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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , Ja nu ar y 6, 2 01 1 1 6 By Gene Pereira SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Ryan DeRenzis didnt hesitate one second when asked if he and his Oakville minor peewee AA Rangers teammates would love one more crack at the Mississauga Braves again. Hopefully, the Oakville captain said moments after they dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision to the Braves in the championship final of the Richard Bell Memorial Minor Hockey Tournament last Wednesday at Joshuas Creek Arenas. Its nice going to the finals, but it would have been nice beating this team. All you can do is your best. When Oakville fell behind just 1:58 into the contest on a goal by Mississaugas Jacob Ervin, they fell into a trap. A very effective Braves neutral zone trap, to be exact. You have to get the first goal against the Braves, said Oakville head coach Dan Lyttle, whose team came up empty on four power-play chances. The teams in the (Greater Toronto Hockey League) will tell you that. If they get that first goal, they go into that defensive shell and its tough. Theyre a tough team, theyre a good team. Theyre ranked No. 2 in the province, and theyre ranked No. 2 for a reason. The Rangers didnt lack in effort in hopes of crack- ing the Braves trap, but offensive chances would prove few and far between in the final. Their best opportuni- ty may have come early in the third period when Kyle Kennery, parked at the side of the net, unsuccessfully tried to jam a loose puck past Mississauga goaltender Nicholas Humeniuk-Chelak. An empty-netter by Mackenzie Rock with just 37 seconds remaining put any hopes of an Oakville come- back to rest. It was the second time the Braves had done this to the Rangers this season. In their only other meeting, a Silver Stick tournament earlier in the season, the Braves beat the Rangers, 2-1. Similar game. They get that early lead and they throw that trap, like the New Jersey Devils, Lyttle said. Our boys dont see that very often. They want to play their free-wheeling game and... it was just a wall through the neutral zone the whole game and thats why we had a tough time. Oakville, which sported an impressive 18-3-2 record coming in, kicked off the holiday tournament with convincing 4-0 wins over the Mississauga North Stars and Toronto East Enders. They battled the rival Burlington Eagles to a 2-2 draw before wrapping up preliminary action with a 5-2 victory over the Ancaster Avalanche. In the semifinals, the Rangers handed the Eagles their first loss of the season, beating them 5-3 in an emotional contest to advance to the finals. It was a great tournament for the boys, said Lyttle, whose team has a tournament win in Michigan back in October under its belt this season. The boys have left a better team than they came. Minor peewees trapped by Mississauga It was something the Oakville minor bantam AA Rangers had not experienced much this year. Undefeated in league play with a 22-0-2 record, the Rangers had cruised through the Richard Bell Memorial Minor Hockey Tournament with four straight wins, allowing only one goal in the process. But the Rangers finally met their match in the final, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Mississauga Terriers. Thats the number one team in the province, said Rangers coach Paul Douglas. It was a pretty even game. They move the puck well but we skated with them. The Rangers actually jumped in front with a power-play goal by Josh Kosack in the second period but Mississauga would tie the game just over three minutes later, making the most of their own opportunity with the man advantage. The Terriers would add the game winner in the third and hold off the Rangers for the victory. But despite the rare loss, Oakville continued a strong run of success at tourna- ments this season. The Richard Bell tournament was their fourth trip to the final in five tournaments, including wins at the Dearborn Belle Tire Invitational in Michigan and the Regional Silver Stick Qualifier in Chatham. At the Richard Bell, the Rangers opened with a 7-0 win over the Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles. After downing the Toronto Ice Dogs 3-1, Oakville blanked the Ice Warriors 4- 0 in the final round robin game and assured its place in the final with a 3-0 shutout of the Mississauga Braves in the semifinals. Douglas said the teams success is based on its skating ability and its work ethic. Were a good, fast-skating team and these young men work very hard in practice, said Douglas, whose team has already played 50 games this season. And they hope there are many more to come. Theyll play in the International Silver Stick tourna- ment Jan. 13-16 in Port Huron, Michigan. After that, theyll begin the OMHA playoffs, where once again they hope to be playing as many games as possible. Herb Garbutt Minor bantam AA Rangers suffer rare loss in RB final You have to get the first goal against the Braves... If they get that first goal, they go into that defensive shell and its tough. Minor peewee AA Rangers head coach Dan Lyttle is closer than you think! YOUR DREAM JOB Take back your life. LocalWork.ca is operated by Metroland Media Group Ltd. and is supported by over 100 newspapers and websites across Ontario. You could call us recruitment experts! LocalWork.ca is more than just a job board. Were the premier source for local job opportunities in Ontarios heartland. We dont just provide job listings, we put you in control of your job search with an array of job search features and tools. On LocalWork.ca youll find exact match search results and be able to search by job type, city and distance from your home. 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