| Third try for third title the charm |
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| Written by Jon Brazeau | |
| Saturday, 02 January 2010 | |
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Good things certainly come in threes as the Irish Shamrocks captured their third Canadian Multicultural Hockey Championship. After two years of disappointing semi-final losses, the Shamrocks bounced back with a 5-0 win over the Polish Hussars to capture the Canadian Cup at Chesswood Arena in North York on Dec. 30. “We’re pumped. We were heartbroken last year and we really came together this year,” said Irish forward Justin Olden, who scored a pair of goals in the final and was named tournament MVP. “With this team, we just wanted to win so badly this year. We were willing to do anything.” The Shamrocks were poised to clinch the three-peat in 2007 until the Hussars handed them their first loss in franchise history. In 2008, the Shamrocks were knocked out in the semi-finals again, this time by the Israeli Stars of David. Irish general manager and defenceman Ryan Land had to make some difficult decisions in order to ensure his team returned to the top of the mountain. “We had to cut some guys we didn’t want to cut and who had been with us for four years but in order for us to get better we had to do it,” Land said. “We’ve got some young guys out there now and it feels good to win.” The Shamrocks opened the tournament on a roll, winning all four of their round-robin games and finishing first in the Premier Division. But the team didn’t coast through the playoffs and had a scare in the quarter-finals against the Macedonian Lions. The Lions battled back from a 4-2 deficit and tied the game at four goals apiece. The Shamrocks scored late in the third, winning 6-4 and preventing an upset. “It was a little wakeup call but we pulled it together and it feels good,” said Irish centreman Jesse Olden. “Everyone was on the same page and everyone wanted to win.” Following a 10-3 win over the Hellenic Lightning in the semi-finals, it was only fitting that the Irish Shamrocks faced the Polish Hussars for the Canadian Cup. Shamrocks forward Chris Koehler beat Polish goaltender Neil Clelland with a wrist shot over his glove to open the scoring with 3:21 left in the first period. Kyle Jones scored early in the second and minutes later, Justin Olden netted his first goal of the game after Clelland left his crease to play the puck behind the net but Olden picked it off and scored on a wraparound. Olden added his second early in the third period on the power play and Koehler scored his second of the game a minute later with his team on the penalty kill. Irish goaltender T.J. Rudnicki picked up the shutout. Shamrocks head coach Mike Devine praised his players for shutting down the Polish offence as well as not losing their cool and taking costly penalties. “Normally we just get stupid sometimes so we’re happy we played a classy game,” Devine said. “We tried to keep everyone in check. Our guys are so emotional and we want to win but we want to win with class and not win like idiots so it’s great.” It was the Irish Shamrocks’ third title in five years and Devine said the win over the Polish felt “better than the first two.” In the Heritage Division final, the Portuguese Sea Wolves beat the Ukrainian Kozaks, 5-4. The two teams were locked in a 4-4 tie until the final minutes of the third when the Sea Wolves went ahead and held on for the win. It was the first Heritage Bowl win for the Sea Wolves and Portuguese veteran Joey Da Silva picked up the Heritage Division MVP award. The Women’s Division also saw a new champion crowned as the Israeli Maccabees defeated the European Sirens, 2-1. The Maccabees made a return to the league after missing the 2008 tournament. The two teams faced each other in the round-robin, with the Sirens winning 3-1, however, the Maccabees saved their best for the final and came out on top. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 08 January 2010 ) |
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