All-Ontario bantam field set

Hockey Northwestern Ontario announced Tuesday that the field has been set for the 2011 All-Ontario bantam hockey championship, which will be staged at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, March 21-26.

The competing clubs were finalized as respective provincial association playdowns and league championships wrapped up over the weekend.

A total of seven teams will converge on the Lakehead during the week-long event that will feature 25 games culminating in the championship game on Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m.

Round-robin action gets underway Monday morning at 9 a.m. and will conclude Thursday afternoon. That will be followed by the top four teams moving on to play in the semi-finals Friday and the medal games Saturday.

The last time the AAA bantam provincials were held in Thunder Bay was back in 2005 when the Toronto Jr. Canadiens (GTHL) defeated the Markham Waxers (OMHA) to win the Ontario championship.

Just of some of the players who competed in that tournament was the following National Hockey League first round draft selections: Steven Stamkos (Markham) Tampa Bay Lightning; Alex Pietrangelo (Toronto) St. Louis Blues; Michael Del Zotto (Markham) New York Rangers; Nazim Kadri (London) Toronto Maple Leafs and Cody Hodgson (Markham) Vancouver Canucks. Among other current pros that competed were Cameron Gaunce (Markham), Matt Hackett (London) & Stefan Della Rovere (Toronto) who are in the American Hockey League. Jared Staal (Thunder Bay) also skated in the tourney.

The following is a breakdown of the seven squads that will vie for the provincial crown:

HOCKEY NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO CHAMPION – THUNDER BAY KINGS: The Kings earned their spot in the event by going unbeaten in the HNO district championship over the weekend including an 8-0 triumph over the Northwestern Ontario All-Stars in the gold medal game on Sunday...The club went 28-21-3 during the course of the season including competing against midget AA competition in Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association play...Captain Brad Arabia led the Kings offensively with 52 points, including 36 goals...Nick Nigro is next on the squad with 42 points followed by Ryan Burton and Dan DelPaggio with 41...Thunder Bay is coached by Vern Ray who, among his accomplishments, guided Thunder Bay to a record 10th Allan Cup Canadian senior hockey crown in 2005.

HOCKEY NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO HOST – NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO ALL-STARS: As runner-up to the HNO district crown this squad will serve as the host team for the provincials...They are comprised of players from the Northwestern Ontario communities of Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances...Coaching the team is former Kenora AAA midget bench boss Doug Novak, who was a 2010 recipient of the national RBC Hockey Leaders Award.

NORTHERN ONTARIO HOCKEY ASSOCIATION – SAULT STE. MARIE GREYHOUNDS: The Greyhounds punched their ticket to Thunder Bay after winning the Northern Ontario AAA Bantam League title...Finishing in first place overall during the course of the regular season the Soo swept through the playoffs going unbeaten including disposing of the Sudbury Wolves in three straight games in the league championship...They have gone 38-5-1-2 overall in the regular season and playoffs...Sault Ste. Marie boasted the top four point producers in the NOBHL as Michael Amadio, Anthony Stefano, Jaren Bellini and Jaron Rowe combined for 202 goals and 451 points...Goaltenders Jacob Kment and Braeden Turco have 38 wins between them...The head coach of the Greyhounds is Domenic Deluca Jr. 

MINOR HOCKEY ALLIANCE OF ONTARIO – ELGIN-MIDDLESEX CHIEFS: Elgin-Middlesex rolled to the Alliance title after going 9-1-2 in 12 postseason games. They handled the Windsor Jr. Spitfires in three straight in the quarter-finals before doing likewise to the Cambridge Hawks in semi-final play. Then taking on the Sun County Panthers in the final the Chiefs came out on top winning the 8-point affair 8-4 with three wins, a loss and two ties...They went 26-4 in league play as well as 16-5-3 in tournament action including winning the Waterloo, Ont., Gold Puck event in December...The trio of Jared McCann, Matteo Ciccarelli and Matthew Kenney lead the team offensively with 62, 51 and 47 points respectively...The head coach of the Chiefs is former NHLer Merlin Malinowski.

ONTARIO MINOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION – HAMILTON JR. BULLDOGS: Representing the OMHA will be the Jr. Bulldogs of Hamilton who came out on top of the five-team OMHA championship held in Georgina, Ont. They defeated the Peterborough Petes 3-2 in the gold medal contest on Sunday after Ryan Laufman scored two third period goals, 14 seconds apart, in the come from behind victory...Hamilton forward Connor Murphy was the overall scoring leader in the OMHA championship tourney with nine points on four goals and five assists...The head coach of the Bulldogs is Hamilton native Ryan Risidore who played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League on defence with the Guelph Storm and had an eight-year professional career.

GREATER TORONTO HOCKEY LEAGUE – MISSISSAUGA REBELS: The powerful Rebels claimed the GTHL title in imposing fashion going unbeaten with an impressive 10-0-2 playoff record. They dumped the North York Rangers in quarter-final action before sweeping away the Don Mills Flyers in semi-final play. Moving on the championship they made quick work of the Toronto Marlboros winning the 8-point final 9-1...The offensively-gifted Rebels handily outscored their playoff opponents 60-10 en route to earning their trip to Thunder Bay...Mississauga was equally impressive during the course of regular season GTHL action posting a league-best 29-2-2 mark...Among their other accomplishments this season was winning the Toronto Marlboros Holiday Classic Tournament back in December...The Rebels coach is Geoff Schomogyi.

OTTAWA DISTRICT HOCKEY ASSOCIATION – OTTAWA VALLEY TITANS: Representing the ODHA at the All-Ontario championship will be the Ottawa Valley Titans...They claimed their berth in Thunder Bay after defeating the Ottawa Jr. 67s 8-4 in their 7-point Ontario East Minor Hockey League final...The Titans were actually down 4-2 in points early in the series before storming back to win the last three games and claim the title...Connor Cobbold paced the club offensively in the postseason with 15 points. His 10 goals also topped all OEMHL skaters in the playoffs...Teammates Kevin Groulx and Owen McDade were in scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively. The duo also paced the Titans during the course of the campaign with Groulx picking up 46 points, which was one more than McDade...Ottawa Valley ended up going 7-1-2 in their playoff run and were an impressive 27-1-2 in finishing in top spot in the seven-team OEMHL during the course of the regular season...Serving as the head coach of the Titans is Brent Carty...Ottawa Valley also represented the ODHA the last time the All-Ontario championship was held in Thunder Bay back in 2005.

WEBSITES: Game reports and information for the 2011 All-Ontario bantam hockey championship can be found online at www.hockeythunderbay.com while live in-game scoring and overall statistics will be available throughout  the week via the following link; http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-division.html?divisionid=44181&seasonid=6871.

2011 All-Ontario AAA Bantam Hockey Championship
March 21-26 @ Fort William Gardens.

Competing teams/Association champions
Thunder Bay Kings, Hockey Northwestern Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Northern Ontario Hockey Association
Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs, Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario
Mississauga Rebels, Greater Toronto Hockey League
Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs, Ontario Minor Hockey Association
Ottawa Valley Titans, Ottawa District Hockey Association
Northwestern Ontario All-Stars, HNO host

Game Schedule
March 21
Mississauga (GTHL) vs. Elgin-Middlesex (Alliance) 9 a.m.
Thunder Bay (HNO) vs. NWO All-Stars (Host) 11 a.m.
Sault Ste. Marie (NOHA) vs. Hamilton (OMHA) 1 p.m.
Ottawa Valley (ODHA) vs. Mississauga (GTHL) 3 p.m.
NWO All-Stars (Host) vs. Elgin-Middlesex (Alliance) 5 p.m.
Sault Ste. Marie (NOHA) vs. Thunder Bay (HNO) 7:30 p.m.

March 22
Hamilton (OMHA) vs. Ottawa Valley (ODHA) 11 a.m.
Mississauga (GTHL) vs. NWO All-Stars (Host) 1 p.m.
Thunder Bay (HNO) vs. Elgin-Middlesex (Alliance) 3 p.m.
Sault Ste. Marie (NOHA) vs. Ottawa Valley (ODHA) 5 p.m.
Hamilton (OMHA) vs. Mississauga (GTHL) 7 p.m.

March 23
Elgin-Middlesex (Alliance) vs. Ottawa Valley (ODHA) 9 a.m.
NWO All-Stars (Host) vs. Hamilton (OMHA) 11 a.m.
Thunder Bay (HNO) vs. Mississauga (GTHL) 1 p.m.
Elgin-Middlesex (Alliance) vs. Sault Ste. Marie (NOHA) 3 p.m.
Ottawa Valley (ODHA) vs. NWO All-Stars (Host) 5 p.m.
Hamilton (OMHA) vs. Thunder Bay (HNO) 7 p.m.

March 24
Mississauga (GTHL) vs. Sault Ste. Marie (NOHA) 9 a.m.
Ottawa Valley (ODHA) vs. Thunder Bay (HNO) 11 a.m.
Elgin-Middlesex (Alliance) vs. Hamilton (OMHA) 1 p.m.
NWO All-Stars (Host) vs. Sault Ste. Marie (NOHA) 3 p.m.

March 25
Semi-final 1: 1st round robin vs. 4th round robin 3 p.m.
Semi-final 2: 2nd round robin vs. 3rd round robin 5 p.m.

March 26
Bronze Medal Game: 12 p.m.
Gold/Silver Medal Game: 3 p.m.