Kosta Manikis (left) of Team OJHL Oates and Brandon Yeamans of Team OJHL Nieuwendyk head for the puck during Day 1 of the Eastern Canada Cup Challenge in Trenton Monday. (Photo by Christian Bender / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

Scene-setter: Twelve Junior A teams representing five different leagues have descended on the Duncan McDonald Memorial Arena in Trenton for this week’s Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge.

Four are from the OJHL, two from the CCHL (Central Canada), two from the NOJHL (Northern Ontario), two from the Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Quebec and two from the MHL (Maritimes). The games consist of two 20-minute periods with 3 points for a regulation time win, 2 for a shootout win and 1 for a shootout loss. A maximum of five players born in 1998 per team was established.

For the round-robin the teams were placed in the following groups-

A- MHL Eastlink South, NOJHL West, OJHL Nieuwendyk and OJHLOates.

B- QJAAAHL Burrows, MHL Eastlink North, OJHL Hawerchuk and CCHL Robinson.

C- CCHL Yzerman, NOJHL East, QJAAAHL St. Louis (reigning champs) and OJHL Coffey.

Bright-eyed and bushy- tailed, two teams from the OJHL kicked off proceedings on Monday morning in a game featuring Team Oates and Team Nieuwendyk. The Oates group are co-coached by Jeff Angleidis of the Toronto Junior Canadiens and Dan Fitzgerald of the Brantford 99ers. Behind the bench for the Nieuwendyks: Burlington Cougars' Mark Jooris and the Toronto Patriots' Head Coach Mark Joslin.

Two player changes were made since the announcement of the rosters with the Nieuwendyk's Colton Trumbla of the St. Michael's Buzzers replaced by Steven Elliott of the Trenton Golden Hawks and Tyler Davis of the Aurora Tigers stepping in for Davis Tiegen-Katsumi of the Pickering Panthers. It was a contest that went into a shootout with Team Nieuwendyk besting the Oates by a 2-1 margin. Adam Kim of the Kingston Voyageurs scored the goal in regulation for the winners who got shootout scores from Brandon Yeamans and Tyler Flack. The Oates goal was scored by OJHL leading point-getter Joseph Mizzi of Aurora.

Team Hawerchuk, with John Druce of the Wellington Dukes and Thomas Milne of the Trenton Golden Hawks controlling operations, were pitted against the MHL's Eastlink North squad in a noon-hour contest. Aurora Tigers captain Steven MacLean was on the blueline replacing the Brampton Admirals' captain Hudson Lambert and, also on defence, St. Michael's Buzzer Ben Lawrick was in for Zach Uens of the Wellington Dukes. Despite outshooting the Maritimers 25-19, they fell 1-0 on a goal by Summerside's Coleton Perry, who plays for the Campbellton Tigers. Burlington Cougars' goalie Matthew Dunsmoor stopped 18 of 19. The shutout went to Andrew Rose of the Grand Falls Rapids who stopped 25.

Team Coffey, co-coached by Georgetown Raiders' Scott McCrory and the Mississauga Chargers' Joe Washkurak, took to the ice in the afternoon versus the CCHL Yzerman unit. There were two changes on the Coffey club with Chase Spencer of the Toronto Junior Canadiens replacing Dante Fantauzzi of the North York Rangers on defense, while Oakville Blades' forward Jack Ricketts subbed for the Lindsay Muskies' Curtis Trolley. The Yzermans prevailed in this one 5-2 with the Coffey markers coming from Jamie Engelbert of the Cobourg Cougars in the first period and St. Michael's Buzzers' Cameron Searles, shorthanded, in the second. Veteran Elie Boulerice, in his fourth season with the Ottawa Jr. Senators, had a goal and three points for the winners.

The Oates squad were back on the ice again at seven against the NOJHL West and they were shutout 1-0 by Sault Ste. Marie native Garrett Boyonoski who plays with the Blind River Beavers. He made 21 saves. In the Oates net, Tristan Lennox stopped 24. The Soo Indians' Kobe Keller had the game’s only goal.

Team Nieuwendyk rounded out the Day 1 schedule with a matchup against the MHL's Eastlink South. The clubs exchanged goals in period one with Logan O'Neil from the South Shore Lumberjacks getting the Maritimers ahead just over a minute into the game. The Nieuwendyk's tied it up on a shorthanded goal late in the period from Trenton's Steven Elliott and it was Tyler Flack who netted the decider, unassisted, with just under four minutes remaining in the second and final period and then Elliott got the insurance marker with a powerplay effort assisted by Georgetown Raiders' Josh Nixon for the 3-1 final count. Whitby Fury goalkeeper Luke Pearson saved 29 for the victory.

In other action, it took a seven-round shootout for the NOJHL West to beat MHL Eastlink South 2-1, Quebec Burrows' topped the CCHL Robinson's 4-1 and QJAAAHL St. Louis topped the NOJHL East 5-0.

On tomorrow's (Tuesday's) card, OJHL Hawerchuk play in the opener against Quebec Burrows and end the day with a meeting against CCHL Robinson. OJHL Coffey meet up with Quebec St. Louis in their only game. OJHL Oates also have just one contest versus MHL Eastlink South and OJHL Nieuwendyk goes up against the NOJHL West squad.

The tournament continues through Wednesday.