Oakville, Ont. – The Toronto Jr. Canadiens have twin OHL Cup titles in 2023. After the U16 squad hoisted the OHL Cup on Apr. 3rd at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the U14 Jr. Canadiens bested the Barrie Jr. Colts 3-2 on Sunday at Joshua’s Creek Arena, being crowned champions of the 2nd annual event presented by Dairy Farmers of Ontario and hosted by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association.
The Jr. Canadiens climbed out to a 2-0 lead before Barrie battled back to tie things at two. Lucas Quain scored the deciding goal on the power play with 5:40 to go in the middle frame, giving the Jr. Canadiens enough to be crowned champions in 2023.
“All the hard work paid off and it feels great,” said Quain after the final buzzer. “We’ve worked hard since training camp and I’m glad to see this group improve as the season went on.”
“At the beginning of the year we all set goals,” said Jr. Canadiens head coach Matt Viola. “Every kid on the team wrote it down on a piece of paper. I am happy for all these boys to have accomplished something they’ll remember forever.”
Noah Laus and Connor Adam also scored for the Jr. Canadiens while Keaton Ardagh picked up two assists, including one on Quain’s game-winner.
For Barrie’s part, the Jr. Colts had goals from Kaden Rolling and Benjamin Marling, who finished as the top-scoring defenceman in the showcase with eight points (6-2–8) in five games.
Goaltenders received Player of the Game honours for their respective teams as Jr. Canadiens netminder Ethan Maniaci and Barrie’s Malcolm Rose were both excellent in the Championship Final.
Jr. Canadiens teammates Jax Pereira (6-4–10) and Keaton Ardagh (2-6–8) finished atop the tournament scoring list.
“We always talk about ups and downs, peaks and valleys during the year and you know, this tournament is a prime example of that,” Viola added. “Right now, I’m just super happy the boys came together at the right time, and now we get the hoist the trophy.”
The Jr. Canadiens started the showcase with a 5-0 blanking of the OMHA champion Halton Hurricanes on Friday morning before defeating the NOHA’s North Bay Trappers 5-1 on Friday afternoon. JRC skated to a 4-3 double-overtime win over the Sun County Panthers in Saturday’s Quarterfinal as Jax Pereira emerged as the hero to push his team into the semis. The Jr. Canadiens, who came into the showcase as the GTHL’s third entry, defeated the GTHL champion Don Mills Flyers 5-3 on Sunday morning to advance to the Championship Final.
The U14 OHL Cup trophy was presented to the Jr. Canadiens by OHL Director of Recruitment and Player Services Brodie Barrick alongside the OMHA’s Director of Business Development and Marketing Derek Polowyk.
Tournament action was streamed live via GameOnStream, with archived action available at u14ohlcup.gameonstream.com.
For full results and statistics from the 2023 U14 OHL Cup presented by Dairy Farmers of Ontario, visit u14ohlcup.ca.
