Collingwood Blues General Manager Mike Tarantino holds the Centennial Cup, emblematic of Canadian Jr. A hockey supremacy, at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville Sunday. (Photo by Nick McLeod / OJHL Images)
Reprinted with permission from the Ontario Junior Hockey League
By Ron Valentine
It was exactly one year previous, May 19, 2023, when the Collingwood Blues were eliminated from the Centennial Cup in Portage-la-Prairie, Manitoba. They fell in the first of two quarter-finals that day to the Ottawa Junior Senators by a 4-2 count.
Defencemen Ethan Broderick and Cameron Eke plus forwards Mark McIntosh, Dylan Hudon, Damen Boose and Spencer Young and goalkeeper Noah Pak played in that game.
On the opposite end of the ice was defenceman Jacob Winsor.
GM Tarantino and family members (from left) mother-in-law Beverly Titley, daughter Zoey Tarantino, wife Melinda Tarantino and daughter Maizie Tarantino.
Also on the Blues roster but not dressed for that game were forwards Jack Silverman and Marcus Lougheed and defenceman Adam Varga, Lucas Texmo and Ryan Cook.
Fast forward to May 19, 2024 and all the 13 players mentioned above were in a much happier mood at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville. They hoisted the Cup to the delight of their legion of devoted fans who made the two-hour trek from Collingwood following a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Melfort Mustangs, champions of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
It was the completion of a “three-year” plan for general manager Mike Tarantino who took over hockey operations in Collingwood ahead of the COVID-cancelled 2020-21 season.
“’It’s just starting to sink in,” the GM told the OJHL, “It was a long season so we are all a bit tired but we can all take tremendous satisfaction from the win. It comes with a sense of pride for everyone involved from the players, the billet families, the volunteers behind the scenes, the players and coaching staff and the ownership.”
“It certainly is a different feeling from the one we felt in Portage where we went in with high hopes but could not quite get it done. The experience was good for all of us. We had a focused core of players coming back, Andrew (Campoli) and his staff benefited from the competition and learned a great deal from it. Andrew came in three years ago and took over as head coach half way through his first season. Since then, our hockey team has improved each year culminating with back-to-back Buckland Cups and, obviously, the Centennial Cup this year. I thought as a staff and organization, we also grew together and everyone plays a part in our success. Four veteran defencemen and the league’s top goalie in Pak were the stabilizing influences and they helped to set the example for the team.”
Where Tarantino, 43, goes, championships follow.
That includes the past two OJHL titles won by the Blues.
Mike began his career in the OJHL behind the bench of the Milton IceHawks in 2005, that was followed by four years as head coach of the Mississauga Reps U18 AAA team.
It was back to the OJ for the Oakville native and teacher at Garth Webb Secondary school for the 2010-11 season when he accepted the role of general manager and head coach for the then Upper Canada Patriots out of Toronto. For the next three seasons the club would be known as the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots.
Now simply the Toronto Patriots, they won OJHL titles in 2013 and 2014.
In 2014 Mike was named OJHL Executive of the Year.
Mike began a five year stint behind the bench of the Oakville Blades in the 2014-15 campaign. He was later named vice president of the Blades.
The 2018-19 Blades won the OJHL title and represented Central Canada at the national championships.
As a player he spent two seasons with the Blades starting in 1998 before four years at the Rochester Institute of Technology in which he put up seasons of 40, 44, 42 and 45 points. Upon his graduation from university he spent a season with NCAA Division III Bowling Green as assistant coach.
The seven people who have been with the Blues hockey side the past four years: Mike Tarantino (from left), Ryan Cook, Dylan Hudon, Noah Pak, Mark McIntosh, Ethan Broderick and Jordan Selinger.
“We like to talk about the Collingwood culture and it’s not just a slogan but something that we have shown can make a difference,” Tarantino said. “Our depth was a tremendous plus for us. You have to have that to be successful. Some guys did not get to play as much as they may have liked to but everyone bought into what we were trying to do.”
“We also overcame some key injuries. We brought in Daniel Markevych as a 19-year old OJHL rookie and he had a great season for us with 25 goals and 50 points, he was really coming into his own and turning into a complete hockey player but he suffered a freak injury in the last regular season game and was not able to participate in the playoffs or the Centennial Cup. Declan Bowmaster came to us from Haliburton but was hurt in the playoffs and Sam Barrett also missed games but that’s hockey and we were deep enough to overcome this.”
What’s next?
“We have already been looking forward to and planning for next season,” he said. “We will lose four key defencemen in Calum Chau, Jack Robertson, Ethan Broderick and Ryan Cook as well as our captain Dylan Hudon and Noah Pak in net so there will be holes to fill. We will have a target on our backs again for sure now that we have won the Buckland Cup twice and now the national championship but it’s something we have to plan for. Once the puck drops on a new season you have one thing in mind, to win, and that never changes. We will still be a hungry team and as nice as it is you can’t look back.”
Does Mike the GM miss coaching?
“I’m content in my position,” he said. “The main reason that I stopped coaching was to spend more time with my family. We had young children at the time, and being a general manager allows you to balance your time a little better. Do I miss coaching? For sure and who knows what will happen in the future. All the years I spent behind the bench allowed me to see how good you need to be to become successful on the national stage.”
How they won it all.
“I’m very fortunate working for such great owners as Dave and Christina Steele,” Tarantino said. “They had a vision for the club, had a budget to do it and let me recruit, with help from our scouts, the players that I felt would get us to where we wanted to be and we did that in three seasons. We put a hockey program together with the best possible young men who have what we need, ability and skill on the ice and who are always keen to participate in the community and be ambassadors of Collingwood. It’s key to work with their advisors so that we are all on the same page.”
“I’m realizing recruiting is an art and I get a lot of help from Jordan Selinger, our director of hockey ops, who I worked with for many years in Oakville and all of our support staff. It may be a cliche, but it’s really a true team effort.”
“Honesty and transparency go a long way in hockey and we have found that to be true. We may not take a player for whatever reason but might take his younger brother or teammate later. It’s all about building trust and building relationships and it’s something you have to work hard at to get results. Setting curfews, standards and expectations are all part of what it takes to reach where you want to go.”
Shopping local is next.
“In the coming years we want to build on getting local players into a Blues’ uniform. This season we had Marcus Lougheed and Damen Boose setting a great example for players from this area. Sam Barrett (from Owen Sound) also played minor hockey for the Grey-Bruce Highlanders’ organization.”
Owner Dave Steele has the last word on his general manager: “Mike has been a huge part of the success of the Blues and we are happy to have him for many years to come. Mike has a modern and progressive approach to managing our club and that is our ‘secret sauce’ to our success.”
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Blues hockey staff with their graduating players in Oakville Sunday (from left): Nick Ricca (Assistant Coach), Jack Silverman, Spencer Young, Ryan Cook, Calum Chau, Dylan Hudon, Mike Tarantino (GM), Noah Pak, Mark McIntosh, Ethan Broderick, Jack Robertson, Jordan Selinger (Director Of Hockey Ops), Andrew Campoli (Head Coach) and Connor Cadaret (Associate Coach).
Photos courtesy OJHL Images and Hockey Canada.
