Ontario decisively wins Roy Hysen Cup
May 06, 2008 - 02:36 PM
By Ryan Chalmers
WHITBY -- The Ontario Stars won the Canadian Deaf Hockey Championship in dominating fashion, finishing the tournament undefeated and beating Western 3-1 in the finals.
The Stars had a very experienced coaching staff, headed by Jim Vitale, owner of the Vital Hockey Skills school in Vaughan.
"The coaching staff was very experienced, with Gino Piccone from the Toronto Red Wings and Joey Piccone of the Aurora Tigers," said Vitale, who has also coached the York University men's team for four years. "This was my first opportunity to work with deaf athletes and I hold the experience very close to my heart."
Going into the tournament, Vitale was anxious to see how the team would perform as he had never seen the calibre of the deaf hockey players and didn't know what to expect. The coaching staff focused on repetition and consistency to get the team to jell.
"I was very impressed with how the team performed and as a coaching staff we felt that the team followed our systems exactly as practiced," noted Vitale. "The players really showed the community the 'ability in disability' and I tip my hat to all of the players."
With scores of 15-0 over BC, 12-0 over Quebec and a 6-1 win over the Western Provinces in round robin play, one might think that Ontario was light years ahead of their competition. Not Vitale.
"There are a lot of factors that go into a tournament like this," he explained. "These guys take on the brunt of the expense to play so I had heard that BC was missing some players because they couldn't afford to come. A decade ago Quebec was dominant but is in a rebuilding stage as most of their talent is under 20. We were definitely the stronger team but some of the scores were probably a bit more inflated than they should have been."
Vitale explained that the crowd was great especially during the final game. He was very impressed with all the support and added that it was great to see.
"Many fans from other events in the rink stopped in to watch and were in awe when they found out that these unbelievable players they were watching were hard of hearing," expressed Vitale.
The coach was also impressed with the leadership that veterans Jeff Bignell, Jason Plumb, Steve Devine and Casey O'Brien showed. The younger players really stepped up which Vitale added would lead to a bright future for Ontario Deaf Hockey.
After three decades of playing for team Ontario, Marc Coutoure retired following the tournament.
"One of my fondest memories was watching him (Coutoure) score two goals against Quebec and after scoring, he kissed and threw the pucks over the boards to his daughters," Vitale said.
He was also impressed by the hard work put in by the volunteers and that everything flowed down to the smallest detail. The volunteers too, showed their pride in working hard for the cause.
"The attitude (working hard) is evident in the deaf community both on and off the ice," he said.
Ryan Chalmers is a Durham College journalism student currently on placement with the Metroland Durham Region Media Group
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