www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, January 3, 2014 | 14 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports O V E R T I Norway's Manglerud Star (5-0), Streetsville Tigers (4-1), Etobicoke Canucks (9-0) and Hamilton Huskies (6-0 and 6-1). Jared Gould and Ellis Zampini alternated starts in net for Oakville, combining to allow just four goals in the six games. "The team played great every game. Our forwards did a good job getting pucks out, and our defencemen did a good job keeping the front of the net clear. They made our job as easy as they could," said Gould, who played goal in the final. "We just came (into the tournament) with a new mentality. We wanted to stay focused, only talk about hockey before the game. It proved to be a difference maker." Matthew Kealey, Christopher Purkis and Cale Cutcliffe scored in the gold-medal game for the Rangers. Purkis's goal came late in the first period, shortly after Brantford had scored to tie the game 1-1. Cutcliffe added an insurance marker with less than five minutes to go in the third period, which came in handy after the 99ers narrowed the gap to 3-2 with 1:40 left in regulation. The Rangers were greeted on see Norwegians on p.15 "Connected to your Community" M E W I N N E R Minor midget AA Rangers break out of slump to earn elusive gold by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor The Oakville minor midget AA Rangers picked a great time to break out of a slump. Oakville entered the Richard Bell Memorial minor hockey tournament on a five-game winless skid. The Rangers exited the competition on a sixgame winning streak and gold medals around their necks -- the first gold they've earned in more than a year. "We've been bridesmaids a few times. Last year we were in a few tournament finals, and this year a couple times as well, but we were unable to get over the hump," Oakville head coach John Rees said following the Rangers' 3-2 win over the Brantford 99ers in Monday's division final at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. "I think this will just bring everybody together." Oakville's victory over Brantford -- the defending Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario champions -- was the only tournament game the Rangers did not win by three goals or more. Oakville got to the final with lopsided victories over Oakville Rangers player Cameron Tolnai backhands the puck over Toronto Marlies goaltender Connor MacKenzie to give the Rangers a 2-1 overtime victory in Sunday's minor peewee AAA division final of the Richard Bell Memorial minor hockey tournament at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. | photo by Steven Der-Garabedian -- Special to the Beaver Brothers share spotlight in minor peewee AAA win by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Successful first season of rep for majority of minor peewee AE team by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff When Dave Bessant got his first look at his players in April, he was immediately struck by their skating ability. "I couldn't believe it was an AE2 team," he said. Of course, at the time, they were not his players. Bessant was asked to help select the team but when the team found itself without a coach after tryouts, he offered to step behind the bench. Since then, Bessant has learned skating isn't the only skill his players possess. But heading into the season with just two of his 17 players having previous rep experience, and essentially playing up one division in AE, Bessant said he "had no idea what to expect." Even in his wildest dreams, he couldn't have imagined the team his players have become. The Rangers currently sit atop the Tri-County see Minor peewees on p.15 Cameron Tolnai knows of only one goaltender who can stop his favourite move. Fortunately, he only faces that netminder in practice and warmups. Tolnai used a pretty deke to score the overtime winner Sunday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, giving the Oakville Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies in the minor peewee AAA final of the Richard Bell Memorial holiday hockey tournament. The 11-year-old Maple Grove elementary school student took a pass from teammate Matthew Thompson near the left faceoff dot in the Toronto zone, swept around a Marlies defender, faked a shot and backhanded the puck into the roof of the net 3:32 into the extra period. "That's my go-to move usually in shootouts," said a beaming Tolnai afterward. Tolnai said the marker was the biggest goal he has ever scored, but he wanted to make sure other players got their share of the spotlight as well. Tolnai's triplet brother, Davis, was stellar in net for the Rangers Sunday, setting the stage for Cameron's heroics. "It's like a brother effort. We should both get the glory," Cameron said. Would Cameron's move have worked against Davis? "He knows what I do now," Cameron said with a smile. "So I try to go to my forehand, but he always pokechecks me." Rangers coach Jaan Luik wasn't surprised to see the Tolnai brothers step to the fore with so much on the line. "Cameron continually elevates his game and the team when needed. He's just a natural leader that way," Luik said. "And Davis is a kid who has just worked hard to get better over the last couple years. He's become one of the guys the team looks to." Tanner Kelly also came up big for Oakville in the final, banging in a goalmouth rebound late in the second period to tie the game 1-1. Beating the Marlies is quite the coup for the Rangers, Luik said. Toronto entered the game as the top minor peewee AAA team in the province, according to popular hockey ranking website MYHockeyRankings.com. "We knew we'd be in tough," said Luik, whose Rangers are ranked third. "To win our hometown tournament against the No. 1 team like that is like icing on the cake." The Rangers won all seven of their games at the Bell tournament, including a pair of three-goal victories over the Waterloo Wolves. Oakville's other wins came against the Brampton 45's (5-0), Buffalo Saints (8-1), Markham Waxers (3-1) and Mississauga Senators (32). Other members of the minor peewee AAA Rangers -- who lead the South Central Triple A loop with a 200-3 record -- are Hayden Williamson, Ethan Ritchie, Owen Sage, Nathan Ribau, Christian Pelley, Dante Parisotto, Owen Luik, Luke Evangelista, Ryan Brown, Jacob Murray, Robert Strachan, Cameron Garvey and Zack Terry. Aaron Jarc and Sean Carter are the assistant coaches, Alan Strachan is the trainer and Andrew Evangelista is the manager.