The 43rd edition of the Medicine Hats Hounds Bantam A1 Tournament is set to roll again this weekend, starting Thursday, November 12. The championship game will start at noon Sunday.
The storied tournament is widely scouted by junior and college teams as most of the top teams in Western Canada are participating.
Sixteen teams are divided into four pools, and play a round robin of three games, with the top two teams in each pool moving into a championship round.
BC teams have dominated the tournament the past few years, with the North Shore Winter Club (2014 team pictured above) winning the last three tournaments, and Burnaby Winter Club winning three of the previous four.
This year the BWC Bruins are holding down top spot in the PCAHA league and the Winterhawks are in second place. The Bruins downed the Hawks 5-1 in their first meeting but edged them just 1-0 with a lone third period goal on November 8.
The teams are again coached by long time rivals, Jim Dinwoodie at North Shore and John Batchelor at BWC. Both coaches have won several championships at the tournament.
Other BC teams this year include Prince George, Delta, and Pursuit of Excellence (PoE).
Three years ago, a rival tournament in Calgary sprouted up to compete head to head on same weekend, and as a result none of the Calgary MHA teams attend Medicine Hat. Some of the top BC academy teams have also opted for the Calgary tourney – Delta, Yale and OHA, along with some other strong northern Alberta and Saskatchewan (Notre Dame) teams that formerly went to the Hounds tourney, much to the chagrin of the scouts.
Even with the split in talent, the Medicine Hat tournament remains a strong draw for many of the top teams, and the winner will certainly bring home some bragging rights again this year.
Here the pools, with the teams in no particular order, along with the schedule.
Traditionally each pool is seeded with one of the top teams, and then balanced according to their ranking by tournament organizers.
The tournament is the second of the Big 3; with the first in Chilliwack on Thanksgiving, followed by the John Reid in St. Albert in early January.
Hockey Hub will update scores throughout the weekend.
| Divisions |
| White |
| Edmonton SSAC |
| Humbolt |
| Prince George |
| Delta |
| Red |
| PoE (Academy) |
| Ft. Sask. |
| Colorado |
| Edmonton KoC |
| Green |
| NSWC |
| Sask Valley |
| Lloydminster |
| Airdrie |
| Blue |
| Edge (Academy) |
| BWC |
| Edmonton CAC |
| Medicine Hat SEAC |
Schedule:
| G. | Time | Day | Div. | Home | GF | Away | GF |
| 1 | 5:00 PM | Nov. 12 | W | Edmonton SSAC | Humboldt | ||
| 2 | 5:00 PM | Nov. 12 | R | Pursuit of Excellence (POE) | Fort Saskatchewan | ||
| 3 | 5:30 PM | Nov. 12 | R | Colorado | Edmonton K of C | ||
| 4 | 5:00 PM | Nov. 12 | W | Prince George | Delta | ||
| 5 | 8:00 PM | Nov. 12 | G | North Shore | Sask Valley | ||
| 6 | 8:00 PM | Nov. 12 | B | Medicine Hat SEAC | Edmonton CAC | ||
| 7 | 8:30 PM | Nov. 12 | B | Edge | Burnaby | ||
| 8 | 8:00 PM | Nov. 12 | G | Lloydminster | Airdrie | ||
| 9 | 8:00 AM | Nov. 13 | R | Fort Saskatchewan | Colorado | ||
| 10 | 8:00 AM | Nov. 13 | R | Edmonton K of C | Pursuit of Excellence (POE) | ||
| 11 | 8:30 AM | Nov. 13 | W | Humboldt | Prince George | ||
| 12 | 8:00 AM | Nov. 13 | W | Delta | Edmonton SSAC | ||
| 13 | 11:00 AM | Nov. 13 | G | Airdrie | North Shore | ||
| 14 | 11:00 AM | Nov. 13 | B | Edmonton CAC | Edge | ||
| 15 | 11:30 AM | Nov. 13 | G | Sask Valley | Lloydminster | ||
| 16 | 11:00 AM | Nov. 13 | B | Burnaby | Medicine Hat SEAC | ||
| 17 | 5:00 PM | Nov. 13 | R | Pursuit of Excellence (POE) | Colorado | ||
| 18 | 5:00 PM | Nov. 13 | W | Humboldt | Delta | ||
| 19 | 5:30 PM | Nov. 13 | W | Prince George | Edmonton SSAC | ||
| 20 | 5:00 PM | Nov. 13 | R | Fort Saskatchewan | Edmonton K of C | ||
| 21 | 8:00 PM | Nov. 13 | B | Medicine Hat SEAC | Edge | ||
| 22 | 8:00 PM | Nov. 13 | G | North Shore | Lloydminster | ||
| 23 | 8:30 PM | Nov. 13 | G | Airdrie | Sask Valley | ||
| 24 | 8:00 PM | Nov. 13 | B | Edmonton CAC | Burnaby | ||
| 25 | 10:00 AM | Nov. 14 | 1st Place Red | 2nd Place Green | |||
| 26 | 10:00 AM | Nov. 14 | 1st Place Green | 2nd Place Red | |||
| 27 | 10:00 AM | Nov. 14 | 1st Place White | 2nd Place Blue | |||
| 28 | 10:30 AM | Nov. 14 | 1st Place Blue | 2nd Place White | |||
| 29 | 1:00 PM | Nov. 14 | 4th Place Red | 4th Place Green | |||
| 30 | 1:00 PM | Nov. 14 | 4th Place White | 4th Place Blue | |||
| 31 | 1:00 PM | Nov. 14 | 3rd Place Red | 3rd Place Green | |||
| 32 | 1:30 PM | Nov. 14 | 3rd Place White | 3rd Place Blue | |||
| 33 | 6:00 PM | Nov. 14 | Winner Game 25 | Winner Game 27 | |||
| 34 | 6:30 PM | Nov. 14 | Winner Game 26 | Winner Game 28 | |||
| 35 | 9:00 AM | Nov. 15 | Loser Game 29 | Loser Game 30 | |||
| 36 | 9:00 AM | Nov. 15 | Loser Game 31 | Loser Game 32 | |||
| 37 | 9:00 AM | Nov. 15 | Loser Game 26 | Loser Game 27 | |||
| 38 | 9:30 AM | Nov. 15 | Winner Game 31 | Winner Game 32 | |||
| 39 | Noon | Nov. 15 | Loser Game 25 | Loser Game 28 | |||
| 40 | 12:30 | Nov. 15 | Winner Game 29 | Winner Game 30 | |||
| 41 | Noon | Nov. 15 | Loser Game 33 | Loser Game 34 | |||
| 42 | Noon | Gold | Winner Game 33 | Winner Game 34 |
Last year’s award winners:
NSWC Gold, 6-1 vs Edge Mountaineers
BWC Bronze, 10-2 vs PAC Saints.
The Player of the Tournament and MVP award went to Ilijah Colina of the Burnaby Winter Club. He finished the round robin with 3 goals and 3 assists, for 6 points in 3 games.
The All-star team:
Forward- Ilijah Colina (Burnaby Winter Club)
Forward- Tristen Nielson (Edge Mountaineers)
Forward- Jackson Leppard (North Shore Winter Club)
Defenceman- Ethan Cap (North Shore Winter Club)
Defenceman- Austin Chorney (Edge Mountaineers)
Goaltender- James Porter (Edge Mountaineers)
Other notable awards include:
SEAC Scholarship- Dawsen Savage (SEAC)
Best Defenceman- Ethan Cap (North Shore Winter Club)
Most Outstanding Goalie- James Porter (Edge)
Most Goals- Elijah Brown (SSAC), Alexander Pescitelli (Vancouver), Isaac Saniga (PAC)
Most Sportsmanlike- Luka Burzan (North Shore Winter Club)
Best Coach- Taylor Valin (Ft. Saskatchewan)
Most Sportsmanlike Team- Leduc
