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Thank you, Bruins!
?Over 600 fans departed the Uxbridge arena Tuesday night, saddened by the fact that the Uxbridge Bruins had been eliminated from further competition in the OHA Jr. C playoffs, but happy with the way the team has performed this season.
For the Cosmos, it has been a thrill covering their regular season and post season games. There were times when we criticized their performance, but we never criticized their deportment on or off the ice.
This was a team the whole township could be proud of. When they won, which was most of the time, they did not belittle their opponents. When they lost, they accepted the losses with grace.
But they gave their fans some amazing moments. Many of those moments were supplied by the line of Derek Davis, Kyle Northover and James Jarvis, surely one of the most dangerous scoring lines in the Jr. C ranks. Their passing plays were beautiful to behold and led to enough goals to put all three in the top five of the Central Division scoring race. It is a line that will long be remembered by Bruins fans.
They were ably backed by the likes of Steve Posteraro, a stalwart of the penalty kill, Chad Gaudet, who made things happen every time he was on the ice, and Mitch Vasey, always an irritant to opposing defencemen.
John Collins, Scott VanAllen and Andrew O'Leary played flat out every shift and Adam Leeder rattled every team he faced. Ryan Dawe, Travis Walker and Matt McGuckin gave the opposition as much as they could handle.
Jesse Steptoe played double duty on offence and defence and did both jobs well. Mike Ramsay, another two-way player, did not see much ice time in the playoffs, but he, too, played his part in the Bruins story.
Captain Jordan Wall led the defensive squad of Chris Gubb, Patrick Degerdon, Mike McDonald, Stephen Boyle and Luke Bartell, who, despite some lapses in the final series, were as much a part of the Bruins' overall success as the forwards.
And while the Bruins were off to a remarkable start to the season - undefeated in their first nine games - much of the credit went to goalies Stefan Melnychuk and Kyle Bateman. When goalie Chris Seiler returned to the Bruins after a sojourn in the Jr. A ranks, he became the starting netminder and Bateman had to be let go. Seiler also provided some memorable moments, from the amazing speed of his glove hand to his sometimes adventurous forays out of the crease.
This year, the OHA allowed Jr. C players the option of wearing full face masks or visors. It is to the credit of the Bruins organization that they put safety first and made the players wear the cages. It is to the credit of the players that they withstood many taunts by opposing teams and fans with stoicism.
This is a young team, with the majority of players eligible to return next season. As is always the case with the organization, returnees will have to fight for their places on the team against young wannabe Bruins.
But whatever the makeup of next year's team, they have a terrific 2008-9 record to build on.
For all the fans, we say “Thank you, Bruins. What a ride!”
