History Made At The 2025 Allan Cup Challenge

by Mike Marasco

Day two of the 2025 Allan Cup Challenge saw another pair of entertaining games at the Harry Howell Arena in Flamborough. Both Dundas and St. John’s were playing their second games in as many days while Clarenville and Minto were playing in their first games of the tournament. Capping the day off, fans in attendance got to witness some history.

A day after their tournament opening loss, the Dundas Real McCoys returned to the ice to take on the Clarenville Ford Caribous who was playing their first game of the 2025 Allan Cup Challenge.

Phil Brewer opened the scoring for the McCoys just seconds shy of the midway point of the period. However, the Caribous would even the score four minutes later when Liam Best found the back of the net.

Clarenville continued to score, jumping out to a 3-1 lead with goals by Andrew Paul and Nathan Kelly at 6:09 and 9:47 respectively in the second period. Dundas brought the game back to within a goal on Simon Mangos’ goal at 15:34 of the middle stanza.

In the third, Jesse Sutton scored to regain the two-goal lead for the Caribous. Like the night before, the McCoys pushed back and made it a one-goal game on Shane Conacher’s goal with 6:10 remaining in regulation. Dundas continued to push for the equalizer, getting a quality chance as the last few seconds ticked off the clock.

For the Caribous, AJ Whiffen picked up the win, stopping 31 of 34 shots he faced. In the Dundas crease, Mike Mole took the loss, making 39 stops.

The Caribous will be back in action on Tuesday against the Stoney Creek Tigers at 3:30pm with a chance to claim the bye to the semi-finals. With the loss, Dundas will play in one of the quarterfinal games on Wednesday.

In the night cap, the Minto 81’s and St. John’s Rooftech Capitals put on a show, combining for 13 goals in the contest and making some history.

The teams combined for six goals in the opening period of play with Minto opening the scoring 2:54 into the game by Garrett Meurs. Almost five minutes later, Daniel Cadigan scored to even up the score at one for the Capitals. The 81’s would regain their lead and add to it with goals from Mason Kohn and Wylie Birkett 1:41 apart. However, St. John’s cut the lead to one on Jordan Escott goal with 3:46 remaining in the opening period. Chayse Herrfort regained Minto’s two-goal lead with just eight seconds remaining on the clock.

In the second period, both teams would score a pair of goals with Minto’s Meurs scoring the period’s opening and closing goals to secure the hat trick. Sandwiched between those goals were Capitals goals from Michael Cole and James Melindy.

While the scoring was on tap in the first two periods, the third period saw both teams make a parade to the sin bin. The teams would each find the back of the net with Adam Kawalec and Meurs scoring for Minto and Melindy scoring the final goal of the game for St. John’s.

Jonathan Reinhart picked up the victory in the 81’s net, making 26 saves on 31 shots. For the Capitals, Kyle Downer took the loss, allowing 5 goals on 29 shots he faced. Matthew Jenkins came in and played the final 28:44, making 15 saves.

With the win, Minto becomes the first Ontario Senior AA Men’s team to win a game at an Allan Cup tournament and will face the Wentworth Gryphins on Tuesday night for the bye to Friday’s semifinal. St. John’s will next play in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday with the time and opponent still to b decided.

Upcoming Games
Tuesday April 22
Clarenville vs Stoney Creek – 3:30pm
Wentworth vs Minto – 7:30pm

Wednesday April 23 - Quarterfinals
Division Two 3rd Place vs Division One 2nd Place – 3:30pm
Division One 3rd Place vs Division Two 2nd Place – 7:30pm

Friday April 25 – Semifinals
QF Winner vs Division One 1st Place – 3:30pm
QF Winner vs Division Two 1st Place – 7:30pm

Saturday April 26 – Championship
SF Winner vs SF Winner – 3:00pm

The Allan Cup Challenge runs April 20th through the 26th at the Harry Howell Arena in Flamborough, Ontario, hosted by the Wentworth Gryphins. The Championship game on Saturday April 26th will be broadcast on CHCH TV as well as online on Parrot TV.

Fans can purchase tickets through the Eventbrite website (click here) or at the door on game day.

About Allan Cup Hockey (ACH) and the Allan Cup

Allan Cup Hockey (ACH), formerly Major League Hockey until 2011, is the top tier Canadian senior ice hockey league in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1990, as the Southwestern Senior “A” Hockey League, the ACH is a member of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. The ACH’s champion contends for the Allan Cup each year.

The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the Dundas Real McCoys, who captured the 2023 and 2024 Allan Cup in Dundas, Ontario.

Follow the Allan Cup Hockey League social media on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and now Bluesky.

For more information contact Allan Cup Hockey Commissioner Rick Richardson at 905-328-4727 or email: rickystar911@outlook.com