HEARTBREAK LOSS IN OVERTIME AS TIGERS DEFEAT SPIRIT IN GAME 5
March 15, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By John Cudmore

The Spirit was willing. The Tigers, however, were able

Even on a night when the Stouffville Spirit played its best game of the series, the Aurora Tigers found a way to get the job done with a 3-2 overtime victory Friday at the Aurora Community Centre to claim the best-of-seven North Division title series in five games.

Jeff Vanderlugt became the hero for Aurora, lifting the puck past Stouffville netminder Trevor O'Neill at the edge of the crease for the clincher at 1:11 of overtime as the Tigers claimed their second straight North Division title and sixth in seven seasons.

"It ended in five games, but it was hard-fought," said Aurora head coach Jerome Dupont, whose team won four straight games after dropping the opener for the second straight playoff series. "We certainly didn't deserve to win tonight."

The victory sends Aurora in search of the North-West Conference championship against the West Division champion Oakville Blades in a series likely to start late next week. Oakville dismissed the Georgetown Raiders, also in five games.

Clearly, the Tigers didn't waste much time in popping the winner after killing a pair of penallties in the final five minutes of regulation time and a few seconds into the extra time.

"Our tactic in overtime was to win it fast," said Dupont. "We wanted to attack and not sit back."

The loss had to be particularly frustrating for the Stouffville side which outplayed the Tigers decidedly in the third period yet could not break away.

"Every game has been like that," said Spirit forward Corey Trivino, who had a goal and assist for the Spirit. "All series long they got the breaks. We had momentum and then they'd shut us down. We had our chances."

The Tigers did a standout job of shutting down the Stouffville big guns, including Trivino, James McIntosh and Ethan Werek, who were held in check almost entirely despite Trivino's two-point night.

The Tigers have now won eight consecutive playoff series over two seasons and only once have been forced to play beyond five games during that stretch.

"The saying goes, good teams find a way to win," said Tigers' Jeff Harbach, who chipped in with an assist for his 13th point in 12 playoff games. "The less games you have to play in the playoffs, the better.

"We get a couple of days off and a chance to get away from each other for a few days," said Harbach, who was the hero in Game 4 with two goals in a 5-2 Aurora win.

Despite the outcome, the Spirit were doing their best to salvage some positives from a loss against a seasoned opponent.

"We had a good year and defied the odds," said Trivino. "A lot of people thought we would lose in the first round, and then in the second.

"Our 20s (20-year-olds) aren't doing well right now. But you have to look to tomorrow."

Trivino, who will attend Boston University next season on a scholarship, is one of six Spirit players headed for NCAA Division I programs.

As was the case in Game 3, also played in Aurora, Stouffville head coach Dave D'Ammizio felt his team deserved a better fate. He had a pretty good case to present.

"It's never good to accept a loss, but we were not blown out or taken advantage of in this series," said the rookie coach. "Most of the games could have gone either way. They're a great team and have been through this before."

The star of the series unquestionably was Tigers' netminder Aaron Barton. He surrendered just nine goals in five games.

Barton stole the show - and likely the game - with a pair of spectacular sprawling saves in the second period. In all, he stopped 43 shots as Stouffville held a 45-26 edge in that category.

"We knew he was good," said D'Ammizio, "But we didn't know he was this good. He made some key saves  that were real momentum changers."

Aurora twice held one-goal leads in the contest.

David Morley opened the scoring at 9:50 of the first period as he completed a two-on-one with a nifty deke of O'Neill. Eight minutes later, Trivino one-timed a a shot past Barton to pull the Spirit even.

Defenceman Matt Thomson regained the lead for Aurroa in the ninth minute of the second period when his point shot found the range on a Tigers' power play with Corey Fulton serving a four-minute stretch in the sin bin. Again Stouffville answered as Darren Archibald's one-timer slithered its way through Barton.

The Spirit had two power plays in the final five minutes of regulation time and eight seconds in the overtime but could not solve Barton.

Of note, forward Mike McLaughlin left the game late in the third period after receiving a blow to the head and did not return for the Tigers in the overtime session.

Dates for the Oakville-Aurora series, for which the Blades will host Game 1, will be announced early next week.

SPIRIT ON THE BRINK AS TIGERS ONE WIN AWAY FROM NORTH CHAMPIONSHIP
March 14, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By Mike Hayakawa

For the Aurora Tigers, it's a case of three wins down and one to go to claim the Provincial Junior A Hockey League North Conference crown. 
But for the Stouffville Spirit, it's a case of one more loss and the 2007-08 Provincial Junior A Hockey League season will be history.
That scenario became crystal clear after Thursday's fourth game in the best-of-seven final at Stouffville Arena when the Tigers blitzed the Spirit with three unanswered goals in the third period to skate off with a 5-2 victory.
The Tigers can wrap up the series and conference title Friday when the fifth game takes place at the Aurora Community Centre at 7:30 p.m.
A Spirit victory there, however, would force a sixth game Sunday at the Stouffville Arena at 3:30 p.m.
The Tigers drew first blood in the contest when Mike McLaughlin picked off an errant Spirit pass in front of Stouffville goalie Trevor O'Neill and deposited it upstairs to take a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.
The Tigers had several great opportunities to pad their lead early in the second period, but were thwarted by O'Neill along with striking a goal post and crossbar.
Those missed chances almost came back to haunt the Tigers as the Spirit retaliated with a power-play goal by Tyler Gubb and even-strength marker from James McIntosh to take a 2-1 lead near the midway point.
What might have been the game's turning point came moments later when the Tigers' Nick Novak was sent off for cross checking.
Presented with a power-play opportunity and chance to pad their lead, the Spirit failed to capitalize on the situation at hand.
Just moments after that, the Tigers tied the game when Jeff Harbach scored the first of his two goals when he was left unattended in front of O'Neill and scored from point-blank range.
"That second goal gave us some energy," Tigers' head coach Jerome Dupont said afterwards.
The Spirit appeared to rebound from that bout of misfortune early in the third period when they applied some pressure in the Tigers' zone.
But the Tigers took the wind out of the Spirit's sails by scoring two unanswered goals within a 19-second span to take a 4-2 lead. The first came from Harbach off a screen shot.
The second was recorded by Mark Mayea.
That quick explosion, Dupont felt, was the game's turning point.
Just before the midway point of the period, the Tigers scored their final goal on a power-play effort from Connor McGarry off a shot from the point.
The Spirit outshot the Tigers 48-37.
Throughout the series, Dupont feels the key to his club's success has been their discipline.
"The guys have stuck to a gameplan. The guys are doing a good job in executing," he said.
As well, Dupont felt his club's overall depth and experience have been vital factors throughout the series.
"We've tried to play most of our bench and I think we've succeeded in that," he said.
While glad to be in the driver's seat, Dupont remained cautiously optimistic about his club's chances in wrapping up the series Friday on home ice.
"Stouffville's a competitive team. Our job is far from done," he said.
Acknowledging his club has little room for error now, Spirit head coach Dave D'Ammizio feels his charges will have to pick things up a notch or two.
"We played well, but not well enough tonight. Hopefully it's a quick regroup on our part," he said.
Spirit general manager Thomas Milne gave the Tigers full marks for their effort.
"Give full credit to Aurora, they played better than us," he said.
D'Ammizio concurred with Dupont in feeling the Tigers' overall experience and depth has been critical in their success thus far in the series.
However, he feels his youthful charges can extend the series beyond Friday.
"Aurora's an experienced team and they're deep. We're young and learning on the job. But being as we're young though we've got a lot of character," he said.

TIGERS DASH SPIRIT COMEBACK BID, TAKE SERIES LEAD.
March 12, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By John Cudmore

Now it is up to the Stouffville Spirit to come up with the home-ice solution. 
The Aurora Tigers held up their end of the bargain tonight becoming the first team to win at home in the North Division championship series, posting a 3-2 win at the Aurora Community Centre to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
It wasn't easy. Nor terribly pretty.
Consider that the Tigers squandered a 2-0 first-period lead in allowing the Spirit to draw even early in the third period on a power play goal before Mark Mayea's deflection of a Connor McGarry point shot thwarted the visitors' comeback bid at 10:41 of the third period.
The series resumes Thursday night at the Stouffville Arena. Game 5 is to be played Friday in Aurora. Both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"I think we got too comfortable and maybe we didn't deserve to be up 2-0 and let them back in the game," said defenceman Tigers' defenceman Matt Thomson, who scored the opening goal and was a contributor in a pretty three-way passing play finished by captain Mark Thorburn in the 16th minute of the opening period.
"We have to come out even harder Thursday. We can play a lot better than tonight. We took 20 minutes off in the middle of the game and it cost us. They have too much talent on that team to pack it in early."
Thomson was getting no argument from Spirit sources.
"I thought we actually outplayed them over three periods," said Spirit head coach Dave D'Ammizio, a 33-28 Tigers' edge in shots on goal, notwithstanding. "We competed hard and deserved a better fate. If we play like that, we'll be okay. We just have to keep our spirits up and we'll be in a better position.
"Aurora is a pretty disciplined team. I think they are adapting to us a bit better than we are."
With the Tigers staking out a two-goal lead it appeared dim for the visiting side.
But captain Randy Johnston, who has been sidelined for much of the playoffs with a concussion sustained in the regular season, got Stouffville rolling. He scored the lone goal of the second period with a sharp-angle shot which caught the inside of the far post to netminder Aaron Barton's glove side at four minutes and two Tigers in the penalty box. Jonathan Cristini batted in a waist-high rebounded off the boards on another Stouffville power play less than two minutes into the third period.
"I thought we played well other than a few little breakdowns," said forward James McIntosh, who is headed to Bowling Green State University on a scholarship next season. "We've been down in the past against Huntsville, so it's not a big deal. We just have to come together as a team and get back into the series. We have to come out and play hard and physical.
"It's gonna be a long series so we have to battle back."
Thomson, who has been a workhorse on the Tigers' defence throughout the playoffs, made the most of some advice from head coach Jerome Dupont on the first Aurora goal.
All that free advice dispensed over the course of a season paid off for the Aurora Tigers' defenceman Matt Thomson, who has been the kingpin on the Tigers defence throughout the playoffs. His goal opened the scoring as he banked a point shot off the backboards in off Stouffville netminder Trevor O'Neill at 6:02 of the first period.
"All year Jerome has been saying put the puck at the net," said Thomson. "I had no shooting lane so I put it off the back wall. It's not anything we practice but it's always in the back of your head if you have a coach harping at you about it all the time."
Netminder Barton preserved the win, matching his counterpart O'Neill save for save. His teammates have done an effective job in shutting down the Spirit's big guns in the second and third games of the series.
"We need to go in hard for the whole 60 minutes," said Barton, after turning his seventh straight game in which he has allowed two goals or less. "They have some forwards that are really skilled so I have to stay really focused."

TIGERS CLAW BACK IN GAME 2
March 10, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By Jim Mason
Photo Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By Bill Roberts

The Aurora Tigers work Sundays.

Just ask the Stouffville Spirit.

Aurora bounced back from a loss in Game 1 of their Provincial Jr. A Hockey League North Conference final Friday with a 4-1 at the Stouffville Arena in front of 489 fans this afternoon.

Tied at one game apiece in the best-of-seven, the teams get together again Tuesday in Aurora. Game 4 is Thursday in Stouffville and the fifth game Friday in Aurora. All are 7:30 starts.

“Friday, we took the first period off,” Aurora captain Mark Thorburn said. “But, we are a hard-working team when we put out minds to it. We were ready to go this time and things are looking up after today’s performance.”

Stouffville resident Craig McDowell gave the Spirit a 1-0 lead early in the second period, jumping on a Tiger turnover, going to the net unmolested and putting the puck over goalie Aaron Barton.

From there, it was all Aurora. They took a 2-1 lead into the third period on goals by Jordan Watts and Paul Dupont.

Matt Thompson added Aurora’s second power-play marker and Watts scored again, into an empty net, to ice it.

The Spirit could have used the red rally towels fans were promised but didn’t materialize.

Referee Ben Buxton drew the ire of the Spirit faithful and several players during the afternoon. One fan even gave him an earful from inches away as the officials left the ice after the game.

“What, did we get our first power play of the game half-way through the second period?” Spirit captain Randy Johnston asked. (Actually, it was the 14:48 mark.)

“He just wasn’t calling anything on them. But we have to keep our composure. You’re going to get bad calls and no calls in the playoffs. Look at St. Mike’s (during the league final in 2006), when we had like five five-on-threes to kill in the first period. It happens.”

The Spirit had its chances on three late power plays, but couldn’t capitalize.

Buxton waved off a Spirit goal with 28.5 seconds to go, saying it was knocked in with a high stick. Spirit officials argued Barton knocked it into his own goal, after the high stick. Aurora got its empty-netter  16 seconds later.

Shots on goal were 35-33 in favour of Aurora, including 13-4 in the tell-tale second period.

The South final resumes Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at Markham Centennial. The hometown Waxers hold a one game to none lead over St. Mike's in the best-of-seven.

Wellington leads Kingston 2-0 in the East final and Oakville is up 2-0 on Georgetown in the West.

The champs of the 36-team league advance to the central Canadian championships in Newmarket April 22 to 26. Host Newmarket and the champions of the Northern Ontario and Superior International leagues will also receive berths in the tourney.

QUICK STRIKE SPIRIT WIN OPENING GAME
March 8, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By John Cudmore

It’s one of the great sports debates: Does the advantage go to the team coming in on an emotional high or the squad which enjoyed an extended layoff?
The result usually tells the tale.

In this case, it was advantage to the former as the Stouffville Spirit, riding sky-high from a seventh-game overtime road victory over the Huntsville Otters three nights earlier, rode a pair of early goals to a 3-1 victory over the Aurora Tigers Friday night in the opening game of the North Conference final at the Aurora Community Centre.

Darren Archibald struck in the second minute and James McIntosh counted a power play goal before the nine-minute mark as the Spirit jumped on the Tigers for all the required offence to claim first strike in the rematch of last season’s conference final.

“It was a great start,” acknowledged Spirit head coach Dave D’Ammizio. “The kids came out and played hard. We were worried about our energy level after a seven-game series but they’ve worked hard all year.”

The victory gives Stouffville the edge heading into Game 2 Sunday afternoon at Stouffville Arena. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

Archibald banged a rebound past Tigers’ netminder Aaron Barton from close range to open the scoring at 1:22. James McIntosh finished off a nifty setup from Ethan Werek on a Stouffville power play at 8:38.

It remained that way until a point shot deflected off the shaft of captain Mark Thorburn and past netminder Trevor O’Neill on an Aurora power play at 13:22 of the third period.

A few minutes earlier, O’Neill made a glittering glove save on the Tigers’ Michael Sardella to maintain the Spirit lead at two goals.

Mark Sullivan iced the outcome with an empty net goal in the final minute.

“It was too early to give up a goal,” smiled O’Neill, who finished with 29 saves for his eight win of the playoffs. “(Aurora is) a team that once they get one goal they thrive off it. I was worried once they got that one goal.

“We’re feeling good about that win, but it’s only one. We need three more before we can celebrate anything.”

The Spirit caught the Tigers flat-footed in the first period. While Stouffville only had a couple of days to savour the win over the Otters, the Tigers idled for eight days after their five-game series win over the Newmarket Hurricanes.

“We played a great team period in the first period,” said O’Neill. “We have a lot of veteran leadership in this room. Us veterans let the other guys know what is expected. We have to expect a strong team effort and no less than for Aurora to come out firing every game.”

The Tigers find themselves on not unfamiliar familiar terrain. Their faithful will recall falling in the opener of the Newmarket series, too.

“We’re a character team that has shown we can battle back from adversity,” said Thorburn, a member of last season’s national championship Tigers’ squad. “Hopefully, we can do it again this year.

“We came out flat and you can’t afford to do that against Stouffville. We didn’t stop once we got clicking in the second period, but it took us a period and a half to get going. We’ll just have to come out Sunday and steal one in their barn.”

Aurora head coach Jerome Dupont was succinct in his assessment.

“No excuses. That first period was a dud,” he said. “It’s not where we want to be, that’s for damn sure.

“Sunday is a do-or-die game for us, it’s as simple as that.”

SPIRIT BREAK HUNTSVILLE HEARTS WITH OVERTIME SERIES WIN IN GAME 7
March 5, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By Jim Mason

The Stouffville Spirit left a trail of broken hearts behind in cottage country tonight.
Corey Trivino scored at 2:58 of overtime to give the Spirit a 5-4 win in Game 7 of the best-of-seven Provincial Jr. A Hockey League North Conference semifinal.
Huntsville, which won the regular season championship, was heavily favoured in the series over the younger and fourth-place Spirit.
More than 800 fans, including an estimated 150 from Stouffville waving red rally towels, packed the Jack Bionda Arena.
“It’s like playing street hockey and it’s Game 7 in overtime and you get to score the winning goal,” said Trivino, who will attend Boston University next fall after two starry seasons in Spiritland.
Barrie Colts prospect Darren Archibald led the final rush, feeding a one-handed pass to Trivino who had an empty net to fill.
Trivino added three assists to give him a team-leading 18 points in 10 playoff games. Big-league scouts have followed the 18-year-old, who is expected to be picked in the first three rounds of June’s NHL draft, in packs all season.
“It gets you into the game right away, but you really don’t think of the scouts that much,” he said. “It’s about your teammates and the 20-year-olds who are in their last year of junior. It’s my final year playing in Stouffville, too, so we all want a championship.”
Mark Sullivan, one of those 20-year-olds, had two goals and an assist. The former Spirit timekeeper’s second goal, with 2:42 with remaining in regulation, tied the score at 4-4, eventually sending the game into overtime and the Spirit bench into an immediate frenzy.
“After that, we had a new life,” said the Stouffville resident, whose brother Mike starred with the Spirit six years ago. “There were no doubts. We all said, ‘we can’t lose this.’”
The goals were Sullivan’s first in 10 playoff games, to go with 12 assists.
Jonathan Cristini, another of the 20-year-olds, and James McIntosh had the other Spirit goals. Archibald, a standout all series, had two assists.
Trevor O’Neill earned the win for the Spirit, which was outshot 39-33.
Huntsville may have taken the Spirit too lightly, especially early in the series.
“They gave us some pretty good bulletin-board material,” said Sullivan of the confident Otters.
The Spirit will play the defending national champion Aurora Tigers for the North title for the third straight year. Aurora won last year and the Spirit in 2006.
“Aurora is so well coached, it will be another good series,” said Sullivan of his third trip to the conference final in three years with the team. “It will be a battle, just like the last two years.”
Trivino was enjoying handshakes and hugs from a large group of relatives who made the trip to Huntsville.
“We can enjoy this tonight,” the Etobicoke resident said. “Then it’s back to work tomorrow.”
The North final is expected to begin Friday night in Aurora.

SURPRISING SPIRIT FORCE 7TH AND DECIDING GAME
March 2, 2008
Courtesy Stouffville Sun-Tribune/yorkregion.com By Jim Mason

The Huntsville Muskoka Otters didn’t expect their Provincial Jr. A Hockey League North Conference semifinal with the Stouffville Spirit to go the distance, but it will.

Game 7 in the best-of-seven will be played Tuesday night in Huntsville.

The younger Spirit saw to that with a plucky 3-1 win in front of a season-high 810 fans, including a large contingent from Huntsville, at the Stouffville Arena Sunday afternoon.

Huntsville finished first in the North and earned a first-round playoff bye, while third-place Stouffville was sweeping Couchiching in the opening round.

It was all about the Stouffville power play, on the score sheet and outside the post-game dressing rooms Sunday.

“We definitely thought it wouldn’t have taken this long to win this,” said Corey George, an Uxbridge resident traded to Huntsville from Lindsay Jan. 4. “But they’re getting under our skin and we’re taking the penalties. And they’ve got a good power play.

“We’ll have to play with more composure Tuesday.”

George himself has 39 minutes in penalties and misconducts in five games of the series.

Ethan Werek scored two nearly identical power play goals for the Spirit in the second period on setups from Mark Sullivan. Darren Archibald had given the Spirit a 1-0 lead after one period.

“We’ve made some changes to the power play and it’s working,” said Werek, a prospect for the 2009 NHL draft who will play at Boston University that fall.

Huntsville was outshot 40-25. Still, Spirit netminder Trevor O’Neill was outstanding, especially in the third period on several Huntsville flurries.

Werek’s father bought a piece of the Spirit when he was playing tyke in Stouffville. After seeing many a playoff game from seats, the 16-year-old is happier on the ice.

“To skate out into a full house in Stouffville is something,” the Pickering College student said. “Last year, I was watching this and now I get a chance to play in it. You look up at the crowd and you can’t help but be tickled.”