Team
1977-78 Thames Valley Brick Hockey
SPORT | Hockey
LEVEL | Major Midget "AA"
YEAR OF INDUCTION | 2018
Front Row (L to R): Steve Hime, Doug Wright, Jay Brodie, Todd Parker, Brad Paul, Middle Row (L to R): Middle row left – Lucien Tourlouse, Bill Flavell, Dave McDonnell, Rob Bossence, George Burford, Todd Mifflin, Jim Brodie (assistant coach), Charlie McIntosh (coach), Back Row (L to R): Mike McIntosh, Alan Schnekenburger, Dave Brown, Vince Roy, John Udvari, Jeff Weber, Absent – Don Smith (timekeeper)
1977-78 Royals Hockey Team Induction into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame, 2014 Front Row: Randy Trudeau, Wayne Anderson, Wayne Cowell, Rick Martin, Tom McIntosh (trainer), Peter Badour Middle Row: Brian Allin, Mike O’Meara, Rick Stickney, Don Vandersluis, Colin Thompson, Larry Verlinde, Steve English Back Row: Chuck Howard, Derek Davenport (president), Kent Byrnes, Tom Rogers, Randy Aitken
1977-78 Royals Hockey Team Induction into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame, 2014 Front Row: Randy Trudeau, Wayne Anderson, Wayne Cowell, Rick Martin, Tom McIntosh (trainer), Peter Badour Middle Row: Brian Allin, Mike O’Meara, Rick Stickney, Don Vandersluis, Colin Thompson, Larry Verlinde, Steve English Back Row: Chuck Howard, Derek Davenport (president), Kent Byrnes, Tom Rogers, Randy Aitken
The 1977-78 Midget AA Hockey team, sponsored by Thames Valley Brick, competed in the strong Western Counties League. They won the league championship by defeating Riverside in a 6 points series, tying 2 games in Riverside and winning two home games. This win qualified them to compete in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association playdowns which featured three hard-fought series against very good teams.
Against London Oakridge in the quarterfinals, the midgets won game one 7-6 in overtime and game two 4-2 winning the 4-point series and moving on to the next round.
Against Stratford in the semi-finals, it was a battle from the start. Game one ended in a 4-4 overtime tie. Game two again went into overtime with Todd Mifflin scoring with 24 seconds remaining for a Chatham win. After the midgets won 5-2 in game three, Stratford won game four 10-4 in a wild, penalty filled game. In game five Jay Brodie scored the winning goal with 6 seconds left in overtime to give Chatham the 6 point series and advanced them to the finals.
The final series, the best of seven games against Newmarket, was a hard fought, penalty filled affair. All games featured numerous penalties to the point where both coaches were suspended after game five. The first two games were played in Newmarket with each team winning one game. Back home for games three and four, Chatham won both games 3-1 and 5-3. Game 5 was played in Newmarket who won 9-3. In a wild game six, Chatham won 12-7 to capture the OMHA Midget AA Championship. This win was the first OMHA championship in 12 years for the Chatham Minor Hockey Association.