THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Kings hope speed and size will be their key to success this week as they get set to host the 2017 All-Ontario Bantam AAA championship.
Centre Mike Stubbs said while they’re out to have fun, they’ve also got fairly high expectations in mind as they kick off round-robin play on Monday morning at Fort William Gardens against the Ottawa Jr. 67’s.
“I think we’re not going to be satisfied unless we make it until Friday, we make it to the post-season. Our sights are higher than just having fun here,” the 5-foot-6, 150-pound, 14-year-old forward said.
They hope to outrace the competition, he added.
“I think we know how to move the puck north-south up and down the rink. I don’t think we move side to side very often. Once we get our feet moving and every works together we’re an offensive threat out there,” Stubbs said.
Nik Campbell, 14, said the plan is to get pucks deep, work in the corners and hope to come out with possession.
“We’re a fast team and we can use our speed to our advantage,” said Campbell, who attends Hammarskjold High School when not on the ice.
“We just have to work our hearts out and I think we’ll do fine.”
Having home-ice advantage has its benefits, he added.
“We’ll get better sleep in our own house and more fans in the crowd, which will get the boys going. I think we’ll do good.”
Unlike most of the teams in the five-day tournament, the Kings have not had the luxury of going up against any of their opponents, that also include the Toronto Marlboros, Cambridge Hawks, North Bay Trappers, York-Simcoe Express and Fort Frances Canadians.
Coach Ed Atwill said the end goal all season was this tournament, even though they got their competition south of the border, playing in the North America Prospects Hockey League.
“The team has looked good. We’re built on speed and puck movement, and that’s really what we want to focus on this week – focus on what we’ve been working on and what we’ve been doing. We don’t know the teams all that well,” said Atwill, whose son Alex is a forward with the Kings.
“As long as we focus on what we do well, I think we’ll be fine.”
The only team they’ve seen so far is York-Simcoe, and the result was encouraging, Atwill said.
“We battled had against them. They’re a very good team, ranked second in Ontario, maybe. We ended up tying 3-3 on a couple of late goals. We played well.”
One thing Atwill won’t do is put too much pressure on his team. While winning it all would be the ultimate experience, it’s not the be-all, end-all this week.
“We have three different goals, really. One is just to enjoy the experience of this. This is a big deal for these kids to host it here in Thunder Bay. So we want them to get the most as they can out of it,” Atwill said.
“The next goal would be to get a semifinal game out of it. We think that’s in the grasp for us. We think we can get a semifinal game out of this. And who knows, when it comes down to a one-game semi or a one-game final, (get a) hot goalie and anything can happen.”
It’s been 17 years since the Kings brought home a bantam title, when Eric Staal led Thunder Bay to the 2000 championship.
Notes: NHLer Robby Fabbri captained the champion Mississauga Rebels in 2011, the last time the tournament was held in Thunder Bay.
