They may only be nine years old but the OMHA champion Minor Atom A Innisfil Winterhawks drank champagne from the victory cup just like the pros.

Of course, the champagne was the non-alcoholic variety, but the glory of a championship run through the playoffs was authentic.

The Winterhawks won nine games throughout the playoffs to take the provincial banner.

The Winterhawks beat their final opponents, the Brampton Battalion, in three games straight to taste victory, winning 5-4 in overtime, 6-5 in overtime and finally 6-1 Wednesday.

Coach Jeff Young was expecting more of a fight in the third game with the Battalion forcing the first two games into overtime. But the Hawks controlled much of the final game. 

“We controlled the whole play in the first period,” said Young, although Innisfil only managed a single goal. 

The game remained tight for the second period with neither team putting the puck in the net. But near the end of the second, the Battalion started losing steam.

The Winterhawks scored five goals in the third period, with the Brampton limited to a single goal with four minutes left in the game.

“The boys stuck to the game plan,” said Young. “They did what they had to do and now they’re the champs.”

At the final buzzer, the Winterhawks went wild with fans streaming onto the ice and the players carrying the trophy around the ice Stanley Cup-style.

“It was quite a celebration,” said Young, adding that some of the parents had purchased non-alcoholic champagne that the kids drank from the cup. 

Young expects the experience to be one that will stay with the players for a long time. Some of the players are leaving next year and they’ll probably never have the same players together again. For now though, they can revel in the glory of winning the Championships

The runaway train the York-Simcoe Minor Atom ‘A’ Innisfil Winterhawks rode to first place in the regular season never slowed down in the playoffs.

It rolled through the Innisfil Recreation Centre last Sunday night, accompanied by more than 500 boisterous fans, for the Winterhawk’s final home game on the way to Wednesday’s championship win.

“After the first goal, the place was electric,” Young said of Sunday’s game. “I think it was a bit intimidating to the Brampton fans.”

Throughout the playoffs, the Winterhawks have developed a habit of taking the wind out of their opponent’s sails. In their first game against both Orillia and Whitby, after tying the first games, they came back with decisive wins of 6-1 and 7-1 that their opponents never recovered from.

“We knew Orillia would be tough and Whitby would be tough,” said Young, “but once they got through the first games they (the players) knew they could beat them.”

After their initial tie games, Innisfil beat both Orillia and Whitby in three games straight.

“Orillia has been the team’s nemesis for the last few years. They really wanted to beat them.”   

The Winterhawks — Brent Bannister, Lucas Chiodo, Brendon Young, Will Ferguson, Colton Filipchuk, Andrew Burrows, James Pomeroy, Mitchell Hall and Connor Harfield — were are all strong at keeping the puck in their zone and five defensemen — Jordan Feeney, Ben Davies, Devon Ludlow, Matthew Pyz, and Brett Stella — who hold well at the opponent’s blue line. Cameron Quinlan and Carson Gron mind the net.

“They play as a five-member team,” said Young, though he says that, like most nine year olds, they tend to break from the game plan when they’re up a few goals.