Ex-Thunder vying for Royal Cup

Brent Tookenay admits he’ll probably spend a few minutes at work this week checking hockey scores on the Internet.
But unlike many Canadian hockey fans caught in the grips of NHL playoff fever, the Fort High vice-principal and former Borderland Thunder general manager won’t be checking for the latest news coming out of Edmonton or Ottawa.
Instead, Tookenay’s attention will be focused on the action taking place at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ont.—home of this year’s Royal Bank Cup.
The Royal Bank Cup is held annually to determine Canada’s top Junior ‘A’ team. And this year’s tournament, which runs May 6-14, is of particular interest to Tookenay as there are some familiar faces on the ice there.
No fewer than four players who suited up for the 2004-05 season for the now defunct Thunder are competing for the right to hoist the top prize in Junior ‘A’ hockey this year.
Dennis Morrison and David Gooch are members of the Dudley Hewitt Cup-winning Fort William North Stars while Clayton “Beefy” Windigo and Tyler Gordon suit up for the host Streetsville Derbys.
“I’m really proud of them [the players],” Tookenay said. “They deserve it. They worked hard.”
Those unfamiliar with the circumstances surrounding the demise of the Thunder may find it surprising that four of its former players are now playing for two of the top Junior ‘A’ teams in the country.
But Tookenay isn’t the least bit surprised by the players’ success.
“It’s not a surprise to me given the program that we ran,” he remarked. “It just shows that we had a legitimate Junior ‘A’ hockey team here.
“I don’t think there’s one guy [from the Thunder] that didn’t play Junior ‘A’ hockey in some part of Canada this year,” he added.
While Tookenay is extremely happy to see the former Thunder players succeed, a part of him can’t help but wonder what might have been if the Thunder had iced a team this past season.
“It makes it hard because I know that we could probably be competing against them [the North Stars],” he said.
“I’m not saying we could have beaten them, but we would have given them a good run this year if we would have had our team.”
Some 138 Junior ‘A’ hockey teams, competing in 10 leagues across Canada, play for the opportunity to win the Royal Bank Cup.
The country is divided into four Junior ‘A’ regions—east, central, west, and Pacific. The winners of each region, as well as the host city, qualify for the tournament.
The teams first play a round-robin, with the top four teams advancing to the semi-final round. Those two winners then compete for the championship.
Heading into action today, the North Stars were at 1-1. They lost their first game 3-2 to the host Derbys on Sunday (Morrison had two assists) before rebounding with a 4-3 win over the Joliette Action on Monday night.
Morrison had two goals and an assist in that one.
The Derbys, meanwhile, led with way with a 2-0 record after beating the Burnaby Express 4-3 on Saturday (Windigo had an assist) before downing the North Stars the following day.