Watch for Hurricanes, Thunder in August

The Hamilton Hurricanes’ first home game of the 2017 season will trigger a 45-year-old football memory.

The Hurricanes, the city’s entry in the 22-and-under Ontario Football Conference, will play host to the Regina Thunder on Aug. 26, a week after their league opener against the Sooners in Ottawa.

When the Canadian Junior Football League decided to institute a limited interlocking schedule between the OFC and the Prairie Football Conference this year, the Hurricanes asked for Regina as the visiting team for the game they would host.

The only national championship Hamilton has won came against Regina — then the Rams — in 1972.

Hurricanes president Mike Samuel says that several players from the 1972 team will be on hand for the Regina game. The Hurricanes haven’t finalized where the game against the Thunder will be played.

According to the CJFL, it will be the first meeting between Hamilton and Regina in junior football since the Rams beat the Hurricanes 23-11 in the 1993 Canadian championship in Regina.

Hamilton’s other interlocking game this season will be Sept. 23 in Edmonton, against the Wildcats. The Wildcats wanted to host the Hurricanes because it was 30 years ago that they beat Hamilton to win the national title.

Over the past two years, the OFC incrementally reduced its maximum age from 24 to 22, to meet CJFL standards and qualify to play for the national championship. When Hamilton won the OFC last year, that was as far as the team could go because their league’s age limit was 23 while the CJFL limit is 22 years of age.

The CJFL had an interleague pilot project last year when two games were played between the PFC and the British Columbia Conference.

Six PFC-OFC games will be played this season, but two OFC teams — the GTA Grizzlies and Niagara Raiders — will not be involved.

Samuel says that the Hurricanes will have to do some additional fundraising this year to accommodate the trip to Edmonton.