Kilty Bees go for 1994 Junior A title

Jason Coles joined the team in 1993, was a solid defenseman for the Kiltys. Photo courtesy of the Spectator.

Ontario Provincial Junior A Playoffs of 1994, Round One –
Kiltys work hard to take Streetsville in seven games

By the end of February 1994, the Hamilton Kilty B’s were in first place in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. The team had finished its first year in the new division at the top of the eight-team West Division with a 30-8-2 record.

Hamilton Coach Glenn Walsh had his team ready to do battle with their first-round opponents, the Streetsville Derbys, for a best-of-seven semifinal playoff series, which started at the Mountain Arena in Hamilton.

The Bee’s took it on the chin in the first game with a 5-3 loss to Streetsville, a team that finished the regular season with a 17-21-3 record.

The league’s MVP, Matt Turek, said the Derby’s win came as a surprise, and promised a better showing in the next contest.

“I didn’t come to play,” said the Hamilton left-winger. “I tried, but it didn’t work.”

Kiltys Coach Glenn Walsh led the team to success in 1994. Photo courtesy of the Spectator.

Coach Walsh was not impressed with Turek and the rest of his line.

“Being leaders on the team, Matt and Mike (Massis) are going to have to look at themselves and pick it up a notch,” he said at the time. “They didn’t accomplish a whole lot.”

The Bees would win a game, but the Derbys kept coming back, and after a 2-2 series split in the series by the first week of March, Streetsville took a 3-2 lead with a 7-6 win but the following night Hamilton took a 3-2 win on the road at the Vic Johnston Arena to force a seventh and deciding game in the series.

Turek was the player for Hamilton in the sixth game. He tied the score at 1-1 with a center-ice shot, getting by Derby goaltender Bobby Gorman in the second. Then at the 13:27 mark of the third, Turek fired the winner past Gorman.

Hamilton Coach Walsh was pleased with the efforts of Bees goalie Aaron MacCormack, who had been inconsistent earlier in the series.

“I’m really happy with Aaron tonight,” he said. “It’s what we saw from him last year in the playoffs, and I hope it continues.”

Another factor in the team’s success that game, according to Walsh, was the return of center Cheyne Lazar, who returned after a three-week absence from a shoulder separation.
The series final was held at the Mountain Arena the next night, and before a near-capacity crowd, Hamilton defeated the hard-working Derbys with a 6-3 victory to advance to the West Division final.

Some of the Bees players were a little jumpy before this do-or-die game.

“We were pretty nervous before this game,” said center Lazar, who scored three times in the contest. “Their goalie has been hot and we were worried whether of not we’d be able to get past him. He held them in for all seven games.”

The game had been tied 3-3 going into the final period, but Mike Massis and Ron Cybalski scored in the final period, as did Lazar when the Derbys pulled their goalie near the end of the game.

“I was confident that we would be able to execute and do the things we had to do,” commented Coach Walsh after the game. “We had outshot them 37-18 in the first two periods (finishing with a 52-25 advantage). I just made sure we didn’t get frustrated in the dressing room.”

Hamilton would now meet the Oakville Blades in the loop’s West Division final.

Next: Another seven-game series, but Hamilton holds tough.

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