Ontario Hockey Association

Tecumseh 5 at Elmira 3    photos

The Tecumseh Chiefs defeated the Elmira Sugar Kings 5-3 on Saturday to complete a four-game sweep of the of the GOJHL championship series and claim their first-ever Sutherland Cup, emblematic of Junior 'B' hockey supremacy in the Ontario Hockey Association.

Dan Reaume's second goal of the game at 7:02 of the third period broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be the cup-winning goal. Travis Ouellette added an insurance marker at 17:41 to seal the championship for the Chiefs.

The Sugar Kings did not go down easliy as they overcame a 3-1 deficit with goals by Garrett Rank and Jeremy Hilliard 20 seconds apart early in the third.

The power play proved to be the difference as the Chiefs scored three --including both in the third period -- with the man-advantage while the Sugar Kings had just one goal on the power play. Both teams had six power play opportunities.

For the series, the Chiefs held a decided advantage on the power play, scoring six times in 20 opportunities for a 30% success rate, while the Sugar Kings were just three for 30 (10%).

The Chiefs outshot the Sugar Kings 48-45 in the game and held a 190-156 advantage overall in shots in the four games. Only in game two in Elmira did the Sugar Kings outshoot the Chiefs (44-31).

Ryan Viselli, who had been held to just one assist in the first three games, led the Chiefs with a goal and two assists. Ouellette, David Sharpe and Garrett Wilson each had two-points for the Chiefs.

Brock Zinken scored the other Elmira goal and added an assist.

Chiefs netminder Jonathan Hunter made 42 saves for the win. Hunter played every minute of the Chiefs' eight games in the Sutherland Cup competition, going 7-1 with a 2.65 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Dan Morrison stopped 43 of 48 shots faced for the Sugar Kings.

Saturday's win marks the end of an impressive run by the Chiefs who recorded an overall post-season record of 19-3. Since losing the opening game of the WOHL final to the London Nationals, the Chiefs won 11 of their last 12 games against the top-ranked teams in the GOJHL, outscoring their opponents 55-30.

This marks the first time in the 75-year history of the Sutherland Cup that it has been won by a team from Essex County. The closest the trophy has come in proximity to Essex was in 1999 when the Chatham Maroons won their first and only crown.

The Chiefs are just the fourth WOHL/Western Junior 'B' team to win the OHA Sutherland Cup in the modern era of the loop (1979). The other three were the St. Thomas Stars (1987), the Chatham Maroons (1999) and the Sarnia Blast (2002).