This past weekend the Markham Waxers U18 BB1 team were crowned champions of the Nazem Kadri North London Classic Tournament! After the opening two days, the Waxers finished the round robin with a 4-0 record with three shutouts and one goal against. This helped them lock down 1st place in their pool behind the stellar play from both of their net minders.
In the semifinals, the boys squared off against a top opponent in the Cambridge Hawks who jumped out with an early lead over our Waxers 2-1 after the 1st period. After a back-and-forth 2nd, the Waxers were able to tie it up 2-2 going into the final period. Cambridge jumped out to their 3rd lead of the game only to see it get erased again late in the 3rd period. With the game knotted at 3-3 after regulation time, the teams were headed to sudden death 3v3 OT. Having been down this road before, our boys maintained their composure, put a priority on puck control and capitalized late with a goal at 0:42 seconds remaining to win the game and advance to the finals!
Riding that wave of emotion, our undefeated team stormed into the finals vs. the North Durham Warriors. The moment the puck dropped, the Waxers applied an immense amount of pressure into the forecheck that left the Warriors on their heels for the duration of the game. After a close 1st period with the Waxers being up 1-0, they poured it on and scored 3 more goals to take a convincing lead heading into the 3rd. Not going away quietly, the Warriors struck late in the period, but that was short-lived with the Waxers answering back almost immediately with the 5th and final goal to take home the crown as tournament champions!
The Markham Waxers U18 BB1 team would like to thank both the Cambridge Hawks & North Durham Warriors teams for an intense and emotional end to the tournament that displayed some of the best U18BB hockey the province has to offer.
Our biggest thank you as always goes out to all our U18BB1 Waxers families and friends for all their support during this tournament. Most importantly a big congratulations to all of the Markham Waxers U18 BB1 gold medalists: Kish, Adam, Pags, Daniel, Kevy, Tanger, Rhys, Mats, Jalen, Jack, Evan, Dassy, Knighty, Ryden, Sharms, Terry, Devin, Wanger, Coach Ryno, Coach Sal, Coach Jeff, Trainers Jim & Joe and Team Manager Richard.
