The 2009-2010 Minor Atom Braves celebrate cap off an amazing season by celebrating their GTHL City Championship.

The Best From the West Win GTHL AA Championship
With two tournament championships, only two losses in the regular season, 17 shutout wins and not a single loss in the playoffs, this year’s Mississauga Minor Atom AA Braves are being referred to as the best Minor Atom Mississauga Braves team EVER. This team showed exceptional skill and depth all year and many nights put on a real show to the delight of the fans. After being crowned the Kraft Cup Champions for winning the West AA Division, these hard working athletes went on to defeat the Toronto Royals in 3 straight, they beat the Mississauga North Stars in the West Semis and then the Humber Valley Sharks in the West Final allowing each team only a single point in each series. The GTHL City Finals would prove to be a very exciting match up against the East Enders Ticats. Although they beat the Ticats in 4 games straight, the Ticats certainly put up a real battle in each of the games. Game 4 was no exception. Defenseman #4 Aidan Merulla would score first for the Braves but the Ticats fought back to tie the game.
The winning goal would come from another defenseman #3 Christian Ialeggio with a shot from the point. Although the Ticats pressed hard in the third, the Braves would hold on to take the victory 2-1 and capture the title on their home ice at The Hershey’s Centre in Mississauga. Playoff MVP’s for the Braves were goalie #29 Harper Stone and forward #8 Andrew Menecola. Congratulations to the players, coaches and parents if this year’s Minor Atom Braves.

2009- 2010 Mississauga Minor Atom Braves AA: # 3 Christian Ialeggio, #4 Aidan Merulla, #7 Jeremy Henderson, #8 Andrew Menecola, #9 Joseph Rupoli, #10 Kyle Hanford, #13 Jacob King, #19 Steven Giansante, #23 Jamie Sparkes, #26 Mitchell LeLiever, #27 David Pontoni, #29 Harper Stone, #33 Zion Miceli, #34 Matteo Ferrari, #44 Lucas Amoroso and #93 Luke Beamish.

Coaching Staff: Head Coach John Ialeggio, Asst. Coaches Steve Richard and Garey Wilson, Trainer Keith Henderson and Manager John Menecola.

GTHL CITY CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Mississauga Braves 3 • East Enders Ticats 2
East Enders Ticats 1• Mississauga Braves 3
Mississauga Braves 2 • East Enders Ticats 0
East Enders Ticats 1 • Mississauga Braves 2

The Mississauga Braves Minor Atom Hockey Team celebrate their Kraft Cup Championship on their way to capturing the GTHL West Division title.

The 09/10 Minor Atom Mississauga Braves have captured the GTHL West Division Playoff Championship and will face the East Ender Ticats for the GTHL City Championship series.

This achievement marks yet another high point in what is proving to be a very successful season. After winning two previous tournaments and reaching the finals in the regional Silver Stick, the 00 Braves (born in 2000) captured the Kraft Cup as
regular season champions with an impressive record of 32W • 2L• 2T and an amazing 203 goals for and just 24 goals against .


00 Minor Atom Braves 2009-2010 Roster
3 Christian Ialeggio, #4 Aidan Merulla, #7 Jeremy Henderson, #8 Andrew Menecola, #9 Joseph Rupoli, #10 kyle Hanford, #13 Jacob King, #19 Steven Giansante, #23 Jamie Sparkes, #26 Mitchell LeLiever, #27 David Pontoni, #34 Matteo Ferrari, #44 Lucas Amoroso, #93 Luke Beamish, Goalies- #29 Harper Stone and #33 Zion Miceli, Head Coach- John Ialeggio, Asst. Coaches- Steve Richard and Garey Wilson, Trainer- Keith Henderson and Team Manager- John Menecola.

After starting the season by capturing the Early Bird Tournament and winning their first five games, the Minor Atom Braves played in the Terry Terrier Tournament held over the Thanksgiving weekend in Mississauga. On day one of the tournament, they beat the host team Mississauga Terriers 2-1. In an early morning game the next day the Braves tied 3-3 against the Bulldogs from Sudbury. Later that Saturday they would face the local Streetsville Tigers and defeat them 3-1. The next day would deliver all of the excitement that we would expect from this hard working group of boys. The noon game vs. the Jets at Westwood arena would put a lot on the line for the Braves. Not only would a win give them sole possession of first for the tournament but due to scheduling difficulties, this game also served as a regular season GTHL game where the Braves would attempt to go 6-0 defending a winning streak. The Braves were forced to kill off 4 penalties and had a 1-0 lead until the Jets tied it early in the third. With less than two minutes to play in the game, the Braves’ scored to give them a 2-1 victory, a 1st place finish in the round robin and a 6-0 unbeaten streak in regular season play. This set the stage for a rematch vs. the Sudbury team for the championship back at Erin Mills arena with less than 90 minutes to prepare. And what a game this would be. Holding each other scoreless for most of the game, these two teams were determined to send the other home with a runner up medal. The Sudbury team would take a 1-0 lead midway into the third forcing the Braves to dig deep if they wanted a victory. Then, with just over a minute to play in the third, the Braves scored to force the game into overtime. With only a minute into the 4 0n 4 overtime period the Braves would score to give them their second championship of the season.


Congratulations to this year’s Terry Terrier Champions, Mississauga Minor Atom Braves AA: #3 Christian Ialeggio, #4 Aidan Merulla, #7 Jeremy Henderson, #8 Andrew Menecola, #9 Joseph Rupoli, #10 kyle Hanford, #13 Jacob King, #19 Steven Giansante, #23 Jamie Sparkes, #26 Mitchell LeLiever, #27 David Pontoni, #34 Matteo Ferrari, #44 Lucas Amoroso, #93 Luke Beamish, Goalies- #29 Harper Stone and #33 Zion Miceli, Head Coach- John Ialeggio, Asst. Coaches- Steve Richard and Garey Wilson, Trainer- Keith Henderson and Team Manager- John Menecola.

An intense training camp and a hard working attitude by these excited 9 yr old hockey players proved to work to their advantage in this year’s Mississauga Early Bird tournament. With a strong defence, great goaltending and a powerful group of forwards, this team would complete the round robin without allowing a single goal. The first game, a 5-0 win over the Hornets, would set the stage and the benchmark for the work ethic that this talented team would expect from each other as teammates. They followed with a 4-0 win over Brampton, a 6-0 victory over the Canucks and completed the round robin by defeating the Jets a 3-0. These Minor Atom Braves played a well rounded final beating North Toronto 4-1. With both goalies getting 2 shutouts each, this team did not allow a goal against until well into the third period of the final game. With the coaching staff and parents all very proud of these boys, we’re sure to see some real excitement with this hockey team.

Congratulations and good luck to this year’s Early Bird Champions, Mississauga Minor Atom Braves AA: #3 Christian Ialeggio, #4 Aidan Merulla, #7 Jeremy Henderson, #8 Andrew Menecola, #9 Joseph Rupoli, #10 kyle Hanford, #13 Jacob King, #19 Steven Giansante, #23 Jamie Sparkes, #26 Mitchell LeLiever, #27 David Pontoni, #34 Matteo Ferrari, #44 Lucas Amoroso, #93 Luke Beamish, Goalies- #29 Harper Stone and #33 Zion Miceli, Head Coach- John Ialeggio, Asst. Coaches- Steve Richard and Garey Wilson, Trainer- Keith Henderson and Team Manager- John Menecola.