Brothers Bryan, Adam and Jordan Weinberg, left, show off the championship trophy.  [Jonah Grunfeld photo] 

The Israeli Stars of David withstood a late charge from the Polish Hussars and held on for a 4-3 victory in the title game of the Canadian Multicultural Hockey Championships.

The win in the Canadian Multicultural Hockey League’s premier division – the tourney’s highest level – marked the first time in the tournament’s four-year history that a Jewish team won the championship. The Stars defeated last year’s champs, the Hussars, and the previous year’s titlists, the Irish Shamrocks, in back-to-back playoff games to claim the title.

The Stars relied on team speed and finesse, compensating for a lineup depleted by injury and the departure of two key players early in the playoffs. They were also motivated by awareness of the conflict raging in the Middle East and the desire to provide supporters of Israel with a good news story, said team coach and manager Alex Voihanski.

Paced by tournament MVP and team captain Stacey Britstone, the Stars got better as the tournament progressed, peaking during the playoffs. They finished the round robin with a 2-1-1 record, good for second in their division, before winning three playoff games in a row.

The quarter-final saw them face off with the Italian Gladiators, but “it wasn’t even close,” said Voihanski. The Stars won 8-3, but the result could have been even more lopsided. Though the Italians came out strong, “our speed took over. They couldn’t keep up with us.”

Things didn’t get tighter in the semis against the Irish Shamrocks, who beat the Stars’ predecessors, the Maccabbees in the title game two years ago. Again relying on speed and finesse, the Stars cruised to an 8-4 victory. “The score was pretty flattering to the Shamrocks,” Voihanski opined.

The Stars’ performance to that point turned some heads, with one observer writing on the Canadian Multicultural Hockey League’s website: “Although it might not be considered an upset, no one expected the Israeli Stars to blow out the two-time Canadian Cup Champions Irish Shamrocks 8-4. The Israelis came out flying, despite having a shorter bench and the Irish could not get in synch after a couple of bad goals giving the Stars of David a 5-2 lead.”

The final was a closer contest – at least on the scoreboard, Voihanski said. The first period was pretty even, with the Stars showing some early game “jitters” and anxiety over the absence of top forward Michael Henrich, a former first-round pick of the NHL Edmonton Oilers. Henrich joined the Stars one game into the tourney and led the team in scoring with five goals and three assists in only four games. But as GTAscout for the Barrie Colts, he had to depart after the quarter-final to evaluate players in another tournament.

Alon Eizenman, a veteran of theIsraeli national team and the French pro league, stepped into Henrich’s spot on the top line with Britstone and Adam Weinberg, formerly of the University of Toronto Blues, and the team didn’t miss a beat, Voihanski said.

With some 600 people – divided equally between Stars and Hussars fans – watching the final at Chesswood Arena, the teams battled to a 1-1 draw after one. In the second period, the Stars picked up the pace and “started to skate, to bring the speed.” Momentum shifted to the Israeli side and they took a 2-1 lead. The Hussars tied it up, but then Britstone showed why he was MVP, staking the Stars to a 3-2 lead. Jordan Weinberg, one of three brothers on the team, gave the Stars a two-goal bulge and the Hussars made it close only in the dying seconds, scoring a “garbage goal” off a scramble in front of the Israelis’ net.

“We outplayed them pretty badly after the first period,” Voihanski said.

Adding to the Stars’ accomplishment was the fact that a key defenceman, Daniel Spivak, left before the semifinal to play for his NCAA team at the Rochester Institute of Technology, while Daniel Mandel missed the semifinal and final due to injury. Others stepped up, Voihanski said, including Ryan Goldberg, a defenceman with Stouffville Spirit and Aaron Stein, who played for the University of Western Ontario.

Britstone, who also played for Western after two years in the OHL with Plymouth and Oshawa, said the Stars youth and speed were key to the team’s success. Going into the tournament “we knew we had a good team, but we didn’t expect to win it, not at all,” especially with key players leaving early.

Britstone, who played in last year’s tournament and in the Jewish World Cup in Israel in 2007, downplayed his selection as MVP. “It’s nice, of course but it more reflects how the team played,” he said.

The Stars’ lineup featured a number of quality players with U.S. and Canadian college experience, as well as Tier II Junior level skaters. Adam and Jordan Weinberg were joined by a third brother, Bryan, a left winger who plays with Mississauga Chargers. Ryan Goldberg and Aaron Stein were strong on defence.

Kevin Kliman, a onetime goalie with Brown University (NCAA Division I), backstopped the Stars.