By Larry Moko
Another chapter is being written in the success story of Bishop Ryan's high school hockey program.
By defeating the St. Mary Crusaders 9-4 at J.L. Grightmire Arena Wednesday, the Celtics of BR clinched first place in the boys' standings for a fourth-straight season.
Since COVID hit in 2020, the Celtics have captured two Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic league championships and compiled an overall record of 28-5-4.
"It's a strong run," Celtics coach Justin Cannon said. "It's something I hope we can sustain."
One game remains for BR (5-2) in the regular season before the 2024-25 playoffs begin.
After a scoreless first period, the Celtics and Crusaders erupted for a total of nine goals with Bishop Ryan taking a 7-2 lead into the third.
Mason Hunks, Carter Breau and Michael Alford each fired a pair of goals, while singles went to Levi Snider, Colton Vanderelzen and Ben Kingston.
St. Mary markers went to Caden Okis, Luke Muldoon, Jackson Beaulieu and Derek Markotic.
"We played well in the first period," St. Mary coach Jason Kokoski said. "Our young guys are kind of learning on the fly.
"We'll come back after the exams, reset and see how it goes. We played some good games at the start of the season. We'll try to get back to that."
The fifth-place Crusaders are 2-4-1 with one game remaining before the fourth and fifth-place teams are involved in a quarter final.
"I thought it was a sloppy start for both teams," Cannon said. "Tight checking. They took the lead in the second period and that was a wake-up call for our guys.
"The message on the bench was start shooting the puck and send a guy to the net to get the rebound."
According to the BR coach, Grade 11 centre and captain Alford is a "difference maker."
"When Michael has the puck everybody from the other team watches," Cannon said. "He can skate and open up space for everybody else. He creates opportunities all over the ice."
Alford, who also plays at the AAA rep level, says he has the hockey IQ to confidently carry the puck and make accurate passes to his teammates.
"We drove the net and created chances," Alford said of the Celtics performance.
The Celtics skate hard and the lineup is loaded with depth.
"We can roll four lines," Cannon said. "We get contributions from all of them.
"Our defence is pretty steady and we've got four solid goalies. No matter who gets to go in the net that game we're pretty comfortable with it."
So far this season BR has gone deep in three tournaments (Ottawa, Niagara Falls and Port Colbourne). The Celtics advanced to the final in Ottawa and reached the semifinal round of the other two.
"Niagara Falls has 29 teams in its three-day tournament," Cannon said. "We finished fourth overall. We made Saturday (the semifinal) for the first time in 11 years."
Locally, the Celtics are hoping to reach the league final for a sixth time in the past eight years.
"We've got pretty high expectations again," Cannon said. "We're trying to keep this program rolling at the top."
The BR coach isn't taking anything for granted, however, after being eliminated in last season's semifinal.
"This is the first time we've had two losses in a season (against Newman and Tonnos) in years," he said. "It's a really tight race. When playoffs come, I don't think there is a favourite."
In other action Wednesday, the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals blanked the defending champion St. Thomas More Knights, 4-0.
In girls' hockey, first-place Bishop Ryan (6-0-1) downed St. Mary, 6-4, while second-place More defeated St. John Henry Newman, 6-0.
Photos by Bob Butrym
More photos on the HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page here
