With a gritty team effort, the Kitchener Rangers defeated the pesky Belleville Bulls 4-1 on Monday night to win the OHL championship in a seventh and deciding game. Nick Spaling scored the winning goal on a power-play early in the second period, while Danish star Mikkel Boedker picked up two assists in a series which saw both teams win and lose three games in a row. Josh Unice, who played the entire series in place of the injured Steve Mason, stopped 26 of 27 shots for the win while Mike Murphy, the OHL's goaltender of the year, stopped 47 of 51 shots in the Bulls net.

With his Rangers cruising to a Game Three victory, coach and GM Peter DeBoer said that coaching the Rangers was like stepping his foot on the accelerator of a high performance car. The Rangers outscored the Bulls 15-7 in the first three games as Boedker, the most consistent Ranger according to DeBoer, had two goals and six assists. The Bulls were nearly dead and buried, down three games to none, when they suddenly began playing with more urgency.

In Game Four, the Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and led 4-2 going into the final frame. But then the high performance car stalled. The Bulls netted a quick goal to pull within one and then tied it with just under five minutes to play. Captain Matt Beleskey, the Bulls top playoff scorer with three assists in the game already, capped the comeback just over eight minutes into the overtime with the winner.

Game Five saw the Bulls take a 1-0 lead into the third period where both teams scored once. Mike Murphy, who missed the first three games with an injury, was spectacular in the Belleville goal to preserve the 2-1 win as the Rangers outshot the Bulls 42-21.

Then in Game Six, the Bulls, who were led by Beleskey's two goals and one assist, scored three unanswered third period goals in a 6-3 victory to force Game Seven. It appeared that the high performance Rangers were being run off the road by the never say die Bulls. But even a goal in Game Seven by Bulls star forward Shawn Matthias, who was playing in his first playoff game following a prolonged bout with mononucleosis, wasn't enough to spark the Bulls.

Justin Azevedo, the league's scoring champion and leader in the playoffs with 10 goals and 26 assists in 20 games, won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the MVP of the playoffs. Mikkel Boedker, who is expected to be drafted early in this year's NHL entry draft, finished with nine goals and 26 assists. Matt Beleskey, the highly touted Ducks' prospect finished the playoffs with 12 goals and 21 assists in 21 games for the Bulls.

The season continues for the Rangers and the Bulls as both teams advance to the Mastercard Memorial Cup to be played in Kitchener from May 16-25. The Rangers will face the Gatineau Olympiques, the QMJHL champions, in the opening game of the round-robin tournament on Friday. Meanwhile, the Bulls begin their quest for the Cup on Saturday against the Spokane Chiefs, the WHL champions. Don't be surprised if the Rangers and Bulls emerge once again to battle for the biggest championship of all.