NEWS

TORONTO, ON -To look back on a loss like the one that the Georgetown Raiders dealt to the Toronto Patriots over the seven games of the Southwest Conference final, from a Toronto perspective, is to automatically go to what went wrong.

Certainly, the loaded 2017-18 Pats, the No. 6 team in the nation, had to feel like the favourites going in. Even Georgetown’s decorated head coach and general manager Greg Walters had to respect and appreciate the formidable offensive arsenal that his counterpart John Dean could bring to bare.

But it was not just about what went wrong for Toronto; it was absolutely a gutsy, professional performance by both teams. The cliché that ‘you win or lose as a whole team’ is certainly true in this case; a blown coverage not blown by the Pats here, a funny bounce not so funny there, a save made, or not, and things are very different.

And that brings us to Troy Timpano. There is nothing but respect for the group of players Walters assembled ahead of the 20-year-old net minder, but in the same breath, he was magnificent in all of the games, with the possible exception of Game 6. The Ryerson University committed goaltender was Pats’ captain Andrew Petrucci’s teammate in minor midget with the Titans, and as a former second round pick in the Ontario Hockey League draft, went on to play in 179 OHL games, and win an OHL title in 2016-17 with a formidable Erie Otters club. So, battle-hardened at the highest level of junior hockey, and possessing of supreme talent, size, and composure, Georgetown’s gambit to deal Mario Cavaliere mid-season to the BCHL to make room for Timpano absolutely paid off in a big way over the last couple of weeks.

It would be unfair, to all parties involved, to simply say that he stole the series; but he was excellent, especially when he really needed to be.

So where did things go wrong for the Torontonians?

Truthfully the margins were so small in almost all the games, and to a man before Game 7, the Pats boys said they would take one game at Westwood to get into the final all year long. And even then, Graeme MacLean, who was as magnificent and dangerous as he was when he was a superstar point producer for the midget Toronto Red Wings back in the day, scored twice on the day, and they only lost 3-2.

But here is the absolute rub of it, from where this writer sits: the Raiders have played in huge games late in seasons the past two years, they knew how to flick a switch and find their ultra-aggressive identity in the last few games of the series, and they drew on all those experiences to limit Toronto’s Grade A and Grade AA chances to a very manageable level, especially from Game 4 on. And when they gave up those chances to some of the best shooters in Junior A hockey in Canada, as the Patriots undoubtedly possessed, there was Timpano. Georgetown had more big-game, big-moment experience, and they used it.

Still, it could all have gone differently even in Game 7.

A lot went wrong for the Patriots on both goals they gave up in the first period, and especially on the back-breaker, Bailey Molella’s wrister from the dot to the right of Fassl at 17:52 to make it 2-0, questions can be asked in a lot of areas.

But now is not a time for blame, now is a time to celebrate a remarkable year for the Patriots.

From top to bottom, they bought in, they believed in each other, and loved each other. They welcomed new guys in, developed elements of their game, and worked extremely hard on and off the ice to play a style of hockey completely different to any they had played in their junior careers to date. And they pulled off one of the best, most dominating regular seasons we have seen for years in the OJHL.

So, it is absolutely a bitter pill to swallow right now, but in time I am confident that this season will only mean positives, fond memories, and, at the end, a great lesson in what is possible with the right attitude, and the right collection of people.

Cheers to a great year. - Jamie Neugebauer