The Clinton Radars are the WOAA Senior AA hockey champions again. The Radars defeated Ripley 4 – 0 last night in Clinton to take the final series 4 games to 1.
The one game the Radars lost was a 7 – 2 pounding in Clinton. But team point leader, Tyler Doig, says they were able to learn from that and come back and win the next couple of games.
This is the fourth consecutive championship for the Radars and Doig has been there for all four. He says the team has a really high-paced offence but they had to adjust a little for the playoffs and that showed as they dominated last night, out-shooting Ripley 32 – 26 and never really letting in get in the game.
Doig says the Radars have been a very special group for the last four or five years and the combination of players, exceptional fan base and great organization make Clinton a great place to play senior hockey and he says he'll take a lot of special memories with him from the last four years.
The streak of four consecutive wins ties a league record and raises the question of who's in for the attempt at five, which has never been done before. Doig says he thinks this is his last year. He points out he has two young daughters at home and a wife that has been very understanding so he thinks it might be time to pass the torch. He admits he's getting a little older too.
Doig says the team has a great group of young guys that are ready to take control, so he feels it's time to step aside. But he admits, it's been a good ride.
“We have a high-paced offence. We had to play a little bit different. Playoff hockey's a little different, you know, and we gotta hand it to Ripley, they've got fantastic squad over there and they really showed us in that game when they pounded us at home, 7 – 2 so, you know, we re-grouped because we do have a pretty good core, some good veterans here and just toned things down and won the last couple.”
“It's a pretty special group, pretty much our core for four or five years, you know, the core groups of guys, obviously the fan base here, it's a top notch organization if you wanna play senior hockey, so a lot of good memories in the last four years, a lot of memories I'll take with me forever.”
“I think that's probably it. I've got a couple of girls at home and a pretty understanding wife and getting a little older too. We got a good young group of kids here that are gonna take control I think, nice young core. So I think it's time for me to step aside, but it was a good ride, for sure.”
Clinton Radars' leading points scorer, Tyler Doig, moments after winning a 4th straight WOAA Senior AA title. April 5th, 2019 (Photo by Bob Montgomery)