Weedman, Kings capture Mayor's Cup titles

The champions have been decided at the 2007 Mayor's Cup.

In the 35 and Over contest, Weedman skated to a 5–2 win over Boissoneau Bus Lines to claim the bragging rights.

For most of the first period the teams traded the puck back and forth in the neutral zone, before Randy Latvanen put a perfect pass on the stick of Louis Caruso and sent him in on a breakaway. Caruso moved in on Boissoneau Bus Lines goaltender, Rick Pollard, and fired a shot to the low stick side to give Weedman a 1–0 lead at 8:24.

Weedman increased the lead to 2–0, just 53 seconds later, when Tony Greco put a low shot past Pollard, on a feed from Scott Warick. Boissoneau Bus Lines looked a little sluggish to start the game, but turned it up a notch in the second period, only to be turned away by the goaltending of Jim Bergamin in the Weedman net.

With 3:00 remaining in the second period, and Weedman on the power play, a Boissoneau Bus Lines shot from the blue line, took a weird bounce off the glass, and came right to Scott Sloss in the slot. Jim Bergamin made and outstanding save to keep the score 2–0.

Boissoneau Bus Lines took another penalty, and on a 5 on 3 power play, Tony Greco, took a rebound off a Tim Burton shot, and slid the puck into the net to give Weedman a commanding 3–0 lead with 1:54 remaining in the second period.

In the third period, both goaltenders kept the score the same, with Bergamin making several key saves to maintain the 3–0 lead. With two Weedman players in the penalty box, Boissoneau Bus Lines got on the scoreboard when Roch Boucher fired a perfect snap shot past the glove of Bergamin, to give his team some hope.

After calling a time-out, Boissoneau Bus Lines pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker, and with 1:15 remaining in the game, Roch Boucher scored his second of the game in a goalmouth scramble, making the score 3–2.

Ken Dickenson sealed the victory for Weedman with 35 seconds remaining, when he put one into the empty net from centre ice. Bill Carriere added another empty netter to make the final score 5–2 for Weedman. Congratulations to the Weedman team.

In the Open Division championship game, Assante/Mr. Transmission took to the ice with hopes of repeating as Mayor's Cup Champions.

The Soo Kings, Rob Palahnuk, took the wind out of their sails 59 seconds into the game, when he took a pass from Nick Chanis and fired a shot at Assante/Mr. Transmission goaltender, Kevin Sawyer. Sawyer made the save, but Palahnuk took the rebound, skated around Sawyer, and put the puck in from behind the net.

Three minutes later Palahnuk passed the puck to Ken Belanger, on a 2 on 1 break, and Belanger fired it into the empty cage to make the score 2–0 for the Kings.

Assante/Mr. Transmission's Chris Towell, took a puck to the face while sitting on the bench and left the game. He didn't return.

On the power play, Soo Kings', Trevor Robidoux scored in a goalmouth scramble to give the Kings a 3–0 lead. With Assante/Mr. Transmission shorthanded, Derek Belanger's point shot was blocked by Ken Reid. Reid took the puck on a clear cut breakaway and deked to the backhand to put the puck past Kings goaltender, Rob Zago, to make the score 3–1.

Despite spending most of the second period in the penalty box, the Soo Kings managed to score three times, to increase their lead to 6–1. Robidoux and Palahnuk scored their second goals of the game, and league leading scorer this season, Jeff Green, netted his first of the game.

In the third period, the Kings put the game completely out of hand on a pair of goals from Nick Chanis, to make the score 8–1. Laine Bertin scored a late goal for Assante/Mr. Transmission, but it was too little too late. The final score was 8–2 for the Kings.

Rob Zago was outstanding in goal for the Kings, playing well past the top of his crease, giving nothing to shoot at, and no rebounds. Congratulations to the Soo Kings.

(Submitted by Rob Gibney)