Mitch Calvert
Six Knights of Columbus PeeWee ‘AA’ players will be representing the region at the ‘AAA’ level later this winter.
Goalie Mark Loveday, defencemen Carter Brown, Chandler Cousineau, and Ian Kitt, and forwards Hunter Leishman and Brody McPherson made the Northwestern Ontario PeeWee ‘AAA’ rep team that competes against similar squads from Thunder Bay and the north shore of Superior for the branch championship March 13-15.
“The original identification camp was held the first week of September,” regional coach Dan Reynard said in a phone interview from his home in Kenora.
“We had 50 players initially, and then from there we reduced the roster to 28,” he noted. “We then had the final tryouts Nov. 8 and selected our final 17 players.”
Six players from Kenora, three from Dryden, and two from Sioux Lookout round out the squad.
“This will be my fourth year in the program, and last year we won the branch championship,” Reynard said. “The year before, [Thunder Bay] beat us 4-2, but traditionally it’s been very competitive and close between the two programs.”
Last season saw the two teams play in a best-of-three series because no team from the north shore of Superior was represented at the branch championship.
If the regional teams advances past the branch playdowns this year, it then travels to the all-Ontario PeeWee ‘AAA’ final to be held in Alliston in early April. Last year’s event was held in Thunder Bay, with the Toronto Red Wings taking the crown.
The Northwestern Ontario all-stars went 0-6 at the tournament.
“There are six different branches in Ontario, and the champions of each and whoever the host team is [York Simcoe Express this year] will play a seven-team, round-robin tournament,” Reynard noted. “The top four then play off for the provincial championship.
There’s no national level after that,” he added. “Midget is the first age bracket that has a national stage.”
The regional team usually gets together for a couple of days of preparation before the branch playdowns, but a later March Break likely will throw a wrench in their plans this time around.
“Usually [the series is] at the end of the March Break, so we bring the players into Kenora two or three days before to get them some time together,” Reynard noted.
“But this year, March Break is one week later, so we’re going to have to make some adjustments to see when we can and cannot get together.”
