Collingwood Blues fans whooped it up at home inside Eddie Bush Memorial Arena during the 2023 OJHL final. Big crowds are anticipated again in Collingwood and Trenton when the Blues and Golden Hawks meet in the OJHL Nutrafarms Championship Series for the second straight year beginning with two games in Collingwood this weekend. (Photo by Tim Bates/OJHL Images)
By Ron Valentine
The participants in the Nutrafarm Championship Series for the Ontario Junior Hockey League title remain the same from a year ago.
The defending champion Collingwood Blues took the Western conference regular season crown with 49 wins, 6 losses and 1 overtime defeat for 99 points. In the East the Trenton Golden Hawks reigned supreme with a record of 43 victories, 11 defeats, a tie and an overtime loss for 88 points.
They’ll play, beginning with two games in Collingwood this weekend, for the Buckland Cup and a berth in next month’s Centennial Cup national championship tournament.
In the playoffs to date, the Blues have won 12 of their 13 games while the Golden Hawks have also won 12 with two losses in 14. Collingwood got past Brantford, Oakville and Leamington to reach the final while Trenton topped Stouffville, the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and the Cobourg Cougars.
The Blues hoisted the championship trophy after Game 5 in 2023. The two teams met just once in regular season play this season with Collingwood winning 3-0 at the Governors’ Showcase in Buffalo Sept. 26.
Returning players from the 2023 playoff squad for the Blues are goalie Noah Pak, defencemen Cameron Eke, Ryan Cook and Ethan Broderick plus forwards Dylan Hudon (the club captain), Mark McIntosh, Jack Silverman, Marcus Lougheed and Spencer Young. Lougheed and Damen Boose are the only two players on the roster born in Collingwood.
For the Golden Hawks, coming back from last year are captain Adam O’Marra, David Fournier, blueliner Dillon Stiles and goalkeeper Ben Bonisteel.
Going into the OJHL championship series Trenton’s Fournier has 22 playoff points (1.57 per game) two more than the Blues’ Young on 20. O’Marra is at 18, Hudon has 16. Ben Pickell, the former Pickering Panther turned Golden Hawk, is at 15.
Jack Rimmer, who played for the North York Rangers in 2022-23, has 14 points for Collingwood. The ‘Hawks Corbin Roach has 13. Blues’ rookie Landon Wright is on 12, one ahead of four other players who round out the top 20 and ties with 11, Lougheed, Silverman and Trenton’s Barret Joynt and Taeo Artichuk, the ex-OHLer.
Both goalies have 100 percent appearance records in the postseason. Pak sports a 1.40 goals against average and a save percentage of .948 with three shutouts. Bonisteel weighs in with GAA of 1.95, a save percentage of .935 and a shutout. Between them in the postseason they have allowed 48 goals in a combined 27 games.
In their 13 postseason contests the Blues have scored 53 goals and allowed only 20. The Golden Hawks in 14 games have 57 goals while allowing 30. Collingwood has a 30.4 percent success rate on their powerplay while Trenton is at 26.2. In shorthanded situations the Blues are at 92.3 percent and the ‘Hawks 80.7. The Blues have scored shorthanded six times, including three by Young, the ‘Hawks three.
Collingwood head coach Andrew Campoli has some unfinished business to attend to: “The big thing for us is motivation. We remember our loss to Ottawa at last season’s national championship in Portage-la-Prairie and we want to take that extra step as our season’s goal. Having said that we know that the series against Trenton will be a tough one, they finished first on their side for a reason.”
“We have nine guys returning plus others who were on the periphery last season and we are all hungry. Like most clubs we had to face some adversity in the regular season but our new additions blended in well and we have, I feel, the best goalie at the junior level in Canada (in Pak).”
“The series will be played in front of two sets of very emotional and enthusiastic fan bases and the excitement will be at a high level in all the games. I’m not looking to change much after our regular season and the playoffs so far. The win in the Oakville series was a big one for us and the one with Leamington had some different challenges for us, but we got through by playing to our strengths.”
“We are relatively healthy as a group and if we stick to our structure we can get the results that we want against Trenton. We have three playoff rounds under our belt that we have learned things from and you never stop learning, nothing can be taken for granted and the players under Dylan’s great leadership all realize this. He has shouldered the responsibilities of the ‘C’ as we totally expected him to do.”
“The success we have had in Collingwood comes from our president Dave Steele, our general manager Mike Tarantino, our director of hockey operations Jordan Selinger, my coaching staff and our tremendous support staff and volunteers, but in the end it all comes down to our players and what they can do on the ice.”
Captain Hudon is in his third season in a Blues’ uniform during which time he has amassed 167 regular season and playoff points. He will be heading to University of Guelph this Fall. The Rockwood native is ready for some stirring action: “It will definitely be a close series with Trenton. They have a lot of guys who can put the puck in the net. We have got to stick to our structure and play our way in order for us to come out winners. It will be exciting to play them and it will no doubt add to what’s been a competitive rivalry.”
Trenton head coach Derek Smith is in his first term behind the bench, he previously spent five seasons mentoring the Wellington Dukes who he captained in 2003-04 before heading to Lake Superior State prior to a long career as a blueliner in the NHL. He knows it will not be easy: “It will come down to which team wants it more and it’s my job to have the team ready. We were a little inconsistent in the Cobourg series and the first two against Stouffville and the Jr Canadiens, although they were sweeps, were not easy games. We have been watching quite a bit of video because we only played the Golden Hawks once and that was very early in the season.”
“With the two teams returning to do battle for the Buckland Cup it ensures a great rivalry. We are happy with how our season has gone overall but the job’s not done yet. Our four returning guys are a foundation but we also have Pickell and Lucas Lapalm who played on a championship team in Pickering. The younger guys have now gone through three playoff rounds to get the experience they need. We are really looking forward to a battle of the goalies. Like Pak, who has a great future in hockey, Ben has had a super year for us, he is like a second coach on the ice, not only is he a top goalie he is also a great human being.”
“We have to play to our strengths and try to focus on any weaknesses we might see in Collingwood’s game. Of course we want to get to the Centennial Cup in Oakville. Only time will tell. We have been getting terrific support from our fans, the guys love to see them in the stands when we are on the road. You have two teams that have good depth at all positions so we are looking forward to an exciting series.”
Captain O’Marra, who will be attending NCAA Division I Robert Morris University this Fall, played a season and a half in Collingwood before moving to Trenton so this series has lots of meaning for him. He has recorded 242 regular season and playoff points between the two clubs plus a goal for the Aurora Tigers in the 2018-19 season: “It’s a great feeling knowing that we have given ourselves the opportunity to play in the Buckland Cup final. Collingwood is a well-coached team that has a lot of skill and grit in their lineup. We believe in our guys and we know that we will have to play our very best to win the series.”
BUCKLAND BIO
The trophy named after Frank J. Buckland was first competed for in 1973 when Mr Buckland was named an OHA Life Member. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975 as a builder. Born in Gravenhurst, he coached hockey in the 1930’s and 1940’s in the Peterborough area. He was named as an OHA executive in 1946 and became president in 1955 for a two-year term. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s he acted as treasurer.
The first winners of the trophy were the Wexford Raiders. The Golden Hawks won the Cup in 2016 defeating the Georgetown Raiders in five games. The following year the Raiders got revenge winning in seven.
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