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Bell win marks third tourney win for minor midget AA Rangers The Oakville m inor m idget AA R angers Red rode an 11-gam e un­ beaten streak into the Christm as break and they carried it on by w inning their division at the Rich- ard Bell M em orial M inor H ockey Tournam ent title. Ja c k M cK instray scored twice as Oakville doubled the N ew m arket Redm en 4-2 in the final. "W e've got a skilled team, the kids w ork hard and they're dedicat­ ed ," said Oakville coach Jo e Baldin, w hose team claim ed its third tour­ nam ent cham pionship this season. The Rangers did suffer their first lo ss since Nov. 2, falling 2-1 to the Toronto Eagles in round-robin play, b u t they d idn 't have to w ait long to avenge that. Oakville beat the Eagles 3-1 in the Friday 's sem i­ final to earn their sp ot in the final. N ew m arket opened the scoring in the cham pionship gam e, bu t the lead d idn 't last long. It took ju s t 17 seconds for M cK instray to convert Owen Sage's p ass to tie the gam e. Three m inutes later Cole M ad­ dox, battling in front o f the net, re­ directed Trevor C h au 's p ass to give the R angers their first lead. Oakville dominated the second period, outshooting Newmarket 10­ 2, while adding two more goals. First it was McKinstray one-timing Sage's pass from behind the net. Then in the final minute of the period, Chau broke in on the wing and fired a shot over the goalie's shoulder. N ew m arket got one b ack in the opening m inute o f the third, but A idan O 'Sullivan shut them dow n the rest o f the way, finishing with 14 saves for the win. "Som e o f the boys haven't w on this tournam ent before so w e gave it our all," M cK instray said. The Rangers w ent 2-1-1 in round-robin play, doublin g Duff- ield 4-2, shutting out Newmar- ket 5-0 and tying Streetsville 3-3. However, the lo ss to the Eagles left them second in their pool behind the Oakville Rangers Blue. W hile the Rangers Red beat the Eagles in the sem ifinals, the oppor­ tunity for an all-Oakville final d is­ appeared w hen N ew m arket edged R angers Blue 3-2. Oakville is 17-3-4 in Tri-County H ockey League play, allow ing less than two goals against per gam e while averaging ju s t under four goals per gam e. -- Herb Garbutt Minor peewee A Rangers end slump with Bell win over Whitby The Oakville Rangers w ent into the C hristm as break needing som ething to get back on track. T he Rangers started the m inor peewee A season 13-4-2, b u t a 3-6-1 stretch through D ecem ber dropped the team to fifth place. Their hom etow n tournam ent seem ed like the ideal w ay to turn things around and the R angers an­ sw ered the Bell. Sam M ann scored twice, includ­ ing the gam e winner, as Oakville edged W hitby 4-3 to claim its divi­ sion at the Richard Bell M em orial M inor H ockey Tournam ent. "We were in a bit o f slide ," said Rangers coach Paul W ilson, w hose team w as a perfect 6-0 at the tour­ nam ent. "H opefully this is w hat we needed to get go ing again ." "T h is w ill give u s som e m om en­ tum going into the p layoffs," said M ann, w ho also scored the over­ tim e winner in the R angers' 5-4 sem ifinal victory over W elland. Oakville built a 3-0 lead through two periods and W ilson cautioned his team to not let its opponent back in the game. W hitby charged out of the gate, cutting the lead to one by the five-minute m ark of the third. "It's not often w e get a flood be­ tween periods and w e ju s t cam e out a little flat," W ilson said. M ann w ould give the Rangers a little breathing room by putting in h is ow n rebound w ith 5 :37 to play. T hat w ould prove to be an im portant goal as W hitby scored w ith ju s t over a m inute to play to pull w ithin one bu t couldn 't get the equalizer. Oakville struck early as M ann converted M atthew M adeley's pass ju s t 50 secon ds into the gam e. Be­ fore the end o f the period, W illiam W eldrick took M atthew D rennan's p ass from the corner at the edge of the crease and lifted it over the W hitby netminder. Ranger goalie Ja c k L isson stopped a breakaw ay early in the second allow ing Oakville to in­ crease its lead to 3-0 w hen A dam Green stole the p u ck along the boards, cut through the circle and fired a sh ot over the shoulder of the W hitby goalie. "It w as ju s t getting back to w hat w e've been enforcing all year," W ilson said o f the team 's play in the tournam ent. "We alw ays get a good effort, it w as ju s t a m atter of execution ." -- Herb Garbutt Ventresca goal gives Rangers minor peewee AE title a t Bell tourney C oach M ark Afheldt says his players' w illingness to p ass the p u ck has been a hallm ark o f his Oakville R angers m inor peewee A E team. T hat could easily have d isap­ peared after the Rangers let a three- goal lead slip away in the final of the Richard Bell M em orial M inor H ockey Tournam ent. Instead, they stu ck by that philosophy even w hen they needed som eone to de­ liver a b ig goal. Playing the W hitby W ildcats, w ho Oakville edged in five gam es in last year's Ontario M inor H ock­ ey A ssociation (OM HA) final, the Rangers were tied 4-4 w hen Lucas Ventresca broke in on the w ing with less than three m inutes to play. "We ju s t w anted to get another goal to take som e o f the pressure off," Ventresca said. Rather than take the shot himself, Ventresca tried to pass it into the slot. His pass w as blocked and as he continued toward the net, it came right back to him. Ventresca fired a quick shot that beat the W hitby goalie to restore Oakville's lead. Willem Afheldt and Ventresca add­ ed empty-net goals to seal Oakville's 7-4 win and the division title. T hough the Rangers beat W hitby in the deciding gam e o f last year's OM HA final, it w as the W ildcats that held the upper hand going into the Bell final. W hitby edged the Rangers 3-2 in round-robin play, catching the R angers on a line change for the w inning goal. Oakville caught W hitby off guard in the final. Sam H enderson opened the scoring and four m inutes later Ethan Jackson m ade it 2-0. Early in the third Em m ett Zahary stole the p u ck along the boards in his own end, carried it dow n the ice and centred to Jack son , w ho fired it hom e for his second o f the game. "(O ur goals) are not necessar­ ily pretty plays, they com e dow n to determ ination and effort," the R angers' coach said. W hitby responded 17 seconds late, b u t Griffin Gualt restored the three-goal advantage, beating the W ildcat goalie w ith a w rist shot. A gain W hitby answered within a m inute and pulled w ithin one in the opening m inute o f the third. W ith 5:28 to play, W hitby evened the score and to m ake m atters w orse, starting goalie Ian Arnott w as in jured on the play. Jo sh u a Ar- baca cam e in and w as im m ediately called upon to m ake a save on a two-on-one break. "We were trying to protect the lead, but it's very easy to get back on your heels," Afheldt said. "But once we tied it, our guys stepped it up ." W hitby handed Oakville its only lo ss o f the tournam ent, 3-2, in round-robin play. Oakville opened the tournam ent with a 2-1 w in over the Oakville R angers Selects, then doubled C aledon 4-2. After the lo ss to Whitby, it again beat the Selects More coverage of Bell tournament • The bantam AA Rangers Red squad , on a tear w ith a 20-1-4 start to the season , w as upset in the cham pionship gam e o f the R ich­ ard Bell M em orial H ockey Tour­ nam ent w hen N orthum berland N ighthaw ks scored three goals in two m inutes in a 4-2 victory. The story is available at bit.ly/2CEwfh8. • Leading with less than five m inutes to play, the Oakville m inor bantam A R angers ended up losing 3-2 in double overtim e to the Burl­ ington Eagles in the cham pionship gam e. Full report at bit.ly/2lIxKCP • O akville's M arco Laurencic scored w ith 18 secon ds left in reg­ ulation time to force overtim e, but the Halton H urricanes connected in the second overtim e period to win the m inor bantam AAA cham ­ pionsh ip gam e 4-3. 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