Falcons capture AA championship
The St. Catharines U13 AA Falcons peaked at the right time this season.
The Falcons put together a solid regular season before hitting their stride in the playoffs and capturing the Tri-County U13 AA championship.
“I would say the way the year went from when we did the tryouts and the season started in September, we had a really good year throughout and kept building on the success of some tournaments,” Falcons head coach Guy Gray said. “Once we got to the playoffs and come January the kids really buckled down and bought into the system and bought into everything.”
The Falcons, who placed fourth in the regular season, then had a two-week layoff before the OMHA playoffs.
“We didn’t perform the way we wanted to because I think we could have beat anybody at the OMHA’s,” Gray said. “We still had a good OMHA’s but we didn’t get any puck luck and it was a little bit of everything but we had a great season no matter what.
“It was a fantastic year for the kids and ourselves.”
Gray was named winner of the Jim Liddiard Award for coach of the year by Garden City Minor Hockey, but was quick to point out those accolades are not why he volunteers his time.
“That (award) is something that is about the season. Those awards I really don’t care too much about but the kids had a great year which is really nice,” he said.
Gray, who was assisted by Rob Taylor and Rob Hinschberger, said he was most proud how the team progressed throughout the season.
“It’s a tough one to win, that’s for sure, and the boys pulled it together. We’re definitely proud, myself and the coaching staff, for the way they performed,” he said. “I think we got everything out of them and it was a memory and hopefully one day the boys will look back and remember they won a championship. It’s something you look back on over the years. It’s memories you want them to walk away with and hopefully they learned a little bit about hockey and made some really good memories along the way.”
Gray appreciated the efforts of his assistants and trainer Matt Greenway.
“Rob is awesome. We coached together at AAA when I had that team and he’s back out helping me now. He’s phenomenal. The kids don’t know how lucky they are to have him around to help out. I’m very fortunate to have him around.”
Lichtenberger joined this season and handled the defence
“He has a great passion for the game,” Gray said. “He did a great job with the D.”
Following is the team roster from this season: Mark Chambers, Luca Cipriano, Eli Corfield, Bryson Ditillio, Owen Dixon, Grayson Gonyou, Nolan Gray, Leo Greenway, Kyle Lukowski, Paxton Martens, Charlie McLean, Austin Mitchell, Jacob Radu, Cameron Rynberk, Cruz Smith, Gavin Vasko, Noah Woodcock-Wallace.
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