THUNDER BAY – McKay Hayes hasn’t been with the Toronto Marlboros organization for long, but he made his presence count when it mattered.
Hayes scored the early third-period winner on Friday night, helping the Marlboros complete their perfect run at the 2017 All Ontario Bantam AAA Championship with a 2-1 title-game triumph over the second-seeded York-Simcoe Express.
Hayes, who used to play for the Mississauga Senators, said the reality of what he and his teammates had accomplished was still sinking in.
“I was just so happy,” Hayes said after the victory celebration, each player taking a turn skating around the Fort William Gardens ice with the trophy hoisted to the aging barn’s rafters.
“I’m just new to the team. I just put (the puck) on the net and it just sailed in.”
Winning the Ontario championship is an incredible feeling, he added.
“It’s just crazy. I’m just so happy about it. It’s a great moment,” Hayes said.
Toronto goalie Connor McKenzie backstopped the Marlboros to the win, stopping 22 of the 23 shots directed his way by the Express shooters, including a last-second chance by York’s Evan Vierling, who found an open lane, but fired the puck into McKenzie’s pads.
“This is what we’ve been working for all year, since August. We’ve been on the ice so much and put so much into it. It feels really good,” McKenzie said.
“I was just so happy. I can’t even describe it. I just have no words.”
Marlboro’s forward Kellaway Mercer opened the scoring 1:46 into the second, firing a quick slapshot from the left circle that York goalie Alexander Imperio couldn’t catch up to and Toronto led 1-0 for most of the period.
But York-Simcoe, who downed Ottawa 6-2 in the semifinal earlier in the day, would strike before the period ended, Matthew Sudbury, powering home a shot from McKenzie’s left side to knot the score at a goal apiece.
The two teams played a scoreless first, though a Toronto goal was waved off after on-ice officials ruled the net was off its moorings.
Toronto coach Richard Power said at times it’s easy to forget his players are just 14 and 15 years old.
They rolled through the week winning eight times in eight outings, outscoring the opposition 48-8, including an 8-2 drubbing of the Express during the round-robin portion of the tournament, knocking off North Bay 6-2 in Friday’s semifinal.
“All year long the boys have been tried, tested and true. They came through in the big situations for us and it’s incredible the pressure the boys play under coming out of Toronto and everything that comes with that,” Power said.
“Every time they just step up to the occasion for us and sometimes it’s not pretty. Sometimes it is pretty, but they always find a way to win.”
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring; Penalties: Galata YRK (boarding) 4:35
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Toronto, Mercer (Russell, Alexander) 1:46. 2. York-Simcoe, Sudbury (Vierling, Bar) 12:16. Penalties: Bar YRK (hooking) 2:40, Hayes TOR (Hayes) 8:50, Challis YRK (tripping) 12:21.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Toronto, Hayes (Halliday) 2:16. Penalties: Aubie YRK (interference) 5:20, Pearce YRK (hooking) 7:12.
GAME DATA – SOG – York-Simcoe 12-6-5-23, Toronto 8-8-8-24; Power plays (goals-chances) – York-Simcoe (0-1), Toronto (0-5); Goaltenders – York-Simcoe: Alexander Imperio, Toronto: Connor McKenzie; A: 600 (estimated).
