So if you have been following sports news or sports on the web here in Southern Ontario, you will be aware by now that the Orangeville Northmen have repeated as Minto Cup Champions.

This is a large accomplishment for the young men on the Northmen because it is hard enough to will the cup once, but winning it for a second consecutive year is a feat that they should be quite proud of. They proved again Sunday night that they were the best team. Brampton put up a gutsy fight but in the end the Northmen proved to be the superior team. Proving that their come from behind series win in the eastern final was no fluke.

The final score in Sunday’s game was Orangeville 8, Brampton 4. The Owen Sound connection of  Adam Jones and Matt MacLeod proved to be to much for the Brampton boys to handle and ulitmately swung the Minto Cup final series in the Northmen’s favor. Those two players aside it was a great team effort by Orangeville.

They played a great bend but not break defensive game Sunday, not allowing the Brampton offence much in the way of penatration. When they did on occasion, Nick Rose was there to stop the attempt. Rose also deserves special mention stopping 42 of 46 shots in the victory,  putting an exclaimation point on his junior career. I am sure his father, Tony was looking down from above with pride.

Although hard as it may be for the Brampton boys to accept right now, they played their hearts out and can hold their heads high even in defeat. They gave the Northmen all they could handle and every game these two teams played against one another was a knock down drag em out affair. Allsports would like to give special mention to Kyle Rubisch who in allsports eyes, is the best junior aged defensive player in the country.

To prove the point Rubisch was assigned the task of handling Adam Jones. He did a great job for the most part but there were three occasions where Rubisch was not on the floor when Jones was and Jones made the most of the opportunity by scoring twice.

In closing allsports would like to thank the members of both teams for an exciting and well played series. There were no losers here, the boys gave it their best with some great lacrosse action. The 2009 Minto Cup in Brampton was a huge success and the fans were entertained with some great lacrosse.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

P.S. A special thanks to Denis and Becky Pellerin for there photographic additions to allsports posts. Denis, as I have said before, has a great knack for capturing the moment. You can see all of his great shots at Pellerins Photography.

Allsports here with a Minto Cup sports news update for sports on the web.

Well it was another nail biter at the Powerade Center last night. Nick Rose was allowed to play in the game due to a ruling change in 2008 that allsports was not aware of. I must apologize for the misinformation. The illegal equipment issue  became a minor penalty  in a major level championship with no suspension.

There was a ceremony at the beginning of the contest to honor the men that were involved in Bramptons last Minto Cup championship 50 years ago. They were the champions from 1957 through to 1959 and the surviving members of the team were rightfully honored at center floor before the game.

Andrew Potter won the “BOBBY ALLAN” award for League scoring Champion

Matt Sawyer being the utter moron that he is, sent his team out onto the floor during the ceremony. The mental midgets in the stands started cheering and the whole ceremony was interrupted due to this classless act. This redneck mentality just proved one thing to allsports. You may have a very good lacrosse team but you have NO CLASS what so ever and are so busy with your naval gazing with your small town minds and your little bubble of a universe that you have no respect for the game, the history or the etiquette that should be associated with being a true champion. So on that note alone, Allsports hopes the Northmen get their ass kicked tonight because it would be and embarrassment to have the Northmen as Canadian Champions of the game which Allsports loves.

You may be a good team, even a great team Northmen, but with a moron like Matt Sawyer at the helm you will always be little League where it matters most, in the respect department. In closing I hope the Canadian Lacrosse Association got an eye full of your B.S. Antics and fines your ass big. Champions or not after that display you will always be bottom dwellers.

Michael Burke Nick Rose

Now that I have said what needed to be said lets move on with the other awards and the game itself. Adam Jones of the Northmen, won the “JIM VELTMAN” outstanding player of the year award, Michael Burke won the “JOEY NIEUWENDYK AWARD” for rookie of the year and Kyle Rubisch, the Brampton captain won the “JOHN ‘GUS’ MCCAULEY MEMORIAL AWARD“  as defensive player of the year. Nick Rose won the “ROBERT MELVILLE MEMORIAL AWARD” for outstanding goaltending, he shared it with Dillion Ward. There were others players honored but allsports just concentrated on the ones in the game.

Adam Jones Kyle Rubisch

The game itself was another Gem with lots of action at both ends of the floor. Both teams were neck and neck with shots on goal and scoring chances. Adam Jones was the dominant player on the floor last night and it was a good thing for the Northmen that he was. Jones, an Owen Sound native was responsible for five of the Northmen’s eight goals, without him Orangeville would not even have been in it.

Brampton held a 2-1 lead after the first period and seemed to have more of the play in the second. As I said Adam Jones was the main reason Orangeville was still in the game after two periods. That and the fact that Nick Rose was giving Orangeville good goaltending and outplayed Steve Fryer on the night. There were a couple of goals that Steve would have liked to have had back.

In the third period the teams were knotted at eight, when with 4:24 left on the game clock, McGourty penetrated the Northmen defence and beat Rose with a bounce shot. Dane Stevens added an insurance marker shortly after and Cam Flint added an empty net goal to seal the victory. The final score was Brampton 11, Orangeville 8. Setting up the finale tonight.

All B.S. aside the lacrosse on the floor has been great entertainment. These young men have played their hearts out and given the fans some “edge of their seat” action. The way the two teams have played the games it has made for a very successful Minto Cup. There is not a loser on either side and no matter the outcome both teams can hold their heads high. It’s just too bad that only one team can lay claim to the Trophy.

Pictures are courtesy of Pellerins Photography.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

P.S. Congradulations to the Brampton Majors for winning the major series east title. They defeated a very strong Peterbourgh Lakers side 4-2, to claim the prize and earn the right to go out west to play the New Westminster Salmonbellies and try to defend their Mann Cup title.

Well if you were not at the first game of the Minto Cup final last night you missed a great battle. Allsports here, for his Minto Cup sports news for sports on the web.

The first game of the Minto Cup final being played at the Powerade Center in Brampton is in the books. It was a seesaw battle with some drama at the end. Brampton came out wearing special jerseys to commemorate the 2009 Minto Cup.

Brampton came out strong to start the game and had Orangeville back on their heels in building a 3-0 lead. The Northmen got a couple back in the latter half of the first period and the clubs went to the dressing rooms with Brampton holding a 4-2 lead.

The second period started with Orangeville coming out swinging. Matt McLeod took the game over for the Northmen, scoring three second period goals to push his team into the lead after two. He finished the game with four markers and was Ornageville’s player of the game.

Matt McLeod

Brampton collected themselves during the second intermission and started the third determined to make a game of it. They outscored the Northmen but the hole they dug themselves in the second proved to be too deep and they ended up falling by a final score of 10-9. Orangeville’s winning goal had a bit of aroma to it but that’s the way the ball bounces.

Then the bit of last minute drama started. Brampton was trailing 10-9 with 33 seconds left in the game and Orangeville had the ball with a fresh 30 second clock. Brian Beisel, Brampton’s head coach was desperate to get the ball back. He asked for a measurement on Nick Rose’s leg pads. It worked, the pads were illegal and Rose was assessed a penalty, ejected from the game and given a game misconduct.

Nick Rose Steve Fryer

Dillon Ward had to come in for the final seconds of the game and ended up stopping Andrew Potter”s shot with about 10 seconds left. Rose’s ejection does have repercussions for game two however. He can’t play in game two tonight so Ward will have to carry the mail for the Northmen. Allsports wondered how the poor kid slept last night knowing the task ahead of him. He has not seen the floor for much of the whole playoffs and could be thrown to the wolves so to speak in what could arguably be the biggest game of his career.

Matt Sawyer chirped off after the game about Beisel making a cheap call. Well sorry Mr. Sawyer if the roles had been reversed you would be the first to do exactly what Beisel did. Your job is to try and win the game. It is not like Rose has not been called before for using illegal equipment. So suck it up, you got caught cheating and now you may have to pay the price. Quite your crying and play the game. Look in the mirror before you bring someone elses character into question.

Pictures are courtesy of Pellerins Photography.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

So here is the update on the Minto Cup sports news story for sports on the web.

It is going to be an all Ontario Minto Cup final this year. Last night in the Minto Cup semi- final the host Brampton Excelsiors took it to the Coquitlam Adanacs, beating them by a 12-6 final score. Brampton had rested about 5 key players for the game the previous night and came out from the start meaning business. The host squad was up 2-0 about three minutes into the game and never trailed.

Coquitlam got as close as a 6-5 score but Brampton pulled away in the third period and controlled the ball for the better part of the game. Strong defence was the name of the game for the Excelsiors as they out shot the visitors from BC by a 56-35 count.

So now Brampton gets one more crack at the Orangeville Northmen for Canadian Junior “A” box lacrosse bragging rights. The final is set to start tomorrow night at 8 PM (Friday August 28th). With game two set to go on Saturday at 8 PM. It is a “best of three” final so game three will go on Sunday at 8 PM if it is required.

The way these two teams have matched up all year allsports figures it is a good bet that there will be a game on Sunday. They played each other twice in the regular season, seven times in the eastern final and once so far in the Minto Cup round robin. Orangeville holds the edge in games by a 6-3-1 count.

That does not matter now. Brampton’s whole mind set now is forget about what has happened, win two games and your the champions.

Pictures are courtesy of Pellerins Photography.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

Well the Minto Cup sports news update for sports on the web from tonight is that both games were as close as they could get.

Orangeville Northmen beat the Edmonton Eclipse by a score of 10-9, while the host Brampton Excelsiors lost a close one to the Coquitlam Adanacs to the tune of 11-10. So now the round robin portion of the tournament is over. Edmonton having lost all of their games, goes home. While Brampton and Coquitlam will do it all over again tomorrow night in the semi final.

The winner will then face Orangeville in a “best of three” final for the Minto Cup. The semi final should be a very close game and could go either way. Neither team dressed their full squad for the round robin game, choosing to keep some suprises for the semi final. Orangeville is looking like the favourite to retain the Minto Cup at this point but anything can happen in this game.

Pictures are courtesy of Pellerins Photography.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

Today will be a quick Minto Cup sports news update for sports on the web. There were no games last night as all of the teams had an off day.

From the action Sunday night, we had the following results

5:00 p.m. COQUITLAM ADANACS (11) vs. Edmonton Eclipse (6) Scoring Link. The game was closer than the score would indicate as Coquitlam scored a couple of empty net goals as time wound down.
8:00 p.m. ORANGEVILLE (8) vs. Brampton (5) Scoring Link. Brampton dug themselves a big hole early in the contest and trailed 4-0 at one point. They tried to rally but could not overcome the early deficit.

The teams are back at it today with Orangeville taking on Edmonton at 5:00 PM and Brampton battling Coquitlam at 8:00 PM. Edmonton will have to play the game of their lives to keep it close with Orangeville, while the Brampton/Coquitlam game should be a more spirited affair.

Orangeville should win by 10 goals or more and the host Brampton team should beat Coquitlam by a 3-5 goal spread.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

It has been a while since I have written some sports on the web and this time it was not due to Lacrosse commitments with my daughters. No I took a few days off up at the cottage to recharge the old batteries before the Minto Cup.

Up at the cottage the signal strength is pretty poor so you can’t get internet access there. Half the time you are lucky to even get a strong enough signal to make a cell phone call or receive one.

Anyway our fare City of Brampton is the host for the Minto Cup this year. What is the Minto Cup, you may ask. Well it is the cup awarded to the best Junior “A” box Lacrosse team in Canada. The action started last night with our host team, The Brampton Excelsiors opening with a convincing 14-3 win over the Edmonton Eclipse, while the Orangeville Northmen took care of the Coquitlam Adanacs by a score of 16-8.

It is allsports opinion that the Alberta based clubs are not quite ready to compete for the Minto Cup. I understand that they are trying to grow the game out in Alberta but you have to walk before you run and the teams from the province are not at the level of the teams from Ontario and BC.

Early indications would be that the two teams from the east are the strongest and should fight it out in the final. Brampton lost the eastern championship to Orangeville, loosing 4-3 in the best of seven series. Brampton had been up 3-0 at one point but just could not finish off the Northmen who deserve credit for not giving in. Now the Northmen are in the Brampton boys heads a bit instead of the other way around. We will see what happens tonight as the two teams square off at 8 PM at the Powerade Center. If the officials let the boys play good tough lacrosse I like Brampton’s chances, but if they call a bunch of cheap penalties, Orangeville has the advantage because they have more guys that can finish and score.

All in all it should be a good week for some entertaining lacrosse. The tournament runs from Saturday August 22nd until Sunday August 30th. All of the games are at the Powerade Center. Click Here for the schedule. Allsports friend Dennis Pellerin will be looking after the action photo’s and pictures for my game posts and will be courtesy of Pellerins Photography.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb