Jr. Hounds fall just short of title after epic day of overtime

The U15 AA Soo Jr. Greyhounds returned with silver from this past weekend's Minor Hockey Championships in Oakville — but it was the team's grit and determination that really turned heads during the tournament.

The Jr. Greyhounds earned their spot in the championship game after winning a three-and-a-half-hour game that went into a fourth overtime period. Less than three hours later, they were back on the ice for the championship game of tournament — which also went into overtime.

All told, the local team played more than 10 periods of hockey in less than 10 hours, falling just short of the gold after losing in the championship.

Below is the full press release from the team:

The U15 AA Soo Jr. Greyhounds turned many heads this past weekend at the U15 AA Ontario Hockey Federation’s (OHF’s) Minor Hockey Championships in Oakville, Ont.

Led by head coach Mike Fera and assistant coaches Jason Borrelli, John Bossio and Ken Belanger, the U15 AA Soo Jr. Greyhounds finished their regular season in second place, just behind Nickel City Sons and just in front of Copper Cliff Reds. Their playoff journey began the weekend of March 21, 2024 when they travelled to North Bay, Ont. for the U15 AA NOHA Tournament of Champions (TOC). Despite a tough first day in the round robin, the team battled back to eventually win the TOC against the Nickel City Sons, earning a spot at the OHF Championships.

The OHF is made up of four partner organizations; ALLIANCE, GTHL, NOHA and OHMA. These organizations hold their own respective playoffs to determine which team will represent them at the OHF Championships (which only occur for the U13, U15 and U18 age groups). The responsibility of hosting the event rotates amongst the four organizations, with the host organization able to enter two teams (the host team and the qualifying team).

This past weekend the Oakville Rangers Red (OMHA) hosted the U15 AA OHF Championships. The other teams playing included London Jr. Knights Green (ALLIANCE), Vaughn Panthers (GTHL), Oshawa Generals (OMHA), and of course the Soo Jr. Greyhounds (NOHA).

The Jr. Greyhounds finished the round robin in second place with two wins and two losses, beating both the Generals (4-2) and the Jr. Knights (3-1), but falling short to the Panthers (4-2) and the Rangers (2-0). This secured them a spot in the semi-finals where they met the Rangers for a second time.

After regulation play plus three full 15-minute 5-on-5 OT periods (about 3.5 hours of hockey) the Jr. Hounds earned a spot in the championship game with a goal in the 4th OT period. It was an epic battle unlike no other. Just three hours later they played in the championship game against the top team in Ontario (Panthers). Despite having just played seven periods of hockey earlier in the day, this group dug deep and took the undefeated Panthers to OT. Unfortunately, the Panthers capitalized first and scored early in the first OT to win the championship. But the perseverance, determination, hard work and sportsmanship of the Jr. Greyhounds did not go unnoticed. The team received an outpouring of support and positivity after the championship game. These boys played over 10 periods of hockey in less than 10 hours!

“Special congratulations are to the Soo Greyhounds for their remarkable performance and perseverance, particularly in their hard-fought battle leading up to the championship game, playing after an exhaustive seven periods of hockey earlier in the same day.” (GTHL)

“Huge props (to the Soo) for playing all that hockey yesterday and still taking Vaughn to the limit.” (OMHA)

“Congratulations to the team on your silver medal and an amazing tournament. The sportsmanship I saw after our seven-period game on Sunday was an amazing display of sportsmanship and for me as a coach is as impactful as was the epic battle the two teams put on. I am still amazed your crew had the energy to take Vaughn to OT. Those two games you played in semi/finals are without a doubt the highlights of the weekend.” (Oakville Rangers Red)

“All year we preached to the guys the importance of being the hardest workers on the ice, no matter the circumstance,” said head coach Mike Fera. “And they did just that.”

Fera noted that “it’s a huge feat just to make it to the OHF’s, but to make some noise and push a top team in the championship game is something to really be proud of, especially after a semi-final game like the one we had. We/they will talking about this day for a long time.”

This was the second appearance at the OHF’s for Fera and assistant coach Jason Borrelli, who took the U13 AA Soo Jr. Greyhounds to the championship game at the U13 AA OHF Championships in 2022.

“To be able to experience this a second time has been an incredible experience and an amazing honour,” said Fera. He added that “it feels good to not only represent the North, but stand tall and hold our own with the top southern Ontario teams.”