By Carl Chimenti / November 19, 2009 /
KITCHENER AND CAMBRIDGE TO MEET IN TOYOTA FINAL
For the second time in two years, Kitchener and Cambridge will meet in the Toyota Hockey Challenge at the Kitchener Auditorium on Dec. 6 in a one-game championship showdown. The winning team will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Hokkaido, Japan during March Break 2010, for a cultural exchange with the Tomakomai Allstars.
In November of 2007, before a crowd of 2,500, Cambridge upset the favoured first place Kitchener Jr. Rangers 4-2 in a very exciting game. Now, two years later, it is déjà vu again, as the Kitchener Jr. Rangers finished first for a second straight time in the round robin with a near perfect record of 3-0-1 for seven points, while the Cambridge Hawks placed second with five points and a 2-1-1 mark.
The two teams met twice during round robin play. The first meeting on Oct.30 ended in a 1-1 tie and in the final round robin matchup on Nov. 11, The Jr. Rangers beat the Hawks 4-1.
“Basically, the three centres of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo set up in a round robin style.
Their first two regular season games – which is a home and away for each of the three teams – runs through their early season schedule which takes them to mid-November,” explains Chuck Williams, director of AAA and A hockey for the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association. “Out of the round robin, points are calculated and the top two teams with the most points move on to play in the final, typically set for early December.”
Williams said the event generates great excitement and conversation in the region beginning with the round robin all the way to the championship game.
“The championship game is really a terrific event. We have some of the Novice teams come out and play games in between the periods and we have Peewee teams throwing t-shirts into the crowd,” says Williams. “There is a lot of hype for the game and a lot of press for the Waterloo region population to get people involved. The Toyota Motor Company is also heavily involved in the planning and advertising of this event.”
The Toyota Hockey Challenge is for Minor Bantam and takes place every other year.
“What happens now is the winning team will go to Japan in March,” said Williams. “Next year, a team from Japan will come over here and play an exhibition game against this year’s winning team and the following year, that same Japanese team will play the winner of this challenge in 2011 in Japan.”
DOHERTY NAMED OLYMPIC TORCHBEARER
Community leader Pat Doherty has been named as Kitchener’s final torchbearer for the upcoming Olympic Torch Relay.
As a long time coach, manager and president of the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association, he will have the honor of carrying the Olympic flame and lighting the ceremonial cauldron at Kitchener City Hall when the Olympic Torch Relay visits the city Dec. 27 to 28, as it moves towards its destination for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C.
Doherty is a former teacher from the Sacred Heart Elementary and St. Jerome’s High School in Kitchener and has been involved with minor hockey for 35 years.
In 1985, he was recognized with the Special Achievement Award by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation and in recent years Kitchener’s Wilson Arena was renamed in his honour for his outstanding contributions to the community.
“The celebration task force couldn’t have made a finer choice,” said Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr.
“The work he has accomplished over three-plus decades is still enjoyed by thousands of people each year. He is a true leader and a great representative of our community.”
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
The Alliance Hockey Association has five big tournaments in the calendar month of November.
Four of those tournaments will take place Nov. 20 to 22 and include the Cambridge Friendship Tournament for Minor Atom MD to Midget MD, which is equivalent to OMHA AE2 or AE3, also BB.
The Tim Hickman Memorial AA tournament will feature Minor Atom (‘00), Major Atom (‘99), Minor Peewee (‘98) and Major Peewee (‘97) in London, Ontario.
The St. Thomas Minor Hockey Tournament will go the same weekend and runs four days until Nov 23.
There will be a three-game minimum and includes teams at the Novice A, Atom AE (full), Peewee AE (full), Bantam AE (full) and Midget AE level and will take place at the St. Thomas Elgin Memorial Arena in St. Thomas, Ont.
The Waterloo Memorial Tournament will feature top teams from North America competing in four divisions.
The levels include Minor Bantam, Bantam, Minor Midget, and Midget in AA/A combined, with a four-game guarantee.
The 39th annual International Blue Line AAA Hockey tournament will be held at the Aud in Kitchener, Ont. the weekend of Nov. 26 to 29. There will be 94 teams from Minor Atom to Midget. |