THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Tournament Centre will be the site this weekend as the Thunder Bay under-15 Kings hosts the second annual Border Battle Cup tournament.
The four-day event features the Kings and seven other U15 teams taking part in a Canada vs. U.S. format.
Joining Thunder Bay in the Canadian division are the Sault Ste. Marie Jr. Greyhounds, along with the Pilot Mound Buffaloes and RINK Hockey Academy from Manitoba.
The four squads from the United States are the Edina Hornets; Grand Rapids Thunderhawks; Hermantown Hawks and Minnetonka Skippers.
Game action begins Thursday and will conclude Sunday with the medal and consolation contests.
BORDER BATTLE CUP (U15 AAA)
Competing teams
Thunder Bay Kings
Soo Jr. Greyhounds
Pilot Mound Buffaloes
RINK Hockey Academy
Edina Hornets
Grand Rapids Thunderhawks
Hermantown Hawks
Minnetonka Skippers
SCHEDULE
All games at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre
Thursday, Feb. 15
Hawks vs. Kings 4 p.m.
Thunderhawks vs. RHA 6 p.m.
Skippers vs. Greyhounds 8 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 16
Hornets vs. Buffaloes 8:30 a.m.
RHA vs. Hawks 10:30 a.m.
Greyhounds vs. Thunderhawks 12:30 p.m.
Buffaloes vs. Skippers 2:30 p.m.
Hornets vs. RHA 4:30 p.m.
Hawks vs. Greyhounds 6:30 p.m.
Kings vs. Skippers 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 17
Buffaloes vs. Hawks 9:30 a.m.
Thunderhawks vs. Kings 11:30 a.m.
Greyhounds vs. Hornets 1:30 p.m.
RHA vs. Skippers 3:30 p.m.
Buffaloes vs. Thunderhawks 5:30 p.m.
Hornets vs. Kings 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 18
4th CAN vs. 4th U.S. 8:30 a.m.
3rd CAN vs. 3rd U.S. 10:30 a.m.
2nd CAN vs. 2nd U.S. 12:30 p.m.
1st CAN vs. 1st U.S. 2:30 p.m.
BORDER BATTLE CUP GAME SCHEDULE PRINTABLE VERSION
GTHL PLAY: Meanwhile, Thunder Bay’s under-18 squad will be back in southern Ontario this weekend for another four-game set in Greater Toronto Hockey League play.
They’ll open up Friday versus the Markham Majors at 8:45 p.m.
Two more tilts are on the Kings’ docket Saturday as they take on the Mississauga Rebels at 10:45 a.m. before wrapping up the day against the Vaughan Kings in a 4:15 p.m. start.
They’ll then wrap-up on-ice action Sunday with a 9:15 a.m. meeting with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
LAST WEEK: This past weekend, Thunder Bay’s U15 and U18s took on GTHL opponents, posting 1-3-0 and 1-1-2 records respectively.
The under-15s dropped a 4-1 decision to the Mississauga Senators, with Ethan Cava notching the lone Kings tally before being blanked 4-0 by the Reps Hockey Club and 2-0 vs. the Markham Majors.
They then concluded their GTHL portion of their schedule with a 3-2 victory over the Vaughan Kings.
Scoring in the win were Caden McLeod, Jace Voortman and Kellan Ozerkevich while Josh Van Voort, Brady Nash and Cooper Disher doled out assists and Charlie Weiss collected the win in net.
As for the U18s, they were edged 5-4 by the North York Rangers, skated to 2-2 draw with the Toronto Marlboros, a 3-3 tie with the Mississauga Rebels, before finishing strong as part of a 6-3 triumph over the Reps Hockey Club.
GTHL SCORES
GTHL SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 16
TEAM/OPPONENT/TIME/ARENA
U18: vs. Markham Major 8:45 p.m. (Westwood 1)
Saturday, Feb. 17
U18: vs. Mississauga Rebels 10:45 a.m. (Chesswood 1)
U18: vs. Vaughan Kings 4:15 p.m. (Westwood 1)
Sunday, Feb. 18
U18: vs. Toronto Jr. Canadiens 9:15 a.m. (Chesswood 1)
KINGS GTHL RECORD: (As of Feb. 14)
U13: 5-21-6
U15: 6-27-3
U16: 5-26-1
U18: 3-20-5
Photo credit: James Mirabelli
