Christian Humphreys was the hero as the Kitchener Rangers defeated the Barrie Colts 4-2 to complete the sweep and claim the J. Ross Robertson Cup on Tuesday.
The championship is the Rangers’ fifth in franchise history as they will represent the Ontario Hockey League at the Memorial Cup in Kelowna beginning on May 22.
With the game tied 2-2 midway through the third period, Humphreys wired his shot from the faceoff dot past Barrie Colts netminder Ben Hrebik to take a lead they would never relinquish.
Sam O’Reilly then scored an empty net goal in they dying seconds to secure the victory for the Rangers
New York Islanders prospect Luca Romano and Vancouver Canucks prospect Gabriel Chiarot also scored for the Rangers.
Christian Kirsch capped off his dominance in the OHL playoffs stopping 18 of 20 for the victory.
O’Reilly, the OHL’s MVP, was already making history by appearing in his fourth consecutive OHL Championship Series and he adds to his lore as he and his teammate Jared Woolley won their third straight title, joining Scott Timmins as the only players to do so since 1980.
The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect finished the OHL playoffs with 17 goals and 28 points in 19 games to win the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL playoffs MVP.
Dallas Stars prospect Emil Hemming and rookie forward Eamon Edgar provided the offence for Barrie.
Ben Hrebik was kept busy in the Colts net, allowing three goals on 34 shots in the loss.
The Rangers will kick off the Memorial Cup on May 22 against the host Kelowna Rockets as they search for their third Memorial Cup title in franchise history.
