ROCKLAND HOSTS THE CENTRAL REGION MIDGET AAA CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2018 Central Region Midget AAA Championship kicked off in Rockland on Monday, April 2 at the CIH Arena.
A total of six teams will compete all week long in Rockland, until Sunday, April 8, in 19 games. The tournament is part of the road to the TELUS Cup, since the gold medalist team will compete in the National TELUS Cup. The opening ceremony took place on Monday night at the CIH Arena. Toronto and Sudbury competed against each other during the first game of the tournament that same afternoon.
During the opening ceremony, each of the six teams playing in the tournament was announced onto the ice. Rockland Councillor Jean-Marc Lalonde welcomed all the guests to Clarence-Rockland. “I want to wish all of you the best of luck. Enjoy the games because this is a very important midget hockey tournament,” he said. “I hope you all enjoy your stay here.”
The Rockland Nats AAA Midget team played their first game on Monday night as well, against the Waterloo Wolves. The Nats took home their first win of the tournament, beating the Wolves 2-0. Nats’ goaltender, Justin Lee, stopped all 23 shots that came his way. At press time, the Nats faced off against the Hawkesbury Hawks on Tuesday night.
Games will be happening every day this week, during the afternoon and in the evening, until Sunday. Rockland will be playing on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. against Toronto, on Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m. against Sudbury, and at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 6 against Ajax-Pickering.
The tournament will then continue over the weekend, with the bronze and gold medal games being held on the final day, Sunday, April 8. The bronze medal game will be held at 12 p.m. and the gold medal game at 3:30 p.m. Closing ceremonies and award give outs will take place after the last game.