Now the young Toros squad is looking for a return to that celebratory state.

The Toros will be hosting the OMHA Tournament of Champions this weekend at the Recreation Complex, and enter the tournament as the defending champions for the 1998 birth year, dumping Richmond Hill 5-2 in last year's gold medal game. The championship brings together the top three teams in the ETA and top two from the SCTA in a tournament style format to determine an overall champion.

By virtue of their victory at last year's tournament, the Toros earned the right to host the event this time around. While they enter the championship as one of the favourites, they looked anything like a championship calibre team in the early going of this season, losing their first three league games before getting things straightened out.

"Being the OMHA champions, everyone was out to knock us off," says coach Brian Keenan of the target the team wore. "The kids had to realize that nothing was going to be given to them and they were going to have to work for it. Once they realized that, we were OK."

The Toros turned things around in a big way over the final 27 games of the regular season, posting a 23-4-3 mark overall. They also won a tournament in London, and reached the quarterfinals at the Silver Stick in Whitby and Preston International Tournament.

With five changes from last season's roster, the Toros are poised to repeat. They waltzed through both playoff rounds, beating Whitby and York Simcoe three games to one leading up to this weekend.

"Our success comes from our depth, talent, effort and team defence," says Keenan.

Joining the Toros in the championship will be Welland and Brampton from the SCTA, and Markham from the ETA. The other spot was to be filled by either Peterborough or York Simcoe, who played a one game elimination last night (after our deadline), to determine the fifth team.

"We stack up pretty good against any team," says Keenan in measuring up the competition. "I'm pretty confident that if we play well we'll have a successful weekend."

The tournament opens Friday at 10 a.m. The Toros will play Friday at 2:30 (Peterborough or York Simcoe) and 7 p.m. (Brampton), with two more games Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (Welland) and 7 p.m. (Markham). The bronze medal game between third and fourth will go Sunday at 10 a.m., followed by the gold medal game at 12:30 p.m. between the top two teams.