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The 2025 OHL Cup began early Monday morning at 8am with a thrilling opening wildcard game between the Oakville Rangers and the Niagara North Stars.
These two teams came into the game evenly matched with neither a significant favourite over the other, that was evident in the game’s outcome.
Niagara forward Anthony Stasiowski opened the scoring in the first period but a powerplay goal by Marcus Magri late into the third period for Oakville equalized the game at one a piece.
In a desperate win-or-go-home elimination game, these two teams headed to overtime.
One overtime wasn’t enough. A second overtime period still didn’t solve anything. This game needed a third overtime frame to solve it. And the hero was Niagara’s Trent Enns, sending his North Stars to round robin play at the OHL Cup.
Niagara joins the Don Mills Flyers, Barrie Colts, TPH Hockey, and the Waterloo Wolves in the Nash Division.
The second wildcard game of the day was between the Toronto Marlboros and the Thunder Bay Kings.
The Marlboros have had a down year in regards to their organization’s standards, but they made no mistake in taking advantage of their wildcard draw, throttling past the Kings 9-0.
Toronto forward Kingston Harris recorded a hat ticks and was the Player of the Game for his team. Lucas Balanyk channeled his inner “Mitch Marner” recording four assists. And Aidan Witkowski - younger brother of Kieran Witkowski on the Brampton Steelheads - had two goals and two assists.
The Marlboros join the Toronto Titans, Ottawa Valley Titans, Elgin Middlesex Canucks, and Ajax/Pickering Raiders in the Shanahan Division.
The third and final wildcard game was between the Ottawa Myers Automotive and the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
Ottawa opened the scoring in the first off a goal from Jack Malandra. JRC’s Jax Pereira responded later in the period to tie it up, but it was an evenly matched opening frame.
JRC’s Camryn Warren comes into the tournament as a highly-touted prospect for the upcoming draft and he had a goal and beautiful assist on two powerplays in the second period to help give his team a 3-2 lead heading into the final frame.
Credit to Ottawa, they played two very strong periods and were right there with a JRC team loaded with talent. Unfortunately for them, JRC’s talent exploded in the third for five goals, sealing an 8-2 win.
JRC’s line of Jax Pereira, Keaton Ardagh, and Tyler Bruce were sensational in this game, combining for three goals and seven assists. Bruce’s name hasn’t been near the top of OHL draft rankings, but he certainly showed potential of a first-round pick in this game.
The Jr. Canadiens join the Vaughan Kings, Sun County Panthers, Upper Canada Cyclones, and the York Simco Express in the Subban Divison.
Don’t forget to check out our ten players to watch out for at the OHL Cup tournament this week.
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