21 straight wins and an Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) championship for the U13 Bancroft Jets.
After losing in last season’s championship game, this year’s team is bringing home the famous Red Hats and gold medals from the OMHA’s Tier 1 tournament held in Kingston last weekend.
In the final, the Jets defeated the Wallaceburg Lakers 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory on a power-play goal by Landon McEathron with two minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the third period. The Lakers took a 1-0 lead with just under eight minutes left in the decisive frame before Emmett Swift tied it up 87 seconds later, setting the stage for McEathron’s heroics.
Head coach Jonathan Swift said he called a timeout after an interference call against Wallaceburg, which led to the winning goal.
“My immediate reaction was to call a timeout to rest some of the kids because some of them who are on our first powerplay unit were out there. It was a bring them in, settle them down, give them a rest and tell them how important the faceoff was. And that’s exactly what happened.”
The Jets went undefeated in the round-robin portion of the tournament, outscoring their opponents 19-1 in three games before downing the Ennismore Eagles 1-0 in a semi-final matchup.
Despite the competitive nature on the ice, Swift said the sportsmanship all weekend was heartwarming.
“The coaches from Ennismore were unbelievable. After we beat them and as we were shaking hands, they said go get the championship. Amazing support from the team we just beat out.”
He added everyone involved with the team deserves thanks for the sacrifices they made throughout the season.
“Everything today is surreal, and I’m reflecting on how much every parent put into this. The bench staff, including our off-ice staff and goalie coaches. The kids too because they had to do all the extra work, the off-ice training. This has been a work in progress since last June.”
Swift said a former player of his and his family were on a Caribbean cruise, but managed to watch every game through a streaming service called Live Barn or via Facebook Live.
“They just wanted to wish us good luck in the final. It was amazing.”
The Jets outscored their opponents 22-2 during the tournament’s five games. Smith said he’ll be coaching some of the same kids on the Jets U15 team next season.
“Some of the kids I know are going to try out for AA and AAA teams, but some will be back for sure, and there will be some new players coming in. It would be so nice to have most of the same team, and it is such an honour to be able to continue to coach in such a great organization.”
