CJHL sweeps second annual Battle of Ontario in Pembroke
Posted Jan 7, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Sports - Players from two of Canada's Junior A hockey leagues were showcased Saturday in the second annual 'Battle of Ontario All Star Challenge' in Pembroke. In the end it was the Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) who stole the spotlight.
All Star and Prospects teams from the Eastern Ontario based CJHL swept games again hosted visiting squads from the Central Canadian Hockey League (CCHL) at Pembroke Memorial Centre, home of the three-time Bogart Cup (CJHL) champion Pembroke Lumber Kings.
In the main event, Saturday night, Shayne Stockton, top scorer for league-leading Brockville Braves, scored the winning goal at 2:03 of overtime, to give the host team an 8-7 win over the CCHL All Stars. Brockville teammate Shayne Thompson, a Stittsville native, scored a pair for the winners.
Saturday afternoon twin brothers Tyson and Tylor Spink of Williamstown, who star for Cornwall Colts, each scored once and set up two others as the CJHL Prospects doubled their counterparts from the CCHL 6-3.
The contests are designed to showcase the top current and future players in the two leagues. Many scouts from the National Hockey League (NHL), Canadian Hockey League (Major Junior), the American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Canadian university hockey were in attendance.
Last January, in the inaugural Battle of Ontario, teams from the CJHL took on squads comprised of the best players from the Central Division of the former Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). The contests were split with the CJHL All Stars doubling their OJHL counterparts 4-2 in the main contest. In the Prospects' Game the OJHL team blanked the CJHL young guns 3-0.
This season the OJHL has split into two separate leagues. The new CCHL is comprised of 21 teams while the Ontario Junior A Hockey League (OJAHL) features 15 entries.
The majority of teams in both leagues are located in the Greater Toronto Area or Central Ontario, although there are a handful of clubs located along the north shore of Lake Ontario in Eastern Ontario. For example the CCHL includes Wellington Dukes from Wellington in Prince Edward County. Among the OJAHL's member teams are Kingston Voyageurs, last year's OJHL champions, and Trenton Golden Hawks.
This past Saturday in Pembroke featured two "marquee events" with the top 16 and 17-year-old prospects from the two leagues displaying their ability in the opener, while the evening game featured the best 18 to 20-year-olds in the CJHL and CCHL.
More than half the players selected are already committed to NCAA programs, or on the radar of NHL scouts. The two leagues also include the majority of players named to Team Canada East for the recent Prospects' Challenge against Team Canada West. Those games, featuring the top 40 NHL draftable players in Canadian Junior A hockey, were played in Winkler, Manitoba Dec. 8 and 9. Team West won the first game 8-1, but Team East rebounded with a 2-0 shut out win in the second game played Wednesday, Dec. 9.
CJHL players Matthew Peca of Pembroke Lumber Kings and Maxime Dumond of Brockville Braves scored the goals in the Team East victory.
PROSPECTS GAME
Both players featured in the Prospects' Game in Pembroke Saturday and, playing on the same line, Peca scored one of the goals for the winners with Dumond earning an assist on the play. Peca is from Petawawa while Dumond is an Orleans native.
The young CJHL stars took a 3-0 first period lead and they led 5-1 after 40 minutes to cruise to victory. Goalie Matt Jenkins of Carleton Place, who plays for Smiths Falls Bears and Dylan BrindAmour of Metcalfe, a second year net minder for Hawkesbury Hawks, backstopped the win. Between them they faced 40 shots with Jenkins making 20 saves and BrindAmour 19.
The CJHL team also managed 40 shots with the other goals credited to Mike McNamee of Smiths Falls Bears (he's a Perth native), Kyle Rankin of Kanata Stallions and Kevin Lough of Cumberland Grads.
Referee Scott Loney called 11 minor penalties, six of which went to the host team. Each squad fired one powerplay marker.
Tylor Spink and Tyson Spink were named first and third stars respectively!
Also among the 22 players on the CJHL prospects team was Kane Abbis-Mills of Carleton Place who plays for Smiths Falls. He earned one assist in the game.
The expansion Carleton Place Canadians placed local product Donovan Gardiner, a forward, in the CJHL line-up. Other team members included Kemptville 73's forward Ben Hutton from Prescott, along with defenceman Curtis Watson of Braeside and forward Philipe Doucet of Carp, both of whom star for Kanata.
In the main event, Saturday night, Nepean Raiders' star forward Andrew Calof scored twice and set up two others to lead the host CJHL All Stars to their OT win over the best from the CCHL. Braves' Thompson's connected twice, firing an unassisted effort in the second period and a shorthanded goal at 6:25 of the third. His second tally gave the host team a temporary 7-6 lead.
The hosts led 4-2 and 6-4 at the intervals in the high scoring game played before nearly 800 fans. The visitors rebounded with three third period tallies including a goal by Adam Place of Cobourg Cougars which tied the game and forced the extra session. Place, the leading scorer for Cobourg, also had three assists in the contest. Forward Jeremy Franklin of Wellington Dukes netted a hat trick and set up another to lead the CCHL attack.
For the winning CJHL squad it was Andrew Creppin of Gloucester Rangers with a goal and three assists while Jonathan Milley of Ottawa and Dustin Darou of Perth, teammates on Smiths Falls Bears, each had a goal and one assist.
The CJHL stars held a 52-47 shots advantage in the wide open contest which featured just five minor penalties, including three to the hosts. Each team notched a powerplay goal.
Brockville goalie Clarke Saunders and Nepean net minder Wyatt Galley split the goaltending duties for the CJHL. Galley got the win, making 24 saves on 28 shots.
Nepean's Calof was the MVP for the CJHL while Franklin picked up the award for the CCHL.
The CJHL All Star roster also included Smiths Falls' winger Eric Carlson of Greely and Kanata's leading scorer, centre Allan McPherson of Kinburn.
The CJHL All Stars were coached by Sheldon Keefe, Pembroke's head coach and general manager. He was assisted by Cornwall Colts' coach and GM Ian MacInnis and Carleton Place Canadians' head coach Jason Clarke.
The CJHL prospects were coached by former NHL star defenceman Todd Gill, now the head coach and GM of Brockville Braves.
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