon Blight in the high slot with Buitenhuis scrambling to get back into position. But Mike Prapavessis laid out and blocked it to help preserve the victory.

After playing five games in five days, while dealing with injuries and a rabidly pro-Dukes’ crowd, the Patriots found a way once again.

“We said it a few times to the guys.” Fortier said.

“This is just training for what we want to do at the RBC. Tiredness is just a stake of mind and I think that if every player goes with the frame of mind that they have 30 shifts each, whether you get 30 or three, you just try to win each shift. You are going to have to live a life where you work eight or more hours a day so put it on the line now and maybe you can change those hours.”

Evan Buitenhuis, who at 20 remains uncommitted to a NCAA university, was a star once again making 21 often difficult saves.

Toronto forward Nathan Feric, who assisted on Tsogkas’ marker, was awarded the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals and 10 points over the five-game event.

Feric, along with captain Tyler Enns, and assistant captains Doug Bonar, Kevin Shier and Marcus Rose were all hugely instrumental and exemplary as the leaders of this club.

“If you want to talk about success you need to have a leadership group at the top,” Fortier said.

“The leaders on the hockey team really run the group on the inside of the locker room. The fact that our guys are such great people on and off the ice, every player here is benefiting from that.”

The Pats will now take a few days off before beginning preparations for the trip to British Columbia, with a chance to become national champions.

“We are trying to build a legacy to move on to the next couple of years,” Fortier said.

Buitenhuis was Player of the Game for the Patriots, while his counterpart at the other end, Tyson Teichmann took home the honours for Wellington.

For the full game summary, please CLICK HERE.

A trio of tournament awards were also handed out, including Most Sportsmanlike Player to Niko Kovachis of the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots, Top Scorer to Nathan Feric of the Patriots and Tournament Most Valuable Player to Teichmann of the Dukes.