Tops in all of Canada. The last gold medal win of the 2015 Canada Winter Games. It doesn't get any better for Team Ontario.
They are the golden boys of the Canada Winter Games men's hockey tournament and proved themselves worthy of that honour on the ice Sunday afternoon at CN Centre, beating Alberta 3-1, each earning a prize every athlete in 19 Canada Games sports has coveted the past two weeks.
Ryan McLeod, Nick Suzuki (with the gamewinner), and Zachary Gallant (into an empty net) gave Ontario all the offence it needed. Zane Franklin, scored for Alberta with 1.8 seconds left on the clock on a power play, spoiling Michael DiPietro's bid for his third shutout of the tournament.
""I think we just stuck with the plan and got better every period and it paid off in the end," said Ontario captain Markus Phillips. "Alberta is a well-coached team and they gave us trouble in the first part of the game."
Ontario's top line connected to open the scoring right after the TV timeout midway through the second period. Owen Tippett won the draw on the Alberta end and Gabriel Vilardi took the puck behind the net and spotted McLeod standing by the opposite post. Vilardi's pass ticked off the stick of Tippett in front and went right to McLeod, who snapped in his sixth of the tournament.
Tippett, touted as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the OHL draft this spring, went down with what appeared to be serious injury with to minutes left in the second period when he took the puck deep into the offensive zone and collided knee-on-knee with Alberta right winger Zane Franklin. Tippett had to be helped off the ice by his teammates favouring his left knee.
Franklin was not penalized on the play. Tippett was back to take the first face off of the third period but returned to the bench shortly after and did not return.
Suzuki's goal came 11:33 into the third period as a result of the turnover in the Alberta end. Gallant pressured the Alberta defenceman in the corner and picked the puck up just as Suzuki cruised into the face-off circle. He took Gallant's pass and knifed a high backhander off he tip of his stick over Scott's shoulder for a 2-0 lead.
"That was really good to get that, Zach threw it in front and I got my stick on it," said Suzuki. "Our goal at the start was to win this and it's the best feeling in the world. Michael stood on his head all tournament and we were lucky to have him, he made some huge saves for us."
Alberta goalie Ian Scott was equally effective for his team. Ontario took advantage of a couple of early penalties handed out to Alberta to build an 11-5 shot advantage in the first 10 minutes but Scott was on his game, and had help from an inanimate object when Vilardi clanged the goalpost.
Alberta's offence came to life midway through the opening frame and one of the best chances came on a 2-on-0 rush started by Kobe Mohr's shot block at his own blueline, just as Kyle Olson was coming out of the penalty box. Mohr beat Ontario defenceman Ian Blacker to the puck, took it in deep and it ended up on the stick of Olson, whose shot went off DiPietro's mask.
"I didn't know what they were going to do, I just wanted to get in front of that puck and hopefully block it," said DiPietro. "That shot actually broke a clip off my helmet.
"To know that we're the No. 1 team in all of Canada is surreal. I didn't find out I'd be playing until last night."
Ontario put up a wall in front of DiPietro in the final 20 minutes, limiting Alberta to just four shots, after allowing 26 shots the first two periods. Shots ended up 36-30 for Ontario.
"We deserved a better fate, I feel, after all the hard work we put in over the year and the commitment, and I'm proud of these boys," said right winger James Hamblin, the Alberta captain.
"We were projected to be fifth in this tournament and we made it to the gold medal game and there's not much I can ask for from those guys. They fought and fought and this is tough."
Alberta beat Manitoba 3-1 to get to the final, while Ontario stopped Quebec 5-2 in the semifinals.
Ontario has now won the Canada Games men's hockey title five times and hadn't won it since 2007. As silver medalists, Alberta improved on its 2011 bronze showing in 2011.
Ontario head coach Drew Bannister won the Canada Games tournament as a defenceman for Ontario in 1991 in Charlottetown, beating Alberta for gold, which helped launch his junior career and led to a Memorial Cup win with Sault Ste. Marie and a world junior title with Canada in 1993. Now he's a two-time Canada Games champion.
The team he coached Sunday had just two practices before they left for Prince George but Bannister utilized the internet for strategy sessions with his players weeks in advance of the Games.
"You never know in a short-term tournament like this how your team's going to come together but I can tell you from the first breakfast we had together you could tell the guys were just gelling," said Bannister. "As proud as I am of them and what they did on ice here, they conducted themselves as gentlemen off the ice and I'm really proud of how they conducted themselves as people."
Before he left the ice to join his teammates in the dressing room, Hamblin credited the the city for the reception it gave his team throughout the week and the people behind the Games who made it possible for him to represent his home province.
"This was an awesome experience, not just the hockey, outside in the community, it was just a blast here meeting all the people from Canada," said Hamblin. "This only comes once in a lifetime and I think we will cherish that."
