Although they ended up a win shy of sipping from the Allan Cup when they fell 7-1 to the Powell River Regals in British Columbia, the Dunlops did well to even reach the final.

Very well, in fact.

Just two seasons into the re-incarnation of a team that won the Allan Cup in 1957 and 1959 and a world championship in 1958, the Dunlops met and overcame some stiff competition along the way this season.

Within their Eastern Ontario Senior A Hockey League alone, the Dunlops needed to get past a very strong Norwood Vipers team that had beaten them in six games of last year's final. Whitby turned the tables and won in five games this season, despite the fact Norwood outshot them in every game.

Being designated a AAA league this season, the Eastern Ontario winner was allowed to continue on this year, and the Dunlops did so in impressive fashion, defeating the Major League Hockey champion Dundas Real McCoys three games to one and the defending Allan Cup champion Thunder Bay Bombers 2-1 to earn Ontario's berth at the Allan Cup.

"It didn't really surprise me, to be honest," says Mike Laing, president and primary architect of the team along with Steve Cardwell. "We had looked at what we needed to do to at least win our league. It wasn't just a one-year project. It took two years to recruit the defence we needed. That was the big difference. Our offence has never been a problem."

The fact that three of those blue-liners -- Bob McQuat, Brian Grieve and Mike Van Volsen -- played in the Allan Cup with separated shoulders didn't help the team's cause.

But, while the Dunlops couldn't compete with the stacked Powell River team in the final, they fared well enough against the rest of the competition, as a 4-0 semifinal win over the Fort Hotel Chiefs will attest.

"For a lot of guys, it was the first Canadian championship. It was a good run," coach Mike Posavad said. "There was so much excitement... Of all the things we set out to accomplish this year, we just fell one step short."