East teams nearly sweep tournament
Al Lees Innisfil Junior Broomball Executive

The reign of champions was once again dominated by the Eastern Ontario Junior Broomball teams at the 2008 Ontario Junior Broomball Provincial Championships hosted in Innisfil this weekend at the new double pad Innisfil Recreation Complex (IRC) and the Stroud Arena.

This dominating area of broomball won gold medals in six of the seven divisions, along with a silver medal. Only the Peewee division was not won by an Eastern team; as the Windsor Devils prevailed to win the gold medal over their arch rivals the Windsor Major Riot. The Windsor Minor Riot provided a mini sweep of the Peewee division by winning the Consolation Championship.

Seaway Valley Devils, the reigning Canadian Juvenile Girls Champions had to fight back from an early round loss, to defeat their rival, the Eastern Thunder in back to back games with a 1-0 overtime win and a 2-0 win for the gold medal. The Eastern Ice Dogs Juvenile Boys team had battle back after an earlier loss to defeat the Windsor Riot 1-0 in overtime and followed by a 2-0 victory for the gold medal.

In the Midget Boys Division, the Eastern Warriors went undefeated until meeting the Windsor Devils in the final, where the Devils won 2-0, which forced the extra game where the Warriors prevailed with a 3-2 overtime victory for the gold medal. In Midget Girls Play, the Eastern Wildcats fought back from an earlier loss to defeat the Windsor Riot with two 1-0 victories for the gold medal.

In the Bantam Boys Division, the Eastern Warriors went undefeated in the Championship with a final 1-0 victory over the Windsor Riot for the Gold Medal. In Bantam Girls Play, the Eastern Wildcats fought back from an earlier loss to defeat the Mildmay Smurfettes with 2-1 and 2-0 victories for the gold medal.

The 15 teams competing in the youngest Peewee division provided some of the most exciting entertainment as young 5 and 6 year olds did battle against players up to 11 years. The championship final was a nail bitter as the Windsor Devils defeated the Windsor Major Riot in a long overtime game by the score of 3-2 to win the gold medal. The wrap-around format for Peewees saw the Windsor Minor Riot defeat Eastern Voyageurs 1-0 for the Consolation Championship.

The local Innisfil teams entered the championships knowing that they were competing against some extremely strong teams from much larger Broomball Programs across the province. The Innisfil teams played with strong determination, even in games where they were outsized especially in the Peewee Division.

The five and six year olds on the Innisfil Tigers and Innisfil Terminators showed no fear against some much larger 10 and 11 year old competitors.

The Innisfil Tigers' first Peewee game on Friday against Blyth Dynamites resulted in a 1-0 victory for the home side. They followed with a 1-0 loss to Carleton Place CN Contracting; and then loss 2- 1 in overtime against Windsor Minor Riot, the Consolation Champions.

The Innisfil Terminators lost 2-0 in their first Peewee game against Mildmay Hawks. The next two games were not a riot for them as they lost 5-0 loss to Windsor Major Riot, the silver medal champions; followed by a 1- 0 overtime loss to the Windsor Minor Riot, the consolation champions.

The Innisfil Invaders started with a 1-0 Bantam Boys victory over the Mildmay Jets; before losing 4-0 against Windsor Riot. In their next game, they prevailed over Seaforth with a close 2-1 overtime victory; before closing out with a 1-0 overtime loss to Mildmay. The Invaders finished with a very strong and respectable 4th Place Finish in the Bantam Boys Division, which is a huge accomplishment for the local program.

The Innisfil Whatevers Midget Boys team held the early lead against Seaforth before losing 2-1. The Whatevers then played the towering Eastern Green Machine team. Girls make up almost half of the local Midget Boys roster, and they showed that they could play against the boys. Innisfil could not however overcome a first period goal, before bowing out 2-0 to Green Machine.

Teams had large spectator followings which resulted in very vocal cheering sections.