THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay under-16 Kings are off to London, Ont., this weekend to compete in the annual Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament.
There are a total of 32 U16 AAA clubs taking part in the four-day event, which begins Thursday when the Kings meet the Cambridge Hawks at 7:15 p.m.
Friday’s slate has Thunder Bay taking to the ice twice, beginning with a 9:45 a.m. encounter with the Brantford 99ers, before wrapping up the day against the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks at 4 p.m.
They will then wrap-up round robin play Saturday at 2:30 p.m. versus the Quinte Red Devils.
The top four teams in each division of eight will advance to the playoff round Saturday night, followed by the semifinals and championship game Sunday.
KINGS TOURNAMENT PAGE
U18S UPDATE: Meanwhile, this past weekend, the Kings under-18 side took two of three games against the Pilot Mound Buffaloes in an exhibition set at Fort William First Nation Arena.
Thunder Bay took the opener 2-1, before Pilot Mound answered with a 5-3 triumph, while the Kings closed out the series with a 6-1 victory.
Game 1 featured Mitchell Vanderway notching both goals in the win and saw Kayo Lake make 26 saves in picking up the decision in net.
As for Game 2, the Buffaloes broke a third period tie with two tallies to pull out the win.
Finding the back of the net for the Kings were Peter Forestor, Ben Exell and Vanderway.
Cameron Mann saw 32 shots fired his way in defeat.
Taking the series-set Sunday in Game 3, Vanderway once again paced Thunder Bay offensively with a pair of markers.
Supplying singles in the winning result were Lucas Bailey, Evan Wesley, Eric Blazino and Forester.
They also saw Griffin McGraw and Bailey dish out two assists apiece and Lake collect the win in net.
Photo credit: James Mirabelli
