Submitted by Eastern Ontario Wild ‘AAA’
The Eastern Ontario Wild Major Bantam AAA Team’s storybook season continues after posting a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators in Playoff Final action on Tuesday, March 13 at Casselman Arena.
They were crowned the OEMHL-AAA Major Bantam League Champions and the esteemed ODHA/ODMHA representative to advance to the All-Ontario Provincial Championships. The Wild took the seven-point series by a count of 7-3 over the Sens, who finished second to the Wild during the regular season.
The Finals lived up to everyone’s expectations as both teams thrilled the crowds with highly skilled and fast-paced action. Spectators had to continually remind themselves that they were watching 14-15-year-old players compete.
Three of the games ended up in draws, with game #4 tied by the Wild with 30 seconds remaining in the game. The Wild’s head coach, Steve Malette, stated: “Good teams find a way to win and we have learned that you must play hard between the whistles and continue to play until the final buzzer sounds.”
The success of this team over the past two seasons continues to astonish the local hockey community. With an unprecedented roster of the same 17 players as last season, something typically unheard of at any competitive hockey level, this team pursued the team motto that “Success is a Choice!” by working to achieve the Team’s ultimate goal of making it to the Provincials. This would not have occurred without their continual hard work and commitment as a team.
The Wild finished the 2011/12 season in first place with 47 points after posting an amazing win-loss-tie record of 23-4-1. This was 2 points better than the Team’s 45-point total last season (20-3-5), which also placed this Wild team at the top of the regular season standings in the Minor Bantam Division.
The Team’s following accomplishments over the past two seasons have vaulted them to the all-time most successful Wild team of record; and, possibly even within the OEMHL-AAA league:
2011/12 – Major Bantam AAA
- Champions – 2011/12 OEMHL-AAA Playoffs
- Champions – 2011/12 OEML-AAA Regular Season (1st team since the inception of AAA hockey in the National Capital area (2007) to be crowned regular season champion for two consecutive seasons at the OEMHL-AAA Bantam level)
- Champions – 2011 Woodchuck Classic AAA Tournament
- Champions – 2011 Bantam Icefest AAA Tournament
- Semi-Finalist: Frank Selke Conference – 2011 Toronto Marlies AAA Holiday Classic Tournament
2010/11 – Minor Bantam AAA
- Finalists – 2010/11 OEMHL AAA Playoffs
- Champions – 2010/11 OEMHL-AAA Regular Season
- Champions – 2010 Markham Majors AAA Tournament
- Champions – 2010 Bantam Icefest AAA Tournament
- Finalists – 2010 Ottawa Senators AAA Shootout
- Semi-Finalists – 2010 Kitchener Blueline AAA Tournament
- Semi-Finalists – 2011 Oshawa Spirit AAA Tournament
The Team’s first game at the Provincials is set for Monday, March 26, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. when they will face off against the representative of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA). We wish the team the best of luck at the Provincials and we can rest assured that the OEMHL/ODMHA/ODHA will be well represented by this Wild Team!