London Free Press

A lot has happened since the Catholic Crusaders last won the city hockey championship.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won a Stanley Cup, man walked on the moon and the Internet was invented.

It was so long ago that their coach Pat Clancy was only 10 years old.

It was 46 years since the Crusaders won a city of London hockey championship.

They shattered that piece of ancient history Tuesday at Thompson arena.

CCH won its first TVRAA Central boys' AAA/AAAA title in 46 years with a 5-1 win and a two-game sweep of the Mother Teresa Spartans in front of about 500 people.

The Crusaders may not be used to celebrating a hockey championship but they figured it out in a hurry. When the final whistle blew, the players rushed off the bench and buried goaltender and tournament most valuable player Nik Dampier under an avalanche of bodies.

"That's was our only goal this year, to win the city," Clancy said as he celebrated with assistant coaches Mike Matthews and Jordan Dufton. "We haven't talked about WOSSAA or OFSAA. When you haven't won something in 46 years, there really isn't any other goal."

Not only has it been a long time coming, the Crusaders have gone through a number of heartbreaking losses in the final.

The Crusaders have gone to two recent finals, losing four games, all in overtime.

On this night, it would be their turn to celebrate.

"This is an unbelievable experience," Adam Rzeszutko said. "We lost last year and we remember. We remember that 365 days ago we lost this. These guys beat us and took away our dream. We worked even harder to get it done."

While the Crusaders were the better team on the series, the Spartans were without captain Andy Biasutto, who had a shoulder separation late in Game 1 and is out for the rest of their season.

"This is the pinnacle for a lot of these guys," said Spartans coach Jason Montesi. "Last year we were on the other side. We've been there. We know what they're feeling. They earned it. They worked hard. They showed their depth."

The tough Spartans were in their sixth final in succession and were defending champions, but the Crusaders had all the big plays in them in this final. They always had a big goal or key save in their pocket when needed.

A lightning quick first period saw the Crusaders emerge with a 2-1 lead all three goals came in two minutes. The second period was scoreless but the Crusaders had to replace starting goalie Connor Marcotta. He hurt his arm and was replaced by Matt Sargent.

All it took was 12 seconds for the Crusaders to drive a stake through the Spartans hearts.

The puck dropped for the third period and it went to Myles Rombough who put on the afterburners, blew by the Spartans defence, cut in front and slipped the puck past Sargent.

But even with that, the Spartans had one more outstanding chance to get close. Conor Carson took a pass at the top of the crease and one-timed the puck. Dampier slid across the net and Crusaders-Spartans action and reaction at lfpress.com/gallery got it with his pad.

"I thought we created a lot of good chances but he was good," Montesi said. "We just couldn't find the back of the net. He was on his game."

As the celebration the ice, Clancy tried to find the words to explain his feelings.

They didn't come easily for a guy that's always been known to be quick with a quote.

"I don't really know how to express it. Unbelievable," he said. "It took a while to win and it's going to take a while to sink it.

"Mike and I have been coaching together for 11 years and I don't know if we ever thought it was going to happen. We lost all four games in two finals in overtime. There are times when you don't think it's going to happen."

Now it's happened and both the Spartans and Crusaders will play in the four-team WOSSAA tournament next Wednesday in London. The winner goes to OFSAA .

"We knew we had a talented group of guys and a great goalie and that's what you need to win," Clancy said. "I'm not sure that will go down as one of the greatest game's ever, but we did what we had to do."

E-mail morris.dallacosta@sunmedia.ca, or follow MoDaCoatLFPress on Twitter.