BY OJHL.ca
Photo: CALGARY: Defenceman Candon O’Neill of the Trenton Golden Hawks keeps close tabs on a Northern Manitoba Blizzard player during the first game of the 2025 Centennial Cup national Jr. A championships. (Photo courtesy Hockey Canada)
OJHL champs face Northwestern Ontario team Friday afternoon in Calgary
Trenton Golden Hawks’ Captain Corbin Roach hadn’t scored a goal in overtime during his four years in the Ontario Junior Hockey League
Before Thursday that is.
Roach tallied at 4:04 of extra time to give the OJHL champion Golden Hawks a 5-4 win over the Northern Manitoba Blizzard in the opening game of the Centennial Cup national Jr. A championship tournament in Calgary.
The 21-year-old from Belleville netted the winner with the OJHL champion Golden Hawks on a 4-on-3 power play.
“It’s a nice first one to have,” Roach told the OJHL’s Jim Mason from Calgary.
“We came out pretty good, got a lead but took a little too many penalties and they caught up. But we stuck with it the whole time and never got too high or low.”
Roach had given the Golden Hawks a 4-3 lead at 1:51 of the third period.
But the Blizzard, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champs from The Pas, sent the game to overtime with a power-play goal of their own with 1:01 left in regulation.
“I think both teams can probably say that they didn’t think nine goals would be scored today,” said Derek Smith, the Golden Hawks head coach and general manager. “There was some push from both teams; they came out in the third and had a good period. Giving up a goal late in the third period could be deflating, but our guys stuck with it and our goalie gave us a huge save in overtime and a chance to score on the power play. Every game is so valuable, we’re proud of the guys for gutting this one out and we’ll look forward to tomorrow.”
Joey Brehmer, Nathan Taylor and Trevor McDowell had the other Golden Hawks goals.
“It was a good first game to have under our belts,” Roach said. “We’ll carry that momentum going into the next one.”
The Golden Hawks play the Kam River Walleye in their second game of the event Friday at 2 p.m. ET. Kam River, located just west of Thunder Bay, won the Superior International Junior Hockey League championship.
Roach praised the Golden Hawks fans who made the 3,400 km trek from Trenton to Calgary for the tournament.
“It’s great,” he said. “We hear them and feed off the energy. It’s nice to see familiar faces in the crowd.”
Following Friday’s game, the Golden Hawks will have the weekend off before playing Greater Sudbury Monday and Grand Prairie, the Alberta champs, on Tuesday. Both are 6 p.m. ET starts.
The playoffs will be played May 16-18.
The tournament includes 10 teams – the host Calgary Canucks and representatives from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Québec, Ontario Junior Hockey League, Superior International Junior Hockey League, Central Canada Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Maritime Hockey League, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.