Dupont's Golden Hawks Call it a Season

May 15

Written By M Jupp

Conference Champions Fall in the Finale

After falling 2-1 in OT to the Collingwood Blues in Game 5 of the Buckland Cup, Jerome Dupont’s Trenton Golden Hawks stellar playoff run is over. Their journey to the final was nothing short of amazing, with tight games and miraculous overtime goals, the ability to find a way to win sent the Hawks past division rivals and regular season champions.

The Hawks owned an underdog mentality, staging comeback wins against some of the toughest teams in the OJHL. To make this team run possible players had to step up, goaltenders held the net, and leaders showed the way. The 2023 Trenton playoff run echoes the sentiment: just because you haven’t won, doesn’t mean you don’t know how.

The Run
The Hawks finished their season with 74 points, 4th place in the South/East conference. The team entered the first round against an old rival, the 5th ranked Cobourg Cougars. After taking Game 1 at home, Trenton managed to come back from a 4-0 first period deficit on the road to win 7-5 in Game 2. After shocking the Cougars in their own barn, Trenton won the series in 5 games.

The Hawks moved on to face the top ranked Toronto Junior Canadiens, who had accumulated a whopping 94 points and 1st place overall in the regular season. The star-studded team faced a strong and determined Golden Hawks group, who took a commanding 3-1 series lead after winning Game 4 in Trenton. After an OT loss and a late 3rd period goal in Game 6, the two teams faced off in Game 7 in Toronto. In what was perhaps the best moment of the playoffs, Duncan Grube scored early in OT to send the Hawks to the conference final, completing the biggest upset of the OJHL playoffs.

Meeting Trenton in the South East final was a rested Wellington Dukes team who had bested Trenton 3 games to 2 in their regular season matchups. Trenton took a commanding lead of the series after Game 3, and finished their Bay of Quinte rivals off in 5 Games to meet the Collingwood Blues in the Buckland Cup. After three consecutive 1 goal games, the Golden Hawks finally fell in Game 5 overtime to the Blues, finishing their season as OJHL finalists.