By / SAM LASKARIS
Jerome Dupont, coach of the defending Royal Bank Cup champion Aurora Tigers, will have another opportunity to win an international championship.
For the second straight year Dupont will serve as the head coach for Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge.
The event, which runs Nov. 5 to 11, will be held in Trail and Nelson, B.C.
Last year, Dupont guided Team Canada East to a silver medal at the inaugural interntational tournament staged in Yorkton, Sask.
Besides the defending champs, Team Canada West, this year’s six-squad event will also include representatives from Belarus, Germany, Russia and the United States.
Seventeen of the 22 players on the Dupont-coached Team Canada East are from the Ontario-based Provincial Junior A Hockey League.
This list includes two players from the Tigers, forwards Jordan Watts and Mike McLaughlin.
The Stouffville Spirit are represented by four players; forwards Ethan Werek, James McIntosh and Corey Trivino and defenceman Daniel Spivak.
Besides the Provincial league, Team Canada East also includes representatives from the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Central Junior A Hockey League, Maritime Junior A Hockey League and the Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Quebec…
As for Dupont’s Tigers, they are off to another decent start this season, yet they were only a middle-of-the-pack squad as October was drawing to a close.
Aurora was sporting a 9-3-0 record but was only occupying fifth place in the league’s nine-team North Conference.
The Tigers’ placing, however, was partly explained because three of the four teams ahead of them in the conference standings had played four more games each than the Aurora side.
The Newmarket Hurricanes were atop the standings with an impressive 15-1-0 mark. The Huntsville Muskoka Otters were next in line with a 13-3-0 record.
The Couchiching Terriers, who had taken a one-year leave of absence last season, have returned to the junior ranks with some points to prove. And the Terriers have been gaining their share of points as they had a 11-3-1 record.
The Stouffville Spirit were also ahead of the Tigers thanks to its 10-4-2 start….
Besides leading their conference, the Hurricanes, with their 30 points, were also holding down top spot in the over-all standings of the 35-team circuit.
But a handful of clubs were right on their tails.
The Kingston Voyageurs, members of the league’s East Conference, had 29 points, thanks to their 14-2-1 record.
And a pair of South Conference entrants, the Markham Waxers and St. Michael’s Buzzers, had 28 and 27 points, respectively. Markham’s record was 14-2-0 while the Buzzers were 13-2-1…
There is no early favourite to win the league’s West Conference. Six of the nine entrants in the conference had records above .500. And only five points separated the front-running Georgetown Raiders (10-4-1) and Hamilton Red Wings (10-5-1) from the sixth-place Milton Ice Hawks (7-4-2), who had played less games…
At the other end of the league standings, a pair of former NHL players were having difficulties keeping the Buffalo Jr. Sabres out of the basement.
Grant Ledyard, who played for nine different NHL clubs from 1984 through 2002, is the Jr. Sabres’ head coach this season. And Larry Playfair, who spent portions of 12 seasons in the NHL, is the team’s assistant coach.
The Jr. Sabres were struggling though winning just two out of their first 12 games. With its four points, Buffalo was just one point ahead of the Seguin Bruins, who had a disappointing 1-12-1 start.
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The CJAHL Top 15 as of Saturday, October 27
1. Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
2. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)
3. Woodstock Slammers (MJAHL)
4. Newmarket Hurricanes (OPJHL)
5. Portage Terriers (MJHL)
6. Markham Waxers (OPJHL)
7. Melville Millionaires (SJHL)
8. Humboldt Broncos (SJHL)
9. Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)
10. Fort William North Stars (SIJHL)
11. Yarmouth Mariners (MJAHL)
12. Selkirk Steelers (MJHL)
13. Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJHL)
14. North Bay Skyhawks (NOJHL)
15. Les Inouk de Granby (LHJAAAQ)
Honorable mention goes to the Penticton Vees (BCHL), Olds Grizzlys (AJHL), Fort McMurray Oil Barons (AJHL), Estevan Bruins (SJHL), Dauphin Kings (MJHL), Dryden Ice Dogs (SIJHL), St. Michael’s Buzzers (OPJHL), Vaughan Vipers (OPJHL), Smiths Falls Bears (CJHL), Brockville Braves (CJHL), Les Condors de Kahnawake (LHJAAAQ), and the Truro Bearcats (MJAHL).
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