The GTHL champion Kings defeated the OMHA finalist York-Simcoe Express by a score of 8-1 on Saturday afternoon at Joshua’s Creek Arena in Oakville, becoming the first team to have its named inscribed on the U14 OHL Cup championship trophy.
Caleb Malhotra led the way with two goals and three assists while Jager Pain chipped in with a goal and two helpers as Vaughan accomplished its mission, reigning supreme as Ontario’s top U14 AAA team.
“It’s a little surreal,” said Kings head coach Daniel Spivak, who worked alongside a pair of OHL alumni in assistants Justin DiBenedetto and Mark Cundari. “The boys came hard, and after two years of interrupted hockey seasons, this is awfully rewarding for our guys who never quit and kept putting in the work.
“All of these guys bought in,” Spivak continued. “As a coach, it’s all you can hope for. They pushed through, they never stopped and it’s remarkable.”
Vaughan played to a mark of 4-0-1, outscoring opponents 36-11. Their pathway to the Championship Final included a 2-2 tie against the London Jr. Knights in their tournament-opener followed by a commanding 9-3 win over the Oakville Rangers. They bested the ALLIANCE champion Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs 7-3 in Quarterfinal action and took down the OMHA champion Peterborough Petes 10-2 in Saturday morning’s Semi-final affair.
The son of former OHL forward and NHL alumnus Manny Malhotra, Caleb Malhotra’s five-point performance pushed him into the tournament scoring lead as he finished with 13 points (5-8–13) over five games while teammates Ben Bowen (8-3–11), Jager Pain (5-6–11) and Alessandro Di Iorio (5-6–11) each trailed close behind with 11.
York-Simcoe finished up with an overall record of 3-1-1, being led offensively by Brayden Boyle who recorded five points (4-1–5) in as many games.
The U14 OHL Cup championship trophy was presented by OHL Commissioner David Branch alongside the League’s Director of Player Recruitment and Development Kyle Pereira.
Tournament action was streamed live via GameOnStream, with archived action available at u14ohlcup.gameonstream.com.
For full results and statistics from the 2022 U14 OHL Cup presented by Dairy Farmers of Ontario, visit u14ohlcup.ca.
