Nickel Capitals go golden; Sudbury's midgets take Ontario title

Posted By Trevor Stewart/The Sudbury Star

Following the round-robin portion of the Ontario Midget AAA Championships in Ottawa, Sudbury head coach Peter Michelutti Jr. said he believed his team could be even better.

And that was after the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves tied for first place at the seven-team provincial tournament with a 4-1-1 record. Michelutti pointed out two of his sharpshooters - Matt Lecours and Stefan Herrington - had notched just a goal between them.

Call it coach's intuition because both players lived up to their offensive billing on the weekend. Lecours and Herrington combined for six goals in the semifinal and gold medal games to help Sudbury to the all-Ontario championship and Ontario's berth in the national championship Telus Cup tournament in Arnprior on April 21-27.

"We can't wait," Lecours said. "It's the chance of a lifetime."

Lecours had two goals and an assist Sunday in a 5-2 championship game victory over London Jr. Knights and was named MVP for the second straight game.

"It feels so good, obviously," said Herrington of notching some timely goals, including a pair Sunday after firing a dramatic game-winning goal late in the third period of Saturday's 5-4 semifinal victory over Ajax-Pickering. "But some guys came up big in other ways."

It's true, said Michelutti. The championship was a team effort.

"Our defence all played well all week," Michelutti said. "And what does that say about the depth of our team that we made it to the semifinal game even when two of your top scorers aren't scoring?"

Lecours was named Sudbury's player of the game Saturday after scoring the game-tying goal and assisting on Herrington's game winner.

"It was a two-on-one (rush) and I just passed it to Herrington and he did what he does best and dangled the goaltender," Lecours said of that goal.

Justin Lockeyer scored twice and Deven Stillar potted the other in the thrilling win over Ajax-Pickering in which the Raiders scored early in the third period to take a 4-2 lead.

That victory was just the latest comeback in the tournament by the Nickel Capitals with their vaunted, high-flying style of play - which Lecours said made the Sudbury team popular with tournament volunteers.

"It's like we're never out of it," Lecours said after that win. "We went down 2-0 to London (the the round-robin opener) ... we went down 3-0 to the (Ottawa Jr.) 67's and came back. And (in the semi), when it mattered the most, we stepped up again."