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RECAP: U16 AA Rangers beat hometown Canadians to earn #RedHats

By Stuart Miller-Davis, 04/04/22, 4:45PM EDT

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OMHA AA Championships wrapup from Kingston

The Oakville Rangers claimed the #RedHats in hostile territory in Kingston finishing the U16 AA OMHA Championships presented by Egg Farmers of Ontario undefeated. 

The visitors, although technically the home team in the final game due to seeding, defeated the Kingston Canadians 4-2 in a game where spectators filled the Invista Centre’s seats and lined the rink at ice level from bench to bench. 

“It was fun to play in front of that crowd. It was a little intimidating,” said Rangers head coach Les Wilde on the ice after the medals and championship hats had been handed out. “I had some guys that were nervous, but I just told them to play hockey and not worry about the crowd. Once we got up, the crowd kind of went away.” 

The teams met in the first game of round robin with the Rangers emerging with a 3-2 win on the back of a three goal second period. 

“I was expecting exactly the way they played in the first game,” Wilde said about rematch with the Canadians “They played physical, they were on the puck hard, and they played a good game. They played us hard the first time and we expected the same thing the second time.”

In the final, Oakville fell behind 2-1 midway through the first period, but rallied with a strike late in the period. They added a goal in the second and an empty net goal late in the third to the dismay of the hometown crowd. 

Goaltender Johnnie Krush was named the player of the game in the final and made some key stops with his team ahead by one in the third to secure the win. 

The Rangers advanced to the final besting the Garden City Minor Falcons 3-1 in their semi-final match-up. In five games, Oakville outscored their opponents 22-8 while never allowing more than two goals in a game. 

The U16 AA champs won a pair of trophies earlier in the season going undefeated at the Silver Stick tournament in Stratford, and the Brian Steele Early Bird tournament.

“It’s amazing. We worked hard for this,” Wilde said about winning the OMHA championship. “We were a top team all year but had a couple of flops in our league playoffs and the Silver Stick (Newmarket). To get here with three or four players injured was tremendous for these boys.”

In the other championships, played in the Limestone City, #RedHats and medals were awarded to the Halton Hills Thunder (U10 AA), Oakville Rangers (U11 AA) and Milton Winterhawks (U18 AA). 

The OMHA Championships presented by Egg Farmers of Ontario wrap up next weekend with winners being crowned across U10 to U21 age groups. Games will be held in Barrie, Kingston, Whitby and Windsor, in divisions from AA to Tier 3.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stuart Miller-Davis is a student in the Sport Journalism program at Centennial College. Follow him on Twitter @StumillerDavis

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