This year the team has already captured the Northwest Toronto Pre Season Tournament, the Ontario Ball Hockey Association Men’s B Provincial Qualifier and now the Men’s Eastern Regional crown.
The team claimed gold defeating Quebec’s Raging Wolves in the tournament final. The two had matched skills in round robin play only to see the Orangemen win 2-1 literally in the final seconds of play so the final was a much anticipated game against the two clubs.
The Orangemen rise to prominence did not occur overnight. The team from its inception has been coached and managed by Marcel Vieira. He is one of the finest gentlemen the sport has seen in many years and a father figure to many of these young boys becoming men before our eyes. Before graduating to arena ball hockey, the team used to toil in the gymnasiums within the City of Toronto as part of the Street Buds program playing at either Wallace or Mary McCormick Community Centres honing their skills. These years would be the foundation of what we see today and now the rest of the world is seeing them grow up and become men.
The most important factor in the success of any team is ensuring that the players work together towards one common goal, this responsibility falls on the shoulders of the coach and general manager, Marcel Vieira. It=s the team concept that wins and everyone from the stars to the role players must lead and play defence with discipline.
While the team has a few stars in John Da Rocha, Chris Lima & Ricardo Pires the strength of this team is the BIG 4 defenseman, Chris Creador, Danny Rocha, Jason Quieroga and Chris Cerqueira who can all run, shoot and score and the coach plays them in all situations.
The team has a great make up and with many teams being able to offer one scoring line, the Orangemen can send three solid lines over the boards. Goaltending is always the backbone of any championship calibre team and the Orangemen have Luis Medeiros and Jimmy Oliveira and most recently picked up Mike Buonaguro for the Regional tournament.
While it's almost unthinkable for a team to be building a dynasty in a sport where there is for the most part total free agency, the Orangemen seem prepared to take a run at many provincial and who knows national championships for years to come.
You have to be good and lucky to get opportunities in this game. The Orangemen have made the most of the chances thus far but, a budding dynasty? Jump on board and enjoy the ride and well find out together.
Next year this team will only get better, unfortunately for the opposition.