The Burnaby Winter Club and North Shore Winter Club are co-hosting the fourth annual Can-Am Bantam A1 pre-season tournament September 18-20, with 13 games hosted at BWC and 7 at NSWC.
The two Winter Club bantam teams are perennial powerhouses in Tier 1 bantam hockey in BC, claiming 9 of the last 10 provincial championships between them (see below).
Typically the WCs use this tournament to make their final decisions on rosters for the year. Both clubs will be lead again by veteran returning coaches, Jim Dinwoodie at North Shore, and John Batchelor at BWC.
In the first incarnation of the tournament four years ago, a pool of four Canadian teams faced off against three US teams and Seafair (after LA pulled out). Okanagan Hockey Academy and Pursuit of Excellence teams were included with the Winter Clubs in one conference, with Seafair and teams from Anaheim, San Jose and Dallas in the other conference.
The teams played five games, with each playing a final game, Canada #1 vs USA #1, Canada #2 vs USA #2, etc.
Because of the USA U14 Nationals being played in Anchorage, Alaska this year, a number of US organizations were unable to make the commitment to travel to Vancouver for this year’s tournament.
So the format has been changed slightly, with Dallas, San Jose, Kelowna and PoE in the USA conference; and NSWC, BWC, Hollyburn and PoE in the Canada conference.
This year the teams will be seeded 1-8 after the fourth game, and could play a team from the same conference in the final fifth game.
The tournament gets underway, Friday, September 18 at 8:00 a.m. with two games: NSWC vs Dallas at NSWC; and BWC vs San Jose at BWC.
Last year the Anaheim Ducks finished first.
| 2015 Can-Am schedule | |||
| Day 1, September 18 | |||
| Home | Away | Time | Venue |
| NSWC | Dallas | 8:00-9:45 | NSWC |
| BWC | San Jose | 8:00-9:45 | BWC |
| OHA | Kelowna | 9:50-11:35 | BWC |
| Hollyburn | POE | 9:50-11:35 | NSWC |
| San Jose | NSWC | 3:00-4:45 | NSWC |
| Dallas | BWC | 3:00-4:45 | BWC |
| POE | OHA | 4:50-6:35 | BWC |
| Kelowna | Hollyburn | 6:50-8:35 | BWC |
| Day 2, September 19 | |||
| NSWC | POE | 8:00-9:45 | NSWC |
| OHA | Dallas | 8:00-9:45 | BWC |
| BWC | POE | 9:50-11:35 | BWC |
| Hollyburn | San Jose | 9:50-11:35 | NSWC |
| OHA | NSWC | 3:00-4:45 | NSWC |
| Kelowna | BWC | 3:00-4:45 | BWC |
| Dallas | Hollyburn | 4:50-6:35 | BWC |
| San Jose | San Jose | 6:50-8:35 | NSWC |
| Day 3, September 20 | |||
| 7th place | 8th place | 8:00-9:45 | BWC |
| 5th place | 6h place | 9:50-11:35 | BWC |
| 3rd place | 4th place | 11:50-1:35 | NSWC |
| 1st place | 2nd place | 11:50-1:35 | BWC |
BC Bantam Tier 1 (AAA) Championships since 2005
Season, Winner vs Runner up
2005-2006 Abbotsford vs Juan de Fuca (91/92)
2006-2007 BWC vs Kelowna (92/93)
2007-2008 BWC vs Prince George (93/94)
2008-2009 NSWC vs BWC (94/95)
2009-2010 BWC vs NSWC (95/96)
2010-2011 BWC vs Cowichan Valley (96/97)
2011-2012 NSWC vs BWC (97/98)
2012-2013 NSWC vs BWC (98/99)
2013-2014 NSWC vs BWC (99/00)
2014-2015 NSWC vs VRC (00/01)
