OMHA - Ontario Minor Hockey Association

OMHA Minor Midget AAA Season Analysis Available

Monday, November 12, 2012

Richmond Hill, ON: - A complete breakdown of every OMHA Minor Midget AAA Team this season is available on each league page of OMHA.net. Written by minor hockey expert Jim Parcels, each analysis carefully examines the team’s roster, history and keys for success.

ETA Analysis
After winning the past two OMHA Championships at Minor Bantam and Bantam the Whitby Wildcats returns twelve key members to their Minor Midget team in 2012-13.

The Wildcats have been coached the past two seasons by CHL/OHL Commissioner David Branch who has been involved with the Whitby Minor Hockey program for the past several years.

Last spring the Wildcats defeated their longtime nemesis, the York-Simcoe Express, 6-3 in the OMHA Final held at Iroquois Park. In Minor Bantam in March 2011, the Wildcats also downed the Express 3-1 for their first OMHA title.

Despite not being at the top of the OMHA leaderboards in either offensive or defensive statistics last season, the Wildcats still found a way of making their way through some of the top clubs from across the province – including Oakville, Brampton and Barrie.

Since the Novice age group, all five clubs in the Bantam AAA Championship Tournament last year have had the Top-Five winning percentage among OMHA teams. Brampton [.764], Oakville [.750], York-Simcoe [.726], Whitby [.717] and Barrie [.711] have been solidly consistent programs for the past seven seasons. Look for the Wildcats, Express and Jr. Colts to press the competition again this season out of the Eastern AAA League.

SCTA Analysis
It’s hard to believe that seven years ago when this year’s Oakville Rangers Minor Midget club started their AAA venture in Novice with a 2-26-4 record and a last place finish in the OMHA’s South Central AAA League. That was 2005-06.

flash forward to 2012-13 and the Oakville Rangers are highly regarded as the early-season favorite to repeat as SCTA champions, compete for the OMHA Championship and an OHL Cup.

Since that first season, the Rangers have gone onto a 171-25-16 regular season record, with 3 consecutive 1st place finishes, two second place showings and 3rd place finish.

This season the SCTA is regarded by some as an overall stronger loop compared to its OMHA Eastern AAA League counterpart in terms of overall talent.

Strangely enough, the SCTA loop has not finished with Gold or Silver at the OMHA Championships since the ’97 age group was in Major Atom in 2008.

That year the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs finished with a Silver against future OHL phenom Connor McDavid and the York-Simcoe Express.

Ironically, the last time an SCTA won the OMHA Championship was the talented Brampton Battalion in 2006 as Major Novices.

But this year could be a different story as Oakville, the Southern Tier Admirals, Grey-Bruce Highlanders and Brampton Battalion are all expected to be among the provincially ranked Minor Midget teams leading up to the OHL Cup next March.

Back