Minto Cup Day Four: Northmen Strategy Pays Off

The Orangeville Northmen will compete for their eighth Minto Cup, as they advanced to the championship series with a 13-9 victory over the Port Coquitlam Saints. 

The Saints are now eliminated from their organization’s first every Minto Cup appearance. 

It was the left-handed forwards who stole the show for the Northmen. Liam Matthews finished with 4 goals and 6 assists, while Trey Deere had 7 goals of his own. Joey Spallina had 8 points. Anahalihs Doxtator and Austin Lamoureux had 4 points each for the Saints, while Silas Richmond had 4 assists. 

You have to give credit to Head Coach Rusty Kruger and the Orangeville staff for their decision making throughout the tournament. They decided to rest Matthews, Deere, and others in Monday’s round robin finale against Coquitlam, and they were the difference on Tuesday. The game was tied 8-8 going into the third period. 

But Deere scored four goals of his own in the third period and Matthews added another as Orangeville looked just slightly fresher down the stretch. 

Now the Northmen will take on the Adanacs in a best of three series that will begin Thursday. It will be a rematch of the 2010 Minto Cup which was won by the Adanacs, and was also the last time the Minto was played inside the Palace on Poirier. 

Orangeville Forecheck the Difference

Once again, the Orangeville forecheck made a big impact on the game. The Northmen repeatedly used strong efforts by their forwards to force bad passes and earn extra possessions. Especially in the all-important third period, Orangeville stifled the Saints, never really allowing any super dangerous opportunities. 

Orangeville was particularly sharp on Richmond, who was held scoreless after scoring 9 goals in the first three games. 

My broadcast colleague this week Teddy Jenner tweeted this out, but Richmond was seen after the game taking shots on the floor. It was impressive to see his dedication to his craft, but as a player it was a difficult sight. He helped raise this Saints team to all-time heights, and was incredible in this tournament. Unfortunately only two teams can advance, and his tournament is over. But make no mistake, Richmond’s career is just getting started. 

The Saints fought admirably throughout the game, and pushed the Northmen to their limit. Jordy Neary responded from an ugly looking ankle injury on Saturday and played in this one, another example of the ridiculous toughness on display this week. Ashton Brown was very good in the goal as well. 

But eventually, the fatigue and injuries caught up with the Saints, and they took too many penalties to win at this high of a level. They took 8 penalties, and while they did a solid job killing them off, they couldn’t get enough sustained momentum throughout the game. 

In summary though, this season was an incredible success for coaches Jeff and Travis Cornwall. They led the franchise to their first ever Minto Cup, and pulled off an exceedingly rare first game upset of the Northmen. On Tuesday, they look a team with a legitimate shot to win the whole thing right to the end. 

Nobody thought they would get this far, and they looked comfortable on the biggest stage. Congrats to the Saints players and staff on an incredible run. 

History Repeats Itself, or Does it? 

In 2010, the Northmen met the Adanacs in the Minto Cup finals, and lost in two games. In 2016, they met again in the Minto Cup finals, with the Adanacs again winning in five games. 

Will history repeat itself? We will know by the weekend. I’ll have a full preview tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading!