Led by the scoring prowess of former Ottawa Senator Denis Hamel and the stellar goaltending of Curtis MacDonald, the Rob Fellows’ Mooseheads won the annual Horsemen’s Hockey Tournament on Sunday (April 30), taking the championship final 6-3 over the game Oh Henry squad coached by Trevor Henry.

The eight-team tournament, organized for the fourth year in a row by MacDonald and driver Jody Jamieson, and played at the Cambridge Sports Park, featured eight teams split into two pools that faced off in a round robin-format, with the first place team in each division playing the second place team in the other division in the semi-final games.

The Mooseheads advanced to the championship final by virtue of a 7-4 win over Mike Saftic’s Soldiers, while the Oh Henrys advanced by defeating Anthony MacDonald’s The Stable.ca crew 5-1.

The final featured some exciting play, including two penalty shots awarded to the Mooseheads due to players being taken down while in the clear on breakaways. Hamel, who potted two goals to go with an assist in the final tallied one of those penalty shot goals; Curt Blake scored the other. The Mooseheads were also supported by Tim MacPhee’s two goals and Mike Kosziwka scored the Mooseheads’ other goal. The Oh Henrys got tallies from Brandon Arsenault, Bryan Richardson and Rob Doyle.

The winning goalie praised his coach and teammates while noting that the winning team played every player the entire game in the championship final and didn’t shorten the bench at any point.

“Coach Fellows sharpened his pencil this time around after tasting defeat last year for the first time,” MacDonald explained. “Winning the draft lottery granted him first pick and he quickly snatched up former NHLer Denis Hamel with that pick, then later took his son-in-law Curtis MacDonald (because his wife told him he had to).

“While Hamel was the team leader in goals with seven, the big factor was that the entire team was solid and not a single player missed a single shift,” he continued. “Sixty-year-old Mileo Monte was a huge factor as was the blockbuster trade we made at the deadline acquiring Curt Blake and Tim MacPhee from TheStable.ca.”

Oh Henry team captain Jamieson said the tournament MVP was no contest.

“Curtis MacDonald was the MVP hands down,” said Double J.

Jamieson, despite his team coming up short in the final, said the Oh Henrys' day was a success nevertheless.

“I joined the Oh Henrys this year as a late season acquisition with the promise that I get them a victory as they hadn’t won a game since the new draft format of the tournament was introduced,” he explained. “We made it all the way to the final and lost a heart breaker! I believe this day was a success by this team led by Trevor Henry.”

The tournament organizers said they would like to wish a heartfelt thank you to the sponsors who generously contributed to make the tournament a great success. They extend thanks to:

Woodbine Entertainment Group
Central Ontario Standardbred Association
Ontario Harness Horse Association
The Western Fair District
Grand River Raceway
Clinton Raceway
Synerco Ventures
Merit Insurance/Glen Smith
Northfield Farms – Dr. John McKnight.

(A Trot Insider exclusive by Garnet Barnsdale)