ockey Northwestern Ontario
Media Update
Release date: Monday, March 6, 2017
2017 HNO AAA Championship Preview
Thunder Bay, Ont. – Hockey Northwestern Ontario announced on Monday that the field has been set for the 2017 HNO AAA Branch Championships, which will be staged in Thunder Bay and Kenora March 10-12.
Two teams will be competing in the Pee Wee AAA Division with the Thunder Bay Kings and NWO Stars set to do battle in a best of three series at the Fort William First Nation Arena. The winner will represent HNO at the 2017 All Ontario Pee Wee AAA Championships April 3-7 in Toronto hosted by the Don Mills Flyers of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL).
The Bantam AAA Division will feature a best of three series between the Thunder Bay Kings and the Fort Frances Canadians at the Fort William First Nation Arena. Both teams will advance to the 2017 All Ontario Bantam AAA Championships in Thunder Bay March 27-31 hosted by the Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association. The Kings will be the host team at the provincials and Fort Frances will play as the HNO representative.
The Midget AAA Championship will feature a repeat of last year’s series with the Kenora Thistles hosting the Thunder Bay Kings in a best of three series. The championship trophy for Midget AAA division has been renamed the Don Smith Cup after HNO life patron and longtime coach and founder of the Midget AAA program in Kenora. The series winner will advance to the 2017 TELUS Cup West Regional hosted in Steinbach, Manitoba March 30- April 2 with the Eastman Selects being the host team.
The following is a brief overview of each team competing:
Thunder Bay Kings Pee Wee AAA: The Kings come into the championship with a season record of 17-24-7 playing games against Bantam AA and A teams in Thunder Bay Minor along with tournaments against other Pee Wee AAA teams. They did play against the NWO team in December winning both games.
NWO All-Stars Pee Wee AAA: Are made up of players competing in Pee Wee AA and A hockey from Kenora, Fort Frances, Dryden, and Couchenour. The NWO Stars have played exhibition games during the season including two defeats to the Kings in December.
Thunder Bay Kings Bantam AAA: The Bantam Kings come in with a record of 25-21-10 this season. Including games against Midget AA and Bantam AAA teams. The Kings have played the Fort Frances Canadians three teams so far, this season in exhibition play winning all three games.
Fort Frances Canadians Bantam AAA: The Canadians are carded as a AAA, but play most of the year with players primarily from Fort Frances in AA tournaments in HNO and A level tournaments in Minnesota. Yesterday the Fort Frances team captured the HNO Bantam AA title with a 2-1 win over Dryden in the Tournament of Champions. The Canadians use their affiliate players from Kenora, Dryden, Eagle River, Atikokan and Ear Falls to play as a AAA team. The Canadians have played the Kings three times to date, losing all three games by close scores.
Kenora Thistles Midget AAA: The defending HNO Midget AAA Champion Thistles compete in the Manitoba Midget AAA league and missed the playoffs this season with a record of 15-24-2-3. The Thistles were lead in scoring by Matthew Pitchenese who had 42 points in 35 games. Kenora was also featured on television as part of Hockey Day in Canada this year including a photo with Don Cherry and Ron MacLean shown on Coaches Corner.
Thunder Bay Kings Midget AAA: The Major Midget Kings have record of 42-19-4 this season playing in the North American Prospect League (NAPHL) and the Lakehead Junior Hockey League (LJHL). The Kings finished fifth place in the NAPHL after winning three games and losing one in the NAPHL playoff tournament. Quinton Loon Stewardson lead the team in scoring in NAPHL play with 22 points in 27 games. The Kings and Thistles have played once this season in an exhibition game in December with the Kings winning 5-1.
Online scoring of all the games will be available via this link: HNO AAA Districts Live Scoring
Game Schedule
Peewee AAA Format
Best two-of-three series
The winner represents HNO at the All Ontario Peewee AAA Championship in Toronto April 3-.
Friday, March 10
Kings vs. NWO Stars 6 p.m. (FWFNA)
Saturday, March 11
NWO Stars vs. Kings 10 a.m. (FWFNA)
*Kings vs. NWO Stars 7:30 p.m. (FWFNA)
*-if necessary
Bantam AAA Format
Best two-of-three series
The Kings will be the Host team and NWO will represent HNO at the 2017 All-Ontario Bantam Championship March 27-31 at the Fort William Gardens
Friday, March 10
Kings vs. Fort Frances Canadians 7:30 p.m. (FWFNA)
Saturday, March 11
Fort Frances Canadians vs. Kings 11:30 a.m.
Kings vs. Fort Frances Canadians 6 p.m. (FWFNA)
If game three is not needed to determine a series winner, the game will take place as an exhibition contest to provide another match-up for both teams prior to the provincials.
Midget AAA Format
Best two-of-three series
The winner of the series represents HNO at the TELUS Cup West Regional in Steinbach, Man., March 30-April 2.
Friday, March 10
Kenora Thistles vs. major midget Kings 8 p.m. EST (Kenora Rec. Centre)
Saturday March 11
Major midget Kings vs. Kenora Thistles 2 p.m. EST (Kenora Rec. Centre)
Sun. March 12, 2017
*Kenora Thistles vs. major midget Kings 2 p.m. EST (Kenora Rec. Centre)
*-if necessary
