Tournament of Champions
More than 40 major and minor midget teams — including the Sault Major Thunderbirds and Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League — will be in Peterborough this week for the prestigious Steve Richey Tournament of Champions.
Sault Ste. Marie native Mike Martone, a former Ontario Hockey League defenseman with the Peterborough Petes who is the president of the Peterborough Minor Hockey Council, said the annual Tournament of Champions is a “must-attend event.
“Over the past five years alone, more than 200 players that have participated in this tournament were drafted to the OHL,” Martone noted. “And many others have accepted scholarships to National Collegiate Athletic Association schools.
“It has become a must attend tournament for teams across Ontario and the United States,” added Martone.
Every team in the OHL will be represented by its general manager and/or scouts and a number of NCAA schools will have personnel on hand to watch the various teams in the major midget and minor midget divisions.
The tournament is named after the aforementioned Steve Richey, a former OHL goalie and scout from Peterborough who passed away last year at the age of 54.