Wolves Peewee AE team named OMHA co-champions

December 3, 2020 · 0 Comments

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

The Shelburne Wolves Peewee AE team were robbed of what was most likely their final game last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic brought a sudden end to the season.

They were leading their final series 2-0 over the Strathroy Jr. Rockets team #2 when they got the word the series would not continue.

Confident of a win and a championship, the series cancellation was a bitter disappointment to the team who had worked hard all season.

To finalize the year, the OMHA declared the last teams standing to be co-champions.

Team coach, Jon Hare, said he considers his team the champions as they were on the right track to take the win, the series and the championship.

The Wolves had a 15-2-3 regular season record and followed up with a 4-1-1 record in playoffs. That’s an outstanding record for a team that had only ten skaters and two goalies.

Entering the OMHA playoffs the squad received a bye in the first round after finishing in the number one spot in the division.

They were up against the Essa Eagles, Durham Crusaders, and Strathroy Jr. Rockets in the playoffs.

The Wolves had a clean 8-0 record in the OMHA championships registering 37 goals for, and 11 goals against in the playoffs.

“Starting the season with tryouts and team selection first and foremost, my intention was to build a team that would be capable of building a bond so strong that nothing could stop them,” said head coach, Jon Hare.

“We selected players based on who had good skills, who were strong and competitive and who could develop and bond with the team we set out to build. The next step was to select a great coaching staff to compliment the team and support the program. We had success in that with Rudy Pedrias, our assistant coach, Gregg Bennington as our trainer, and Lynn Gibson as our manager. We also had strong support from our parent reps, Lora Stone McComb and Heather Watson, who helped organize all our special events with perfection.”

The team bonded as a unit over the season and worked hard during games and in practice.

“We all worked extremely hard in practices and it paid off,” Hare said. “All season we were able to out-skate, out-work, and outlast all of our competition.”

Highlights of the season include a tournament in Aylmer where they had two shutouts and only one goal against, leading to the semi-final round. They went to the championship but lost after playing triple overtime in the championship game.

The kids were gassed at the end of that game after rolling two lines over six periods.

The team is the first squad in 17 years to bring an OMHA championship home to Shelburne.

The Wolves Peewee AE team received their red hats during a special ceremony at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex on Saturday, November 21, when they finally got the recognition they deserved for a well played season.

Local fire fighters and emergency personnel did a full lights and siren parade in front of the arena to help the team celebrate.