THUNDER BAY – During the second intermission, Toronto Young Nationals co-coach Aaron Darmanin closed the dressing room door and told his players to visualize what it would be like to win the third period and advance to Sunday’s TELUS Cup final.
The tactic worked like a charm.
Liam Del Mastro ripped a shot off the crossbar that fell behind Calgary Buffaloes goaltender Garin Bjorklund 5:36 into the third and Joshua Sinanan undressed defenceman Sam Witt six minutes later, breaking open a 1-1 tie after 40 minutes.
Toronto would go on to win 4-2, securing a berth in the championship game, a chance to win their first national AAA midget hockey title since 2015.
“It feels good. The team was working hard today. I thought we deserved it,” said Del Mastro, not known as a goal scorer on most nights.
“We knew it was going to come down to minor mistakes, so we just tried to stay composed and outwork them.”
The go-ahead goal came when forward Elias Cohen spotted Del Mastro just above the right faceoff circle, slipped him the puck and the latter let the puck fly.
“I just shot it as hard as I could and luckily it just went in the net.”
Sinanan’s goal looked like insurance when he fired it past Bjorklund at 11:04, but it proved to be the game-winner, after Calgary’s Carter Benoit redirected a Jayden Grubbe shot with 5:21 to go in regulation, cutting the Toronto lead to one.
“The puck just came out to the blueline and I went to chase after it. I ended up chipping it by the defenceman, made my way around him and it was bad-angle shot, but I just wanted to get it on net,” Sinanan said.
“It just went in.”
Getting through the semifinal was a big accomplishment, knowing they’re one of two teams with a chance to claim gold.
“The boys are really happy to be here and it’s a dream come true, for sure,” the 18-year-old Brampton, Ont. native said.
Darmanin, whp is coaching at his third TELUS Cup, said they stayed grounded in the third, which helped secure the victory.
And in one case, at least, the goal came from a surprising source.
“With Liam it was basically a shocker because h ’s not really known as a guy who puts the puck in the net. I think that was his second or third goal of the whole entire season. The message was to the D was we need goals. It doesn’t matter, just get the pucks to the net.”
Sinanan’s goal was a little less surprising, told to use his natural advantage to create chances.
“He’s the fastest player I’ve ever coached and we’ve been saying you’ve got to keep utilizing that speed. It’s a big ice surface out there, a big neutral zone,” Darmanin said. “If we can use that to our advantage, let’s go. Basically it was a second effort. He got the puck and pushed it in.”
Darmanin said the message for Sunday is to work hard, but make sure they enjoy the ride, win or lose.
“We want to go there and we want to win and keep our eyes on the prize because we’ve done so much to get here and we don’t want to let that go to waste. But at the same time, we do have to sit back and remember why we play this game – and that’s to have fun.”
Toronto’s Ryan Mansfield and Calgary’s Braden Plaschewsky traded second-period goals, while Young Nationals forward Peter Stojcevski added an empty netter with 15 seconds to go in regulation.
Wu, who picked up an assist in the contest, made 36 saves. Bjorklund faced 35, stopping 32.
Toronto will play the winner of the Magog-Tisdale semifinal for gold on Sunday. The game, which will be aired on TSN, starts at 6:30 p.m.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: Zayat CGY (hit to head) 0:27.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Toronto, R. Mansfield (Cohen, Eliopulos) 5:09 pp. 2. Calgary, Plaschewsky 3 (Jayden Grubbe, Witzke) 15:11 pp. Penalties: Lopez CGY (interference) 3:27, Curie TOR (hit to head) 14:22, Eliopulos TOR (roughing) 17:55, Rosier CGY (hit to head) 19:05.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Toronto, Del Mastro 1 (Cohen, R. Mansfield) 5:36. 4. Toronto, Sinanan 2 (Harbour, Wu) 11:04. 5. Calgary, Benoit (Witt, Shostak) 14:39. 6. Toronto Stojcevski 4 (unassisted) 19:45 en. Penalties: Cocca TOR (hooking) 12:15.
GAME DATA – SOG – Calgary 17-9-12-38, Toronto 12-10-14-36; Power plays (goals-chances) – Calgary (1-3), Toronto (1-2); Goaltenders – Calgary: Garin Bjorklund, Toronto: Sean Wu.
