King Rebellion minor atoms flawless in tournament

Many King families headed south to be part of something special at the annual 2018 Toronto Wolverines Fall Classic recently. The minor atom Rebels, one of 3 teams representing King township, came into the tournament with one thing on their minds: win all 6 games. To some, this feat may seem trivial, but to the ‘09 Rebels, this was a huge deal.
The Rebellions came out of the gates strong, beating up on a Toronto Renegades squad by the tune of 14-0. The speedy Matteo Rossi led the team, with his strongest game of the season, potting 3 goals and collecting 2 assists, landing him the covenant “Golden Jofa.” Chace Taylor and Nicholas Mammoliti also put 5 points each on the board.
“Having Mammo and Rossi flanking our centres makes hockey easy,” was the response by coach Taylor after asked about the breakout game by his 2 wingers.
Next on the schedule was a fiery Hartland Dragons team. After losing their first game the Dragons came out with a vengeance. Nothing a Rebellion D-core couldn't handle, with the pairing of Julian “JV” Viola and Ethan “Big E” Robinson steadying the ship, The Rebels were able to leave the first period unscathed. The floodgates then opened for the Rebels with Bridges and Mazzotta both finishing the night off with a combined 7 points. Not to be outdone by Julian Gargano's heavy point shot that found the five-hole of a defeated dragons goaltender.
“Gargo's goal doesn't happen without the strong board play of Millie,” stated by Coach Robinson. “I was moved around to many teams in my Jr. career. It's really hard looking over to your left and seeing a different jersey number, but Guido really stepped up and showed his compatibility, tonight.”
With confidence, the offence went to work, led by the net presence of DeLuca and Mazzotta. Mammoliti buried 2 past the tournament favourites the Stittsville Rams, capped off by Bridges backhand bar down that had the Rams slack-jawed goalie stunned. The defence pairing of Guido and DeMelis proves to be too much for defeated Ram squad. The rebels would overwhelm the tournament favourites with a 4-3 win.
A long day at the rink could have been their demise, but with an 8 p.m. start time against a rested LPC Wild team, it was business as usual for the Rebels. Julian Mazzotta started the contest, a minute into the game with a beauty pass from Teo Contardi. Teo didn't stop there, he then put the team on his back scoring back to back, end to end goals to put the team ahead by 3. The Rebels put the game on cruise control and finish the late contest by a score of 6-3.
Moving day. “Do we want to stay or do we want to pack up our stuff and go” This is moving day,” said Coach Rossi still licking the wounds from a Silver Stick upset. Playing a tired LPC Wild team, the Rebels started where they left off from the previous night. The breakout being spot-on, lead by “Big E” threading the needle through a confused LPC team. The only glimmer of hope the LPC had was their star goaltender – all but 6 of 49 shots taken.
With a 6-3 win, the Wild proved to be no adversary for the wheeling Rebels.
The stage was set, the top 2 teams squaring off – the Stittsville Rams vs. The King Rebellion. After the previous meeting in the preliminaries, the Rams were not looking for a repeat performance. Armed with their top line, they came in looking to upset the undefeated Rebels.
The Rams came out strong, almost too strong for the overconfident Rebels, but not strong enough for the Rebels backstop Luca Marchese. With the Rebels caught in their own end and the Rams big line pressing, #27 of the Rams was presented with an open 4x6 net, a sure goal for the Rams top forward. From his backside, Marchese reeled in a glove save holding the score to 0-0.
“I have never in my 20 years made a save like that,” said retired/suspended D league goalie Steve DeMelis. With that, the Rebels found their stride, led by the team's rock at centre Chace Taylor, who scored 3 and added a helper on the last one. Taylor's play was too much to handle for the Stittsville Rams.
With the clock running down, the Rebels were stir-crazy to get on that ice with the Golden Cup. Led by their relentless Captain, Michael DeLuca took the cup for a final lap around the ice, showing it off to all the proud parents that have put in many hours and miles around Ontario to make this special moment happen for their future stars.