The Aurora Minor Tigers trademarked the Canadian version of March Madness with a minor hockey tournament at the Aurora Community Centre this past weekend.

Atom, Bantam and Peewee clubs were chosen to be involved from Friday all the way to Sunday. Aurora Green, Yellow and Purple competed in the Atom division and Aurora Red and Yellow Peewee, teams took part.

Throughout a weekend of nonstop puck drops and sales of body lotions all throughout the centre, it was a jam-packed weekend for parents and players before the final week ahead of March break.

On Friday, the Atom division kicked off the tournament when the Aurora Purple were trounced by Aurora Green 7-1.

Aurora Yellow had to wait until mid-day before playing their first game in the Atom division against Aurora Green.

In this one, it was the Hunter Lethangue show. His puck control and vision down the ice exceled the young man past the defence on multiple occasions. Before anyone knew it, it was 2-0 by the end of the period.

Green got back into it in the second period with a goal from Noah Dalcin. But Lethangue had other ideas, burying two more goals for a 4-1 victory.

“Hunter is a really good player. One of the top two or three players in the league. He's used to scoring and he came through today. If he has a good game, our team has a good game,” said head coach of Atom Aurora Yellow Jamie Cole.

Yellow went on to tie their second game 2-2 against the Thorold Blackhawks.

On Saturday, Purple and Green went on to lose the rest of the games in the round robin. Aurora Yellow won their second last game, before losing an exhilarating game against Copper Cliff Boston. Down 6-0, the team battled back to bring the game within two.

Boston seemingly shook off the momentum shift and put forth another two goals to finish first place in the group.

On Sunday, Green and Yellow fell in the semi-final games against Copper Cliff Boston and the Thorold Blackhawks respectively; just missing out on a chance for an all-Aurora final.

Copper Cliff Boston took home the trophy, thrashing the Thorold Blackhawks 10-0.

Peewee

The same despair occurred with Aurora Red and Yellow from the Peewee division, except both clubs did not make it past the round robin stage with the OCHL Knox, Thorold Blackhawks, Otonabee Wolves and the Newmarket Redmen in their group.

The only victory for one of the Aurora teams came in the final game when both clubs went head to head to finish off the tournament.

Adrian Smith got Red on the board first, thanks to a nifty pass from Andreas Altinian.

Close to the end of the period, Mujjaahid Karim passed across the hashmarks to Rowan Bab, and received the puck back from Bab on the doorstep to tie it up.

In the second period, both teams added two more goals apiece, lining up a thrilling third period in front of their parents.

With the game down to the wire at 6-4, Altanian scored with 18.4 seconds left in the game to bring the Red team within one.

Off the draw, Yellow dumped the puck back towards Red's zone, preventing any play being set up.

Altinanian shared what he will do for his playoff games outside of the tournament.

“Just pass up to your teammates when there's an open net, just go to it, take a shot. Just try to get assists as well,” he said.

The OCHL Knox won the tournament in the end, defeating the Thorold Blackhawks 3-1. A successful weekend for all participants and for the players on the eve of playoff hockey for most clubs.

A special thanks once again to tournament director Mary Ann Cobb and all other personnel for a smooth and safe tournament.

By Robert Belardi