Mississauga, ON - The GTHL’s Mississauga Rebels are finally satisfied after capturing the 2010 OHL Cup Championship in a thrilling 2-1 victory over the heavily favoured Toronto Marlboros Sunday afternoon at the Hershey Centre.
Sean Monahan capped off an impressive tournament for the Rebels with two points including the game-winning goal and took home the Tim Adams Memorial Trophy as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Monahan, the Rebels’ captain, led the tournament in scoring with seven goals and six assists for 13 points in seven games, including a five-point performance Sunday morning as Player of the Game in their 5-3 semi-final win over the TPH Thunder.
2010 OHL Cup - Day 5 - Images by OHL Images
“It feels great and is an honour to win this tournament” Monahan said after hoisting the OHL Cup over his head and celebrating with his teammates. “We finally came together as a family and won this as a team after struggling a lot this season.”
The Rebels entered the OHL Cup as a wildcard invite after losing to the Mississauga Reps in four straight quarter final games in the GTHL Playoffs. The Rebels went 2-1-1 in round-robin play which included a win over that same Reps team before knocking off the top-ranked Toronto Young Nationals 2-1 in Saturday’s overtime quarter final. Today they faced a Marlies team in the finals they had not beaten all season.
“It’s amazing and great to see the perseverance of these kids and I couldn’t be happier for the boys” said Head Coach Adrian Lomonaco. “We talked about never being satisfied with just being here, they did an amazing job and played with a lot of heart and with a lot of courage.”
The Rebels seemed content to slow things down in the early stages of the game which didn’t see a goal until the 6:57 mark of the third period when Brett Gustavsen deflected a shot up high and over the glove of Jake Paterson for the 1-0 lead from Monahan and Patrick Piacentini. Monahan ripped a shot from the top of the circle to make it 2-0 at 10:16 of the third with an assist credited to Zachary Fung. The Marlies, who led the tournament with 22 goals in seven games, could only find one in this contest. After a late timeout and with an empty net, the Marlies' Kyle Soman roofed a shot from in close after taking a centering pass from Matia Marcantuoni with Matthew Finn also grabbing an assist at 14:19. Marcantuoni was a consistent offensive threat and was named Player of the Game for the Marlies finishing the tournament with five points in seven games.
The Marlies outshot the Rebels 26-23 with Robert Adamo receiving Player of the Game honours for the second straight game for the Rebels with 25 saves.
“Words can’t describe it,” said a happy Adamo, who was called up from Bantam to play goal filling in as the starter when Ty Zastre suffered a round-robin injury. “I love this team and this organization, and winning it with them and for them is truly an honour.”
With the win, not only do the Rebels become the first wildcard team to win an OHL Cup, they showed the parity that exists between the top minor midget teams this tournament has to offer.
“This truly is the best tournament just based on the competition that exists” said Rob Kitamura, the OHL’s Director of Central Scouting and Player Development. “The Rebels showed that it is about coming together at the right time and performing when it counts. “So many of these games were close and their win today is a testament to the number of high quality players we have in our minor hockey development systems which makes this tournament an annual success.”
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Game story written by Paul Krotz/OHL
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