By: Daniel Vazzoler
For the first time in five seasons, the CCHL has a Bogart Cup champion that isn’t the Carleton Place Canadians as the Ottawa Jr. Senators finished the final series on Saturday with a 5-4 victory in Game Five.
The Canadians entered the third period trailing 4-3 but an early goal from Tim Theocharidis helped raise the energy level of the sold-out Carleton Place Arena. Later in the frame, however, Griffin McGregor silenced the home crowd with the cup-winning goal 12:12 into the period.
Each game of the series was a one-goal difference, and Canadians coach Jason Clarke said the deciding factor was the performance of each team’s top players.
“They’re best players were better than our best players,” he added. “They had way more character, way more grit. I mean, Ottawa deserved to win that series four games to one. A lot of people on the outside looking in were talking about how close this series was.”
“For us as a staff, we didn’t think the series was close at all. We had a really good goaltender, that was the only thing that kept it close. They were the better team and they wanted it a lot more than our guys. Definitely disappointed, for sure, but that’s the way it is.”
Game Five started well for Carleton Place, with Brett Thorne capitalizing on a power play just two minutes into the game for an early lead – a lead that was short-lived as Owen Guy scored just over three minutes later to tie the game.
Elie Boulerice gave Ottawa its first lead of the game with 4:33 left in the first period, tipping in the Michael Thomas shot on the power play. That lead also didn’t last long with Travis Broughman muscling his way to the front of the net to tie the game in the final minute of the opening frame.
Devon Daniels and Joe Alexander each scored early in the second period with seeing-eye shots from the blue-line that got through the traffic in front of Michael Leach and eluded the Canadians goaltender. Ottawa used those goals to control most of the second period, but Carleton Place slowly started to gain momentum throughout the latter half of the period.
Zach Tupker capped off the momentum boost late in the second period, beating Connor Hicks with a wrist shot from the slot to cut the deficit to one goal before the third period.
In the end, the Canadians didn’t have enough throughout the series and faced a difficult task of having to try and come back from down 3-0 in the series. They were able to extend the series an extra game but no further.
The good news for them is their season isn’t over.
With Ottawa hosting the Fred Page Cup, both the Jr. Senators and the Canadians will be participating in the tournament to see who will represent Eastern Canada at the national Jr. A championship, the RBC Cup. The Canadians have until May 2 to evaluate what happened in the series, and Clarke said he already has plans for what he will be looking to do between now and then.
“Just trying to get our game back, restore our culture and the way we play the game. We played two good periods in five games … if you play two good periods out of 15, you’re not going to win very many series. We need to be a lot more consistent, we need our best players to be our best players and we need a lot more grit and determination.”
The Canadians begin the Fred Page Cup on May 2 at 11:30 a.m. against the champions of the QJHL, Collège Français de Longueuil, before a rematch against Ottawa on May 3 at 7 p.m. Carleton Place wraps up the round robin stage of the tournament on May 4 when they take on the champions of the MHL – which will either be the Yarmouth Mariners or the Edmundston Blizzard.
Playoff Matchups Around the League
* = if necessary
BOLD = higher seed home game
Bogart Cup Finals
(1) CPC vs (2) OJS – OJS wins 4-1
GAME 1: CPC vs OJS – OJS 2-1
GAME 2: OJS vs CPC – OJS 3-2 (OT)
GAME 3: CPC vs OJS – OJS 2-1 (OT)
GAME 4: OJS vs CPC – CPC 2-1
GAME 5: CPC vs OJS – OJS 5-4
Semi-finals
(1) CPC vs (4) HAW – CPC wins 4-0
GAME 1: CPC vs HAW – CPC 4-2
GAME 2: HAW vs CPC – CPC 3-2
GAME 3: CPC vs HAW – CPC 4-1
GAME 4: HAW vs CPC – CPC 5-1
(2) OJS vs (3) BRO – OJS wins 4-3
GAME 1: OJS vs BRO – OJS 6-1
GAME 2: BRO vs OJS – OJS 5-1
GAME 3: OJS vs BRO – BRO 3-1
GAME 4: BRO vs OJS – OJS 5-1
GAME 5: OJS vs BRO – BRO 6-5 (OT)
GAME 6: BRO vs OJS – BRO 4-2
GAME 7: OJS vs BRO – OJS 5-1
Quarter-finals
(1) CPC vs (8) ROC – CPC wins 4-1
GAME 1: CPC vs ROC – CPC 6-2
GAME 2: ROC vs CPC – ROC 3-2 (OT)
GAME 3: CPC vs ROC – CPC 4-2
GAME 4: ROC vs CPC – CPC 3-0
GAME 5: CPC vs ROC – CPC 7-2
(2) OJS vs (7) PLK – OJS wins 4-2
GAME 1: OJS vs PLK – OJS 5-0
GAME 2: PLK vs OJS – OJS 6-2
GAME 3: OJS vs PLK – PLK 4-2
GAME 4: PLK vs OJS – OJS 4-0
GAME 5: OJS vs PLK – PLK 4-3
GAME 6: PLK vs OJS – OJS 6-1
(3) BRO vs (6) KAN – BRO wins 4-0
GAME 1: BRO vs KAN – BRO 5-3
GAME 2: KAN vs BRO – BRO 5-4 (OT)
GAME 3: BRO vs KAN – BRO 4-3
GAME 4: KAN vs BRO – BRO 4-2
(4) HAW vs (5) CRW – HAW wins 4-3
GAME 1: HAW vs CRW – HAW 4-3
GAME 2: CRW vs HAW – CRW 4-2
GAME 3: HAW vs CRW – HAW 4-3 (OT2)
GAME 4: CRW vs HAW – HAW 3-1
GAME 5: HAW vs CRW – CRW 3-2 (OT2)
GAME 6: CRW vs HAW – CRW 4-3 (OT)
GAME 7: HAW vs CRW – HAW 9-0
