The Tweed Oil Kings did not have an easy path to the NPHL Capital Championship (Senior A hockey).
It stated with a two-game sweep of the Westport Lumberjacks, before meeting the team with the best record in the Northern Premier Hockey League (18 wins, 1 loss, 1 OT loss), the Smiths Falls Rideaus.
Round two began with a pair of losses to the Rideaus, in the best-of-five, before running off three straight wins to take the series.
Head Coach Brad Brooks says confidence never wavered.
“We’ve got a group of great hockey players that all believed the same thing and we’re all pulling on the same rope. At no point was anyone hanging their head and saying this is over.”
They would win three straight to head to the Western Conference Championship, which pitted the Oil Kings against the top team in the Highland Division, the Deseronto Bulldogs.
Tweed would be victorious in three straight games to win their first ever conference title, but Brooks says it was a war.
“Deseronto’s a heck of a hockey club, a great organization they have over there. They’ve got some pretty talented hockey players on that team. Every game was a one goal game, but our boys they bought into the system, made selfless plays, laid the body, put some pain on them, slowed them down a little bit, clog up that neutral zone.”
On Saturday March 14 in Deseronto, Colin Doyle had three points, while Elijah Brahaney, Dawson Ellis, and Jacob Vreugdenhill each had two points in the game 3 win, a 5-4 final.
The Oil Kings will now get ready to meet the winner of the East Conference, the Manotick Mariners.
Got to do a little scouting on the Manotick goaltender, who’s a heck of a goaltender. They’re a speedy, fast group of some ex-NHL’ers, it’s going to be a war. They play on a big ice surface and Tweed’s a small arena, so we’ll see how each team adjusts and taker one game at a time.
Game one will take place Saturday in Manitock at 7:30 p.m., with game two back in Tweed on Sunday afternoon at 6:00 p.m.
The rest of the schedule will be released in the next 24 hours.
The Tweed Oil Kings celebrate their first ever senior hockey conference championship (Photo: Alex Genereaux)
