THUNDER BAY – A sore wrist couldn’t keep Joseph Martino out of the lineup two days in a row.
It’s a good thing he’s got a high pain threshold.
The Toronto forward ripped a shot past Magog Cantonniers goaltender Olivier Adam at 1:31 of the second overtime on Sunday night at Fort William Gardens, delivering the Young Nationals their second TELUS Cup championship in five seasons, stunning an opponent who had yet to lose all week.
“I really can’t describe it, it was pretty surreal,” said the 17-year-old Martino, a native of Maple, Ont.
“It was a great play by (Joshua) Currie on the forecheck. (Elias) Cohen made a great pass on the stick and I just put it upstairs.”
Martino leapt in the air after the puck touched the twine, before being mobbed by a sea of white and red jerseys. He later said winning the national midget AAA trophy means everything.
“The end goal from the beginning of the season was to win the TELUS Cup. To be here today, standing here, holding it, hoisting it on the ice is just an unbelievable feeling.”
Backed by a stellar 49-save goaltending performance from James Gray, a last-minute decision between the pipes himself, the Young Nationals were able to withstand the Cantonniers relentless attack, tournament most valuable player Justin Robidas scoring their lone goal with 1:19 to go in an opening period that saw Magog give up the first five shots and outshoot Toronto 18-2 the rest of the way.
Try as they might, Adam kept Toronto off the board for two full periods, his best stop coming early in the second when Cohen broke through the Magog defence and walked in alone – to no avail.
Toronto, who finished fourth at last year’s TELUS Cup and was 3-2-0 in this year's round robin, finally got on the board at 6:06 of the third.
It was a set play off a faceoff deep in Magog territory, to Adam’s left.
Nolan Lowe won the draw, slipped it back to Thomas Harbour who let loose a quick shot that fooled the Cantonniers netminder, tying the game at a goal apiece.
“It was a lucky shot. I didn’t get all of it, but it hit a couple things and I got a lucky bounce,” said Harbour of his second goal of the tournament.
“We’ve been through ups and downs all season and tonight it all came together. The first and second weren’t really our best periods of hockey, but we came together in the third, sparked a comeback and you couldn’t really ask for much more.”
Magog coach Felix Potvin, a former NHL all-star goaltender in his own right, said Gray deserved plenty of credit for the win.
“He came out and played well and made the key saves at the right times and after we took the lead 1-0 he shut the door,” said Potvin, whose team settled for a second straight TELUS Cup silver medal, after a 5-0-0 round robin.
“Then in the first overtime we created a lot of scoring chances. We couldn’t put the puck in and they came in the second overtime and put it in. It’s a tough tournament to win.”
Currie, who briefly left the game in the first, favouring his left knee, rang one off the crossbar early in the second, Magog still clinging to a 1-0 lead.
Magog’s Zackary Michaud had back-to-back chances midway through the second, but Gray stood his ground.
In overtime Toronto’s Nathan Kellenberger plowed into Adam and the puck crossed the goal-line, but the on-ice officials ruled the net was off its moorings and waved it off.
The loss stretched Quebec’s championship drought to 18 years at the TELUS Cup. It was the 12th double-overtime game in tournament history, the first since 2012.
Earlier in the day, Jayden Wiens scored twice and Tanner Martin made 34 saves to lead the Tisdale Trojans to a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Buffaloes in the bronze-medal match.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Magog, Robidas (Doucet, Belliveau) 18:41. Penalties: Lapointe MAG (holding) 10:13, Cocca TOR (hit to head) 13:24.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties:None.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Toronto, Harbour 2(Lowe) 6:06. Penalties: Picard MAG (hit to head) 15:54.
OVERTIME
Scoring: None. Penalties: None.
DOUBLE OVERTIME
Scoring: 3. Toronto, Martino 2 (Cohen) 1:31. Penalties: None.
GAME DATA – SOG – Toronto 7-5-14-5-1-32, Magog 18-14-10-6-2-50; Power plays (goals-chances) – Toronto (0-1), Magog (0-1); Goaltenders – Toronto: James Gray, Magog: Olivier Adam.
