By Sam Laskaris /
It certainly didn’t take long for the Avalanche Select Winter Classic to become a success.
The tournament, hosted by the Amesbury and Bert Robinson (ABR) organizations, which merged two years ago, attracted 31 entrants to its inaugural event in 2009.
This year’s event, which ran Jan. 20-24, featured exactly double the number of participants, 62 select clubs, including three that travelled to Toronto from the United States.
They competed in nine divisions, ranging from Tyke to Minor Bantam.
The host ABR Avalanche had two of its own teams advance to their respective finals. The Tykes were edged 2-1 by the Lorne Park Super 6. And the Bantam Avalanche side was blanked 3-0 by the Vaughan Rangers.
Tournament director Silvio Carnovale said it was a huge deal indeed to have a pair of Avalanche squads qualify for their championship finals.
“For such a small organization ‚Äì we only have about 300 kids and to be going up against teams from Ottawa, Mississauga, London and the United States, it’s pretty impressive,” Carnovale said.
Carnovale added the ABR organization did have one of its teams – the Minor Peewees – win a tournament title last year.
This year’s event added tyke and minor atom divisions.
Carnovale was not surprised to see how quickly the tourney has grown.
“We do a lot for the kids and try to create a tournament atmosphere,” he said.
Besides having a public address announcer for each game, all participants were presented with several giveaways, including hockey cards and drinks. |