By Sam Laskaris /
Squads will by vying for a bit more than just championship titles at a tournament the Vaughan Rangers’ organization is hosting later this month.
Forty-two teams will compete at the Rangers’ regional qualifier for the International Silver Stick Tournament, set for Dec. 27 to 29.
The event features A clubs competing in four divisions; Minor Atom, Minor Peewee, Minor Bantam and Minor Midget.The winners of all of the divisions advance to the Silver Stick finals, which will be held Jan. 14 to 17.
The Rangers will be represented by teams in each of the four divisions at the regional event.Nicholas Russo, the coach of the Rangers’ Minor Peewee side, does not believe the fact that Vaughan is the host organization will put any additional pressure on his charges to perform.
“It’s not like we’re hosting the Olympics or anything like that,” he said.
Russo’s charges will participate in a 12-team division. The Toronto IceDogs are the only other tournament entrants in the Rangers’ league.
So Russo is looking forward to seeing how his club, which posted an impressive 17-2-2 regular season record after 21 starts, stacks up against other teams outside of its own GTHL.
“You want to compare yourself to other leagues and associations besides just looking at their standings to see how they are doing,” he said.
Russo believes his club is capable of faring well at the event - and possibly even winning it.
“I have faith in my guys but it all depends on who shows up and how they play,” he said. |