The Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the No. 7 Laurier Golden Hawks 4-3 Saturday afternoon in the championship final of the fifth annual T Bay Tel Varsity Cup Tournament at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
The Blues (3-1 tourney play) were led by the strong goaltending of Ryan Grinnell who went 3-0 in the tourney. Torontos goals came from Joe Rand, Simon Barg, Anthony Pallotta, and Scott Malcolm. Barg added two assists while Rand also had a helper. Defenseman Andre Robichaud had a very strong overall game for the Blues and contributed three assists.
Luke Girard led the Hawks with two goals while Rob Dmytruk added the other Laurier tally. Mark Voakes had another strong game with three assists. Laurier goaltender Mike Thomson played a good game for the Hawks and stopped two breakaways in the final period to keep the Hawks within striking distance.
Shots on goal were 34-33 for Toronto. Powerplay scoring accounted for six of the seven goals with Toronto scoring all their goals with the man advantage and Laurier scoring two. Toronto drew 12 minor penalties while Laurier was assessed 11.
The Hawks played a solid game but looked a little more tired than the Blues as Laurier had played the night game the previous night against Lakehead and had less rest coming into the final. Toronto played well with a strong forecheck and good defense and continued to plug up the neutral zone to break up the flow of the Laurier attack.
The Molsons Three Stars, as chosen by Reuben Villagracia of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, were:
1)Ryan Grinnell: Toronto
2)Simon Barg: Toronto
3)Luke Girard: Laurier
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
1)Laurier: 9:44 (PP) Dmytruk from Voakes and Peacock.
2)Toronto: 12:59 (PP) Rand from Robichaud and Barg
3)Toronto: 14:26 (PP) Barg from Robichaud and Rand
Second Period:
4)Laurier: 7:55 Girard from Voakes and Moher
5)Toronto: 9:34 (PP) Pallotta from Robichaud and Barg
6)Toronto: 11:35 (PP) Malcolm from Sherrard
7)Laurier: 19:15 (PP) Girard from Matt Maccarone and Voakes