KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – The 2016 Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A Championship in Kirkland Lake, Ont., gets underway Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex and features a highly anticipated clash between the defending event champion Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) and the Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL).
Joining Sault Ste. Marie and Trenton at the four-team tourney will be the host Kirkland Lake Gold Miners (NOJHL) and the Fort Frances Lakers (SIJHL), who meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The following is a DHC preview of the Ontario Junior Hockey League Buckland Cup champion Trenton Golden Hawks.
THE OJHL: As the OJHL representatives to this years’ Dudley-Hewitt Cup, the Golden Hawks are making their first appearance at the Central Canada Jr. A championship.
Despite not advancing to the finals at last year’s event in Fort Frances, Ont., the OJHL has still won nine of the past 13 Dudley-Hewitt Cup titles.
Their DHC title last came in 2014 in Wellington, Ont., as the Toronto Patriots won it all.
Trenton and the OJHL will host the 2017 Dudley-Hewitt Cup.
OJHL Commissioner: Marty Savoy
THE GOLDEN HAWKS
Head Coach/General Manager: Jerome Dupont
HOW THEY ADVANCED: Trenton was an impressive 16-2 in the OJHL playoffs as they rolled to their first Buckland Cup league title.
The Golden Hawks began the postseason by sweeping the Newmarket Hurricanes in four straight contests in North-East quarter-final play.
Moving on the conference semifinal vs. the rival Wellington Dukes, they only required five games to win that best-of-seven set.
Next up came the North-East conference final against the Kingston Voyageurs and once again Trenton dominated as they won that series in the minimum amount of time.
Steaming along, the Golden Hawks, despite seeing all five Buckland Cup games being decided by one goal, Trenton came away victorious over the Georgetown Raiders to capture their first-ever OJHL championship.
REGULAR SEASON: Trenton was the front runners all season long in the OJHL finishing first overall in the 22-team league with a solid 44-6-1-3 record.
Under head coach and general manager Jerome Dupont their 92 total points were 14 ahead of their closest competitor, the Georgetown Raiders, who they defeated in the finals.
They also boasted the best winning percentage in the OJHL at .852.
Nationally across the 131-team Canadian Junior Hockey League, Trenton was ranked fourth overall in the final CJHL Pointstreak Top 20 rankings of the season.
GOALTENDERS: Backstopping the Golden Hawks between the pipes is OJHL playoff most valuable player Daniel Urbani.
The 20-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., native was sensational in the postseason starting all 18 games Trenton played posting a 16-2 won-loss record.
Urbani also topped all OJHL netminders in both goals-against average and save percentage in the playoffs at 1.54 and .944 respectively.
The Canisius College NCAA D-I recruit also posted a league-best four shutouts.
In regular season action, Urbani was just as strong going 34-5-1 in 40 appearances.
His 1.69 average led the league and he finished third in save percentage at .930.
Urbani also tied for the league-lead in shutouts with five.
Jackson McIntosh played in 14 games for Trenton in the regular season and had a record of 6-5 along with a GAA of 2.34 and a .905 save mark.
DEFENCEMEN: Helping guide the Golden Hawks defensive corps are blueliners Adam Clements and Josh Allan.
Clements led the club and finished tied for third overall in OJHL playoff points with 14 on four goals and 10 assists.
Allan was next with 11 points, including four tallies.
D-man Jordan DaSilva was next with a half dozen points to his credit.
Clements paced his side in offensive production among blueliners in regular season action with 34 points in just 37 outings.
FORWARDS: The top point man for Trenton in the postseason was Hunter Fargey who totalled 21 overall on six markers and 15 helpers.
That was also good enough to tie him for fourth overall in the league.
Next was Kevin Lavoie, who registered 19 points as he scored five times and set-up 14 others.
Right behind Lavoie were Lucas Brown and Mitch Emerson as they dished out 18 points apiece while Danny Hanlon had 17 and Liam Morgan produced 16.
During the course of the regular season, it was Hanlon who led the squad with 60 points in 54 games.
Emerson, Fargey and Morgan were also 50-plus-point men with 55, 54 and 52 respectively.
TRENTON TIDBITS: The Golden Hawks are making their first-ever Dudley-Hewitt Cup appearance. … There are currently eight different players on the Trenton roster that have committed to either NCAA or CIS programs. Daniel Urbani (Canisius), Josh Allan (Sacred Heart), Mitch Emerson (Oswego), Curtis Harvey (St. Loaf), Kevin Lavoie (Robert Morris) and Blayne Oliver (Hamilton) are all NCAA bound while Adam Clements (Nipissing) and Danny Hanlon (Wilfred Laurier) will play CIS hockey in the OUA. … Trenton was fourth in the OJHL in power play success during the regular season at 22.57%. They led the league in penalty kill proficiency at 90.7%. … In the playoffs the Golden Hawks were second on the P.P. at 27.14% and were once again tops on the P.K. at 93.9%. … The club had the longest winning streak in the OJHL this season at 12. … They also had an OJHL-best nine road win streak during the 2015-16 campaign, which led the league. … The Golden Hawks led the OJHL in average attendance with 594 per game during the regular season and 1,042 during the playoffs. … Trenton will host the 2017 Dudley-Hewitt Cup.
For more information on the Dudley-Hewitt Cup visit the official CJHL – DHC website at centralcanadianchampionship.com.
All Dudley-Hewitt Cup are available online at FASTHockey.com.
2016 Dudley-Hewitt Cup Schedule
May 3-7 – Kirkland Lake, Ont.
All games at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex
Competing teams
Kirkland Lake Gold Miners (Host-NOJHL)
Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL)
Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL)
Fort Frances Lakers (SIJHL)
Tuesday, May 3
Trenton vs. Soo 2 p.m.
Fort Frances vs. Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 4
Soo vs. Fort Frances 2 p.m.
Trenton vs. Kirkland Lake Gold 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 5
Fort Frances vs. Trenton 2 p.m.
Kirkland Lake Gold vs. Soo 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 6
Semifinal: 3rd Round Robin vs. 2nd Round Robin 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 7
Final: Semifinal Winner vs. 1st Round Robin 7:30 p.m.
DHC winner advances to the RBC Cup Canadian Jr. A Championship May 14-22 @ Lloydminster, Alta.
RBC Cup competing teams
Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL) (Host)
Dudley-Hewitt Cup champion (Central)
Fred Page Cup champion (East)
Crescent Point Energy Cup champion (West 1)
Crescent Point Energy Cup finalist (West 2)
