Alysia Da Silva of the 96 Mississauga Braves Minor Bantam Hockey Team featured as Toronto Star GTHL Player of the Week.

Alysia Da Silva of the Mississauga Braves minor bantam AA team is one of the fortunate players to have been chosen to carry the Olympic torch when the relay passes through Mississauga.

That is certainly special but it is not the only reason she was chosen to be highlighted as The Star's player of the week.

She is loyal and been with the Braves for her five years of competitive hockey and, yes, she is the only female at that level of competition in the minor bantam AA west division. She is an outstanding goaltender and at some point will probably jump to the female game. But so far "is just one of the guys."

Coach Roger Bourbonnais praised her performances as the starting goaltender when his team won the Ontario Hockey Federation gold medal last spring as they had as an atom team two years ago.


"She backstopped two gold-medal games for the Federation championship," Bourbonnais said. "She's doing great. Every year she works extremely hard. She is considered one of the top five, if not the top, goaltenders in her age group. She's a great little athlete and is a pitcher in ball as well."

Alysia calls her chance to carry the Olympic torch "really special" ... a "once in a lifetime chance."

The 13-year-old Appleby College student started skating at age 6 and began her hockey career the next season.

"When I first played house league, we rotated and when I went in net, I just loved it and have loved it ever since," she said. "I like the pressure and I play better under pressure. That one goal can make the difference to whether you win."

The Braves' peewee OHF championship game was a 4-1 win but it was the atom final that she enjoyed most, calling it "a more intense game."

"We were the underdogs and won 4-3," she said.

She also plays basketball for her school. She is also a pitcher on the softball, fast pitch Mississauga North Tigers.

"Last year (Tigers) made Nationals but we played a year up," she said. "This year we are trying to win it all."

She is a diehard Toronto Maple Leafs fan but could not identify a favourite NHL player.

For the first time in the Mississauga Braves Association’s 26 year history a team has won back to back OHF Provincial Championships. The 96 Peewee Braves did just that Easter weekend in Barrie. After splitting the round robin with a 2-2 record the Peewee Braves knew Sunday games are what matter. With only 3 roster changes from the Atom Championship team, experience was on their side. This team has always found a way when the time is right to raise their game, and Sunday was no exception, with two inspiring games, starting with the victory over the Host and OMHA champions the Barrie Colts 3-1 in the Semis, and finishing with the win over Orangeville 4-1 in the Gold medal game. The Peewee Braves had an exceptional year, also winning the Mississauga Early Bird, Vaughn Rangers Early Bird, Kraft Cup, and GTHL Championships.

96 PEEWEE MISSISSAUGA BRAVES OHF TEAMMATES
2 Mathew Menecola, 4 Mike Crews, 6 Callan Beggs, 7 Luke Ewach
10 Connor Morrison, 11 Mathew DiGirolamo, 12 Devin Bourbonnais
13 Alysia DaSilva, 14 Kevin Bray, 16 Kevin Mellegers, 17 Joey Molinario
19 Marcel Fatovic, 35 Matthew Pogue, 88 Aaron Nunes, 96 Andrew Pucci
97 Matthew Mustard

The Mississauga Braves Association placed eight of ten teams into the Play-offs for the 2008-2009 season, with three teams winning their West Division Series and advancing to GTHL Championships against the East.

99 MINOR ATOM BRAVES
The 2008-2009 Minor Atom Braves defeated the Mississauga Jets 8-0 in the first-to-eight-points West Division Finals and will now face the Leaside Flames in the eight-point GTHL Championship Series.

96 PEEWEE BRAVES
The 2008-2009 Peewee Braves defeated the Mississauga Hornets 8-0 in the first-to-eight-points West Division Finals and will now face North Toronto in the eight-point GTHL Championship Series.

94 BANTAM BRAVES
The 2008-2009 Bantam Braves defeated the Mississauga Jets 9-3 in the first-to-eight-points West Division Finals and will now face the North York Knights in the eight-point GTHL Championship Series. The Bantams are the defending 94 GTHL AA Champions, having beat NYK 8 to 2 last season.

For the third season in a row, the 96 Braves were crowned GTHL Regular Season Divisional Champions. In a remarkable display of consistency, the 96 Braves total points have only varied by 2 over the last three years. The Braves have never given up more than 46 goals against and had an impressive 11 shutouts this season — proving "Defense" wins championships.

The Mississauga Braves Hockey Association set an association record sending seven of nine teams to the play off rounds and capturing Championships in four of the Mississauga Early Bird's eight age divisions. The Minor Atoms, Atoms, Peewees and Minor Bantams all took home the trophies, with the Bantams losing the finals in a 2 - 1 overtime battle with the Jets. Competing in semi final action were the Minor Peewees and Midget Juniors. The Braves Association congratulates all teams for doing us proud!









2008 MISSISSAUGA EARLY BIRD TOURNAMENT RESULTS

---

MINOR ATOM (Champions) Round Robin: W: 2 • L: 0 • T: 1 / GF: 8 • GA: 4 / PTS: 5 • Semi Final: Braves 3 • Barrie Colts 0 • Final: Braves 2 • Jets 0

---

ATOM (Champions) Round Robin: W: 3 • L: 0 • T: 0 / GF: 18 • GA: 3 / PTS: 6 • Semi Final: Braves 4 • North Stars 0 • Final: Braves 6 • Panthers 1

---

MINOR PEEWEE (Semi Finalists) Round Robin: W: 3 • L: 0 • T: 0 / GF: 15 • GA: 5 / PTS: 6 • Semi Final: Braves 0 • NY Knights 1

---

PEEWEE (Champions) Round Robin: W: 2 • L: 0 • T: 1 / GF: 6 • GA: 1 / PTS: 5 • Quarter Final: Braves 2 • Richmond Hill 1 • Semi Final: Braves 3 • Young Bruins 0 • Final: Braves 2 • Barrie Colts 1

---

MINOR BANTAM (Champions) Round Robin: W: 2 • L: 1 • T: 0 / GF: 8 • GA: 4 / PTS: 4 • Quarter Final: Braves 5 • Humber Valley 4 • Semi Final: Braves 3 • Eagles 2 • Final: Braves 3 • South Point 0

---

BANTAM (Finalists) Round Robin: W: 3 • L: 0 • T: 0 / GF: 14 • GA: 2 / PTS: 6 • Quarter Final: Braves 5 • North Stars 0 • Semi Final: Braves 3 • Huskies 1 • Final: Braves 1 • Jets 2 (OT)

---

MINOR MIDGET (Participants) Round Robin: W: 1 • L: 1 • T: 1 / GF: 8 • GA: 6 / PTS: 3

---

MIDGET JR (Semi Finalists) Round Robin: W: 2 • L: 1 • T: 0 / GF: 11 • GA: 8 / PTS: 4 • Semi Final: Braves 1 • Troy 5

---

MIDGET SR (Participants) Round Robin: W: 1 • L: 1 • T: 1 / GF: 3 • GA: 7 / PTS: 3

The Mississauga Braves Peewee Hockey Team are off to a promising start, going undefeated in the Vaughan Rangers Early Bird Tournament, including a 5 to 2 win over Whitby Wildcats in the September 7 Championship Game.

GAME SUMMARY
Finals: Mississauga Braves: 5 - Whitby Wildcats: 2 
Semis: Mississauga Braves: 5 - Vaughan Rangers: 0 
GM 3: Mississauga Braves: 2 - Brampton Batallion: 0 
GM 2:Etobicoke Canucks: 0 - Mississauga Braves: 6 
GM 1: Mississauga Braves: 1 - Vaughan Panthers: 1