It’s no secret the Timmins Majors have had their share of troubles over the last number of seasons.

But when it mattered most this weekend, this new regime pulled off what seemed unlikely: a championship to start a new season.

The Majors are coming off a two-win season in 2016-17 and their second consecutive finish in the basement of the Great North Midget League.

And after an 0-3 round robin in this past weekend Polar Bear Classic exhibition tournament in Cochrane and Iroquois Falls, not many gave them a chance.

One person who believed was Head Coach Brandon Perry, who says they didn’t play all that badly.

“We put a lot of shots on their goalie against Rouyn,” he recalled, “People watching the first period, maybe we could have come out with that. We made four mistakes, they ended up in the back of our net, and we lose that one.”

“We struggled a lot against Kap that second game,” he continued, “They came out, they were pushing the pace…our last round robin game against the Soo, I thought we played a good game again. Just some stupid penalties, ends up in the back of our net.”

Despite all that, Sunday was a new start with all four teams qualifying for the playoffs.

The Majors faced the top ranked Rouyn-Noranda Citadelle in the semi-final playoff round. These two opened up the tournament Friday afternoon, where Rouyn came away with a 4-1 win.

On Sunday, the Majors turned it around with a 3-0 shutout. Jordan Yaremchuk turned aside all 27 shots he faced, and Kobe Barette notched the natural hat trick.

That put them in the final against the Soo Thunderbirds AAA Minor Midgets, who took down the Kapuskasing Flyers 2-1 in double overtime in the other semi.

It was tied at two going into the 2nd, when the Majors broke the game open with four second period tallies.

This time, they held onto their lead through the third and became the first-ever Polar Bear Classic “AAA Midget” Champions with a 6-3 triumph.

Barette’s linemates were the one’s doing the scoring in the final, with Riley Robitaille and Riley Brousseau each netting a pair of tallies.

Perry offered his praise of the trio after Sunday’s win.

“They were all over the scoresheet tonight,” he said, “That’s what you get when you get third year guys, with that confidence, you get them back, you get a big guy like Riley Robitaille out there. He shouldn’t be stopped. He’s too big, he’s too strong, he’s too fast, he’s got good skill.”

“And then when you mix him in with a big body like Riley Brousseau, again hes a big body, he’s fast, he’s got good skill and then you put a young kid like Kobe Barette, whose got tons of skill, it’s a good mix, they got some good chemistry going here.”

Overall, Perry says the tournament was all about learning and with the season upcoming, they’ve “got a long ways to go.”

The Majors go into the regular season with many quality opponents in the now-nine team Great North Midget League. The defending champion North Bay Trappers will be looking for a repeat, and as Perry noted, they also have to play the 2018 Telus Cuo national midget “AAA” Championship host Sudbury Nickel Captial Wolves.

“We’re going to play a lot of good teams. That Soo Minor’s team’s a good team, but we got to measure ouselves against a Sudbury,” he said, “Those are the teams we want to compete against.”

“It’s a long season, this is definitely a step in the right direction, but we got to continue to get better.”

CRUNCH FALL IN PBC JUNIOR A FINAL
The NOJHL’s Cochrane Crunch couldn’t stop the repeat of finals results, as the OJHL’s Kingston Voyageurs successfully defended their Polar Bear Classic Championship with a 2-1 win over the host team.

It didn’t come without controversy though, as the Crunch seemingly tied the game in the final minute. Alex Engel’s point shot hit twine with 57.9 left on the clock.

But after a moment of celebration, the officials waved the goal off, declaring there were too many men on the ice with a sixth man on allegedly before goaltender Taylor Unruh was on the bench.

The Cochrane bench—and pro-Crunch crowd—were none too pleased. After a couple moments of talking and settling, the call stood, the Crunch pressed but the equalizer never came.

Despite the loss, Leonard says that final game was one of the best at the Tim Horton Events Centre since the organization moved over from Elliot Lake.

The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners and Espanola Express rounded out the four-team competition this past weekend.

The Crunch will host the Soo Thunderbirds to open up their regular season Saturday night. Puck drop at 7:30pm from THEC.

ROCK SWEEP JACKS
The Timmins Rock took care of business Sunday night, doubling up on the Hearst Lumberjacks 4-2 in pre-season play.

This comes after the Rock’s 6-2 win over the Jacks Thursday night at the McIntyre Arena.

Derek Seguin—fresh off a stint at Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) training camp—led the attack Sunday with two goals, including the game-winner.

Veterans Wayne Mathieu and Jared Hester scored the others. Eric Jackson and Brendan Bishop split time in net, though Bishop was credited with the win.

The Rock get their season underway Friday night, taking on French River at the McIntyre Arena. Puck drop set for 7:00pm.

TMBL FINALS UNDERWAY
The 15-time defending champion Timmins Whiskey Jacks are back in the final against the Servicemaster Orioles.

Both were able to advance this past week. The Whiskey Jacks, already up 2-1 in their best-of-five against the Lessard-Stephens Red Sox, put up a 13-2 win Wednesday night to wrap up their berth.

The Orioles held a 1-0 series lead over the Moneta Pub and Grub Brewers coming into the week. But two consecutive wins (5-3 Monday, 12-10 Tuesday) pushed the Orioles over the top.

Game 1 of their best-of-five final was scheduled for Monday at 5:00pm. But the result is not available.

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