Major Bantam’s off to A Wild Start!

During this past weekend, with their passports in hand, the Wild’s Major Bantam AAA team travelled across the USA border to Burlington, Vermont, to participate in the 7^th Annual Woodchuck Classic Hockey Tournament.

Since 2004, the Woodchuck Classic has been considered one of the highly recruited Junior A, Junior B and Midget AAA tournaments in North America.   This year, the tournament field was opened to include a Major Bantam AAA division which this Wild team was heavily pursued by tournament officials to attend, due to the team’s 4^th place ranking in the Province last season (www.myhockeyrankings.com).

During round robin action, the Wild went undefeated (4-0-0), which included 3-2 and 6-2 victories over two well known USA Teams: Detroit Little Caesars AAA (2010/11 ranking as 4^th in USA) and Westchester Express AAA (2010/11 ranking as 12^th in USA), respectively.

With a 4-0-0 record, the 1^st place Wild faced off in the finals against their local nemesis, the Upper Canada Cyclones, who finished the tournament in 2^nd place with a 3-1-0 record. The match-up provided the packed stadium with the much anticipated excitement of a fast paced and physical final.  The Wild had a 2-0 lead going into the final period and held off a late period attack by the Cyclones to skate to an impressive 4-2 win.

Upon re-entering Canada, the Canadian Border Guard routinely questioned the Wild’s Head Coach, Steve Malette, as to whether or not he had anything to declare upon re-entering the country. Coach Malette smiled and stated:  “In addition to the $60 of goods that I purchased, we are also bringing back the championship trophy from winning the Woodchuck Hockey Tournament in Burlington, Vermont!” The Border Guard smiled, issued her congrats; and, waved the coach on his way!

The coaching staff was truly impressed with the team’s overall performance and is looking forward to a successful 2011/12 Season!