By Nicholas Carafa
Photo by Erin Riley

No two, or in this case three, championships possess the same narrative. But in the inaugural PlayStation Platinum Cup, the road to glory was defined by perfection for each of the Atom A, AA and AAA champions.

An all-GTHL matchup highlighted the AAA final, when the Toronto Young Nationals – arguably one of the best atom teams in Ontario – took on the Don Mills Flyers.

In a thrilling final, Anthony Romani scored with two seconds left in the first period to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. Luca Marrelli brought the Flyers within one when he roofed a shot high-glove in the second period, but Kei Hagiwara provided an insurance marker in the final frame to lift the Nats to a 3-1 victory and a perfect 6-0-0 record at the tournament.

Before the championship game, the Nats (15-3-0, 30 points) and Flyers (7-8-2, 16 points) met once in the 2015-16 Kraft Cup regular-season, an 8-2 victory for the Nats on Sept. 21. They face-off again on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Victoria Village.

The Quinte West Hawks, the only non-GTHL/MHL team in the A division, completed a perfect run that can be summed up in two words: sheer dominance. The Hawks outscored opponents 24-3 en route to a 3-0-0 record in the round-robin. Think that’s impressive? They continued their offensive surge through three playoff contests, capping the tournament with a victory over the West Toronto Renegades in the final.

The third championship saw Hockey Quebec’s Aigles de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu – the only non-Ontario team at the event – capture the Atom AA PlayStation Platinum Cup with a 5-2 win over the Eastern Ontario Cobras.