Whitby Minor Hockey Association

The Tyke rep team has won all 24 of its regular season games against its Lakeshore League rivals, which includes Pickering, Belleville and two teams in both Ajax and Clarington. Demonstrating offensive might and defensive tenacity, the team netted 162 goals, letting in 29.

The next closest rival was Pickering, who finished the season with 33 points compared to Whitby’s 48.

The perfect record was not something Whitby Coach Justin Collins even thought about until the team was 18 or 19 games in.

“Once we got to that point it became a team goal,” said Collins. “We used it as motivation to work hard no matter who we were playing.”

The skating prowess of five of the Whitby boys earned them the Tyke Skills Relay Trophy at the Golden Horseshoe Tournament in Burlington a few weeks ago. Owen Tapper, Garrett Joss, Keegan Price, Nolan Smith and Luke Macpherson outskated 14 other Tyke teams to claim the top spot.

The team was unable to continue its winning ways in round robin games in that tournament, losing to tournament finalists Burlington and George Bell after beating Clarington White and Port Credit.

But they are looking forward to some exciting playoff games in the coming weeks.

"The players have been a joy to coach. Whether a game or practice, they come to the rink and work hard every time out," said Coach Collins. "Our team slogan is ‘A team above all, above all a team’. That has been the roots of any success we have had this year. The players love coming to the rink and being around one another and it shows up on the ice.”

The team also includes:  Ethan Lee, Alexander MacKenzie-Ede, Robert Baxter, Matthew Poitras, Gabriel Sorichetti, Cody Hagerman, Nolan Collins, Max Vautour, Finn Grace, Brian Downey and goalies Andrew Ballantyne and Nolan Dunn.  The assistant coaches are Jay Lee, Phil Poitras, and Erik Sorichetti. The trainer is Rob Tapper and manager is Tony Sorichetti.

Members of the Whitby Select 7 hockey team have been perfect in regular season play in the Lakeshore League.