Bell Capital cup champs
The North Dundas Atom C Demons went to the Bell Capital Cup over the holidays and scored their second victory in as many years winning their division decisively. The winning team members are, Cameron van der Zweep, Samuel Richer, Kaedence Burke, Justin Miller, Koen Myers, Ryder Paradis, Liam Hayes, Rowan Munshaw, Aiden LeClair, Oliver Keyes, Hunter Viau, Hunter Holmes, Anthony Sylvestre, Spencer Sharpley, Landon Graham, and Liam Hinde. Head coach, Craig LeClair; assistant coaches, Jeff Hayes and Codi Paradis; and trainer, Luke Myers. Courtesy photo

KANATA—The North Dundas Atom C Demons went to the Bell Capital Cup to defend last year’s championship with five returning players from last year’s championship team. They went 3-0 through the round robin and set themselves up as the first seed going into the quarter finals.

There they played a fast Stittsville Stingers team to a 5-2 victory, jumping on the Sting early and never relinquishing the lead. Anthony Sylvester led the way with a hat trick early in the third and Liam Hayes and Aiden LeClair each scored one, helping the team earn a berth in the semifinals.

The semi’s would be a rematch from the final round robin game against the Carleton Place Kings. Their first meeting on Saturday morning went 4-0 and could have been much worse except for some incredible goaltending in the Kings’ net. Saturday night the Kings weren’t so lucky. Koen Myers exploded for four goals with Aiden LeClair, Anthony Sylvester, Spencer Sharpley and Hunter Holmes each chipping in one and Sam Richer scoring his first of the season to put an exclamation point on a 9-0 shutout. It was also the second time young Liam Hinde shut down the Kings that day. The kids headed home that night having punched their ticket to play at the Canadian Tire Centre on Monday morning.

On Monday morning, due to bad weather, everyone headed to the city early to make sure to arrive at the arena on time; the kids didn’t disappoint. A rematch from last years semifinals with Loups de Collines turned out to be a great back and forth final, but the Demons made good on their chances early. Aiden LeClair scored his second, late in the first period to give the Demons a two-goal lead, and early in the second Ryder Paradis, assisted by Justin Miller, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal. The Demons held on to the lead thanks to some more great tending by Liam Hinde and some hard-nosed defence, which had been demonstrated throughout the tournament, with a final 3-2 score for the Demons. The line of Aiden LeClair (16) Koen Myers (16) and Anthony Sylvester (14) would lead the tournament 1,2,3 in scoring and in goals LeClair (9), Sylvestre (9) and Myers (8).

The team also participated in the skills competition, where Koen Myers won Most Accurate Shooter, Anthony Sylvester won Best Defenceman, and Liam Hinde won the Best Goalie award. In addition, the pairings of Cameron van der Zweep and Koen Myers won the Breakaway Contest and Hunter Holmes, Kaedence Burke and Sam Richer placed second in the puck control event. The team has struggled through a tough first half of the season with only three regular season wins but pulled together as a team this past weekend scoring 41 goals and adding 39 assists with every player earning a point in the six games. It was truly a great experience for these kids, one their parents and coaches are very proud of and won’t soon forget.