All in all, this was a very good year for the Oakville Tigers Mid States hockey team. The team had an 18-9 season (6-1-1) in the Southwest Division II, good enough for first place. Altogether, the Tigers powered 118 goals. Junior forward Steve Farina was the team's top goal scorer with 20 this season.
Recently, three of the players took part in the all-star game at the Webster Groves rink.
They are all seniors—Andrew Kovacich, forward; Luke Hassler, defenseman and Zack Jost, the goalkeeper.
The high point of the season was winning the playoff round with Chaminade, a team loaded with potential future junior hockey talent.
The Tigers lost the opener of the playoffs to the Red Devils 4-1, then bounced back with a 5-3 win and a 1-0 mini game final win.
This is the blog of the big win over Chaminade.
CBC next eliminated Oakville from the playoffs.
Jost had a brilliant series against CBC in the Challenge Cup series. He stopped 67 of 69 CBC shots during Oakville’s Challenge Cup semifinal series on two nights at the Hardee’s Ice Plex in Chesterfield.
Coach Derek Stephens told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “He (Jost) stood on his head for two games. He was unreal. He continues to impress me. When our back is against the wall or there is a big challenge, he steps up,” said Stephens.
The Tigers had to rebound from some early season key injuries. Both senior Alex Roland, a defenseman and Junior Cameron Dulle, also on defense missed 10 weeks in the early going.
According to team manager Peggy Hassler, Jost stood out as the Most Valuable Player of the year. “He played great against Chaminade, kicking out shot after shot,” she said.”He was our goalkeeper all year long.”
Both Kovacich and Jost are thinking about delaying college for junior hockey while Hassler will play for the club program at Mizzou.
There is an abundance of Oakville club hockey information on the team's Facebook page.
