Photo by Aaron Bell / OHL Images
While three teams skated to glory at the inaugural PlayStation Platinum Cup, the Kraft Cup regular-season trucked on with 290 games during the last weekend of November.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Minor Bantam A
North Toronto is still leading the 16-team pack in the East after they improved to 17-0-1 (35 points) with a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Shamrocks. The club has won 14 consecutive games dating to Oct. 7.
Meanwhile, York Mills (14-1-1, 29 points), who hold the second position in the East, pushed its winning streak to nine games with shutouts against the Willowdale Blackhawks (4-0 W) and West Hill Golden Hawks (2-0 W).
The top two teams will meet for the first time on Wednesday, Dec. 9 when North Toronto hosts York Mills at Forest Hill/Larry Grossman arena at 8:10 p.m.
Holding down third place are the Leaside Flames (12-2-2, 26 points) – the lone team to hold North Toronto to less than two points this season (1-1 T on Oct. 6). They improved to 9-1-0 in their last 10 outings with a 5-1 victory over the Willowdale Blackhawks Sunday at Fenside.
Rounding out the top four clubs are the Toronto Aces (11-4-2, 24 points), who earned three points in a weekend home-and-home series against Forest Hill (5-1 W, 3-3 T).
The West also has an undefeated team perched atop the standings after the Toronto Eagles earned a 4-0 win against the Vaughan Panthers – their third shutout in their past four contests. At 14-0-2 (30 points), the Eagles are four points clear of the Humberview Huskies (13-3-0, 26 points) for first place.
The Huskies are doing their best to close that gap, picking up a weekend sweep of a home-and-home set with the Toronto Royals (4-2 W, 2-1 W).
The Toronto Wolverines (11-5-0, 22 points) also skated to two victories – 4-1 decisions against both the Humber Valley Sharks and Avalanche – to finish November on a five-game winning streak.
Other finals from Minor Bantam A weekend action:
East – Toronto Aeros 4, Goulding Park Rangers 1
East – Toronto Aeros 9, Goulding Park Rangers 1
East – Scarborough Ice Raiders 1, East Enders Ticats 0
East – Hillcrest Canadiens 2, Toronto Shamrocks 1
West – Duffield Devils 4, Vaughan Panthers
West – West Toronto Renegades 2, Duffield Devils 0
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Midget AA
The Duffield Devils are cruising. The team has bounced back from an 0-1-1 start to the season with 13 consecutive wins, including victories over the Toronto Aeros (3-0 W) and Mississauga Braves (11-0 W) on the weekend. At 13-1-1 (27 points), they have streaked their way into first place, with two games in hand on the second-place Ice Warriors (12-3-2, 26 points).
With their sights set on regaining the top spot, the Ice Warriors earned a 4-1 triumph over the Markham Islanders to break a recent 0-1-1 skid.
The West Mall Lightning (9-3-4, 22 points) pushed their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 win over the Mississauga Jets. The Lightning have climbed into fifth place, behind the Devils, Ice Warriors, Jets (11-4-1, 23 points) and Toronto Aeros (11-5-1, 23 points).
Other finals from Midget AA weekend action:
Toronto Colts 7, Mississauga Braves 1
Mississauga Jets 4, Toronto Eagles 2
Toronto Aeros 7, North York Knights 2
Humber Valley Sharks 5, Toronto Colts 4
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Midget AAA
The home stretch is going to be one for the books, as seven teams are within six points of first place more than halfway through the Kraft Cup regular-season.
The top two teams in the division – the North York Rangers (11-2-3, 25 points) and Mississauga Rebels (11-5-3, 25 points) – met Saturday, with the Rangers pulling off a 3-1 victory to even their season series at 1-1-0 apiece (Nov. 15: 6-0 Rebels). The teams meet again on Saturday, Dec. 19 at Westwood Arena at 3:30 p.m.
Overall, each of the top seven teams in the division – the Rangers, Rebels, Don Mills Flyers (11-5-2, 24 points), Toronto Marlboros (9-3-5, 23 points), Mississauga Reps (8-6-4, 20 points), Toronto Young Nationals (8-6-4, 20 points) and Toronto Jr. Canadiens (7-5-5, 19 points) – earned at least one win over the weekend, adding to the appeal of what is sure to be a dramatic finish.
Other finals from Midget AAA weekend action:
Toronto Young Nationals 4, Toronto Red Wings 1
Mississauga Reps 5, Toronto Jr. Canadiens 4
Toronto Marlboros 3, Toronto Titans 1
Markham Majors 3, Vaughan Kings 1
Don Mills Flyers 3, Mississauga Senators 2
North York Rangers 3, Toronto Titans 2
Toronto Young Nationals 4, Mississauga Senators 3
Mississauga Rebels 2, Toronto Red Wings 0
Toronto Marlboros 4, Vaughan Kings 0
Toronto Jr. Canadiens 2, Don Mills Flyers 1
Mississauga Reps 3, Markham Majors 2
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Minor Midget AAA
The North York Rangers contested both games in this division over the weekend – earning a 3-2 win against the Toronto Titans before falling 5-1 to the Toronto Young Nationals on Sunday.
The quiet weekend was a result of eight clubs being away at the International Silver Stick Finals in Whitby, where the Mississauga Rebels defeated the Toronto Jr. Canadiens in the semi-finals before falling to the York-Simcoe Express in the championship game. Click here for complete scores and standings from the event.
Last Wednesday, the Ontario Hockey League released its first top 10 rankings for the 2016 OHL Cup, which will be contested from March 15-21, 2016 at Scotiabank Pond and Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
