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20-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, AprIl 28,1998 *,SPO R TS £845MI S ".lu"TN8840 At the end of a long, hard road;e triumph By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion T he calendar may have read April 24 but New Year's Day, ail their birthdays and every long weekend rolled into one. Milton's Jr. A hockey players laughed and wept with joy around 10:30 p.m. Friday after completing the final Ieg of a marathon joumney to their first ever Ai-Ontaie- championship. Following back-to-back overtime victories earlier in the week the Merchants kicked in the gates to the promised land with a 3-I clincher over the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats. Their 4-2 series triumph also earned themn the right to represent Central Canada in Nanainio, British Columbia ai the 1998 Royal Bank Cup. Milion's national debut cornes Saturday night when they do battie with the toumnameni hosts. "This is nothing but pure excîtement," an emotional Shane Sullivan blurted out, while being mobbed by some of his younger fans. "The great thing is that ibis whole organization is responsi- ble for our success, from owner Brad Grant righi on down. "Everyone made a contribution." Not one square inch of Memorial Arena was' vacant when Sullivan and fellow assistant captains Steve French and Mark McPhail were presented with the William T. Ruddock Trophy for winning the AI-Ontario title. Moments later tearn leader Jeff Haydar - who' s talked about his team' s depth and determination.aIl year long - hoisted the Central Canadian Dudley Hewitt Cup high and the building erupted in celebration. Chants of "B.C., B.C., B.C." shook the roof. Said Haydar, "Wbat can 1 say, ibis is amnazing! "We're not quitting yet thougb, no malter how hard the nation- Much like games four and five, the Merchants wore down Rayside-Balfour with several energy draining checks Friday and came up with key penalty killing. Afier nearly three years of being the hunters, the Sabrecats were suddenly the hunted and had ile lefi to fight off the kili. They ended the season on a îhree-gamne Iosing skid - their longesi since 1994-95. Milton bencb boss Marty Williamson ikened the series îum- around 10 the Rocky movies, where Sly Stallone's opponents measure him with crushing blows before running oui of gas themselves. 'Tbat's what we used as our motivation. Rocky always takes a kicking but after a wbile be gets use to it. Tha's how il was for us," explained Williamson. wbo along with ieamn presideni Gregg Camrgan belped the Caledon Canadiens reacb the nationals three years ago. "Rayside-Balfour's a big, overwhelming teamn but we eventual- Iy wooe themn down. Being able 10 throw Jeff Seeds in for game four and getting some sirong defence oui of Mike Hurst down the stretch really helped. 'lit's thai depih thai made us successful." The Merchants stoned their Sudbury-area rivais for the lasi 57 minutes of gamne six, after 'Cats captain Todd Crane gave tbemn one Iast lead on ihe season. Holding the fort was third-strng goalie Ryan Penney. The 20- year-old Bowmanville Eagle and Eassi Conference MVP dis- played tremendous poise and scrambling abiliiy in sopping 27 of 28 shots. T.J. Lee - tbe hero of game four - would even the coui ai see MILTON on page 23 'o Photos by STEVE LeBLANC It was celebration tUrne Friday for the Merchants, who won their tirst ever Ai-Ontarlo title. Chad Blundy and captain Jeff Haydar were the first ta mab goalle Ryan Penney (lefi) while Darren Haydar (above) receives the Most Sportsmanlike Player award for the series tram OHA director Tom Lundy. Some key points in the remarkable mun Wasn't thai a pariy? D'id Troy3Friday nigbt was a moment ibai ever hcey player dreams of, winning the bg gbgb one n front of the hometown crowd. Ch s o n It'01 no longer a dreamn for the Milton Merchants, who undoubiedly will remem- -. ber every detail of the evening with unpar- 9 alleled joy and pride for the resi of their de on? days. But let me tell you sometbing guys. it go now for s By STEVE LeBLANC preîîy special for the resi of us as well. But as mi The Champion My own recollection of Aprl 24 - the marked an ir Lt to ehp h otfals dayth Milton Merchants went national able for pu Merchant of aIl to finally exorcise the - b egan a wbole five minutes afier I Halion CabIc demons of Cbelmsford Arena. arrived ai work, wben phone calîs started fun. After five straigbi losses up norih Milton tlooding my office (well, work station any- Here's air had to be wondering just whai it would way) about bow the boys had done the pre- lights of Mil take to beat Rayside-Balfour in ibeir own vious iiight. anyway. barn heading mbt game five Thursday. The exciiemeni of a potential game six - Kevin C In the end it îook an overtime winner by viciory and accompanying provincial tille winner agaii Troy Walczak - Mr. Kamikaze bimself (wbicb yours iruly predicied) didn'i let up losses in îhc - to lift the curse. untîl well afier it came to fruition, wben in mosi desper. "The puck bounced off a defenceman's the wee houri of the momning ai a local rock and he skate in the sIot and I needed îwo wbacks waiering bole super fan Gary Sim showed around for gi 10 put it pasi (Jarreti) Rose's blocker sideý," me a vintage copy of a 1959-60 Milton - Milion's recalled Walczak, wbose beroics gave Merchanis prograrn - a tangible reminder streak that st Milton a 2-I win and set the stage for their ofbhow farithe clubbhas come. - Steve Fr( eventual AII-Ontario series triumph. From siari to finish the day belonged 10 in game îwo t Perbaps it was fate thai Chelmsford loc ai hockey and local hockey beroes Raiders me who' ve beld our heart-strings hostage for see WALCZAK on page 22 -over îwo monibs - and won't be leting t EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH RON STURLEY takes pride in being Georgetown Toyota's Sales Manager. He has been in the car business for five years atmosphere at Georgetown Toyota."It puts the fun back into selling," says Ron, "And Kevn and Jack are a great, fun, bunch o His favourite spare time activities include mountain biking, sea-dooing and snowmobiling. Ron has been at Georgetown Toyota for a year and welcomes you to corne in and experience a 'low pressure' deal with a P.ON STURLEY î --% ! UP Fron t Lnother week and a haîf. ich as game six's 3-I victory incredible climax - one avail- urchase from our friends ai Ie - getting there was baîf the rundown of some of the bigh- lton's 1998 playoff mun, so far )'Flaberty's double overtime ist Oakville after back-io-back isecond round. In bis ieam's raie bour, be donned the sbam- elped tumed Milton's fortunes good. sremarkable I 5-game unbeaten iretched for nearly six weeks. ench' s double overtime winner ,againsi Wexford. This put the iagre bopes for winning the see HOW on page 23 rs and enjoys the easy ofguys to work with!" alocal friendly dealer.