Even though the scores were terribly lopsided at the PeeWee ‘A’ branch playdowns in Emo last weekend, Larry Tucker, executive director of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association, said what was more important was that Emo hosted the four-team tournament.
Longlac dominated the round-robin, finishing with a perfect 3-0 record, then went on to crush Atikokan 11-0 in the final.
Atikokan finished the round robin with a 2-1 record, followed by Thunder Bay (1-2), and host Emo (0-3).
Still, Tucker said it was good for Emo to host such a tournament because it provides them a chance to win one of this calibre.
“It’s a prestige factor for Emo because there are only three divisions in Ontario and this is one of them,” said Tucker.
The other two include the Toronto and Ottawa areas.
Emo hosted the Bantam branch playdowns last year but Tucker said he didn’t expect it to apply to host the Midget playdowns up for grabs next season.
“The rotation goes every three years but we have juvenile and Midget players on our team because of a shortage of players, and you can only have Midget or Bantam players playing in the playdowns,” he noted.
“We wouldn’t have the players to play in it.”
But local Minor Hockey Association president Lynn Kellar said Fort Frances might be interested in hosting the event, but added it would have to depend on the dates.
“Next year’s board would have to look at it, and then it may become a problem because of a lack of ice time,” said Kellar, adding it is not out of the realm of possibility to host the playdowns.
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