The Buckland Cup will be etched with the names of the Trenton Golden Hawks for a second time in history – and third time is 100-per cent the charm.
Taeo Artichuk’s powerplay goal around 12 minutes into overtime capped off a dramatic comeback to give Trenton a 3-2 Game 6 victory over the Milton Menace on Wednesday night and snag the OJHL Championship following two straight heartbreaks in the final against the Collingwood Blues.
Milton was a little over two minutes away from forcing a Game 7 back in Trenton before the visitors came alive.
The Menace struck on the powerplay 8:44 into the game with Graeme MacAuley scoring to break the ice and send the ‘Milton Madhouse’ into a frenzy.
The former Wellington Duke’s eighth goal of the playoffs carried the home side forward into the second, where it added to the lead.
Madden MacDougall buried one past Ryan Sanborn at 6:31 to make it 2-0 and the Menace stood strong to ensure the advantage going into the third.
The tide turned in that frame, as a dominant effort saw the Hawks press with 13 shots on Carter Bickle.
They finally pulled within one late in the third on a Kyloe Ellis marker, before Cooper Matthews’ one-timer found its way in with 1:03 to play in regulation time, setting the stage for high-intensity bonus hockey.
Chances came at both ends in the first half of the overtime period until the Menace took back-to-back penalties to give Trenton a golden chance to win that was not missed on.
Matthews and Roach worked the puck around the outside before the Trenton captain found Artichuk sneaking in behind the Milton defence to stick home the loose puck and send a fan bus full of Hawks supporters into hysterics and the team into delirium.
“It’s unreal. It still doesn’t feel real. This is such a special team,” Matthews said following the game.
Head coach Derek Smith spoke to the resilience of the group and the roar of the fans for spiriting them to victory.
“Our fans are amazing, with all they’ve been through the last year, they stuck with us,” Smith said to YourTV Halton post-game.
“It was a crazy season. We knew we had a chance to start the year. We’ve got a lot of injuries to key players, but it’s a next up mentality and guys stuck with it, down two goals with 2:10 left.”
“There’s no quit in this team. It feels so special. I’m honestly so proud of these guys. This is their journey, and I’m so proud of them.”
Sanborn, who made 28 saves in Game 6, earned most valuable player honours with a 16-5 record, 1.97 Goals Against Average and .935 save percentage in 21 games this postseason.
The Brookfield, Connecticut native had nothing but praise for the team, staff and the community since joining the Hawks partway through the season.
“Everyone’s been great to me the whole year since I got here. The goalie coach, Mike Murphy and (head coach) Derek Smith have been great with me. It’s just been a great run with the guys, and they’ve been awesome.”
The Hawks outshot Milton 46-30 in the final contest, including a wide margin of 27-5 in the third and overtime sessions combined.
Trenton finished the playoffs with a sterling 8-1 road record, winning all eight games consecutively after dropping its first in Pickering back in Round 1.
The Hawks will be jetting off to Calgary, Alberta for the Centennial Cup National Junior A Championship starting next Thursday.
Stay tuned for the full Centennial Cup schedule, as well as any plans for a sendoff party for the team.
Brock Ormond
