Telus Cup update
As Sudbury is slated to play host to the 2018 Telus Cup, major midget hockey championship tournament, preparations for the national event are ongoing.
For starters, organizers have released the schedule for the Telus Cup tournament, to be held at Sudbury Community Arena next April 23-29. As well, tickets to the national event are now on sale.
Barry McCrory, who is co-chair of the tournament committee, remains on the look for sponsors and volunteers for the prestigious tournament, which will feature the host Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves of the Great North Midget Hockey League facing off against champions from the Atlantic, Quebec, Central, West and Pacific regions of Canada.
“When you put on a big competition, a tournament, you need a lot of people,” McCrory told Postmedia. “You have a team of officials that are on the ice, a team off the ice, and the officials behind the scenes are incredible.”
McCrory — who is a former Ontario Hockey League scout with the Soo Greyhounds — has a history with the event, having coached the last Sudbury team to play host to the nationals, which was back in in 1998.
The host Nickel Caps came away with the silver medal back in 1998 and McCrory remembers his team playing to a crowd of about 4,500 fans at Sudbury Community Arena.
“You want to talk about nerves? I’d rather have a hockey stick in my hand than try to decide which player to put on the ice after looking at 4,500 people,” he recalled.
In all, Sudbury major midget teams have appeared at the national tournament on five different occasions, winning gold in Arnprior, Ontario in 2008.
As for next spring’s 2018 event, the Nickel Capital Wolves will play their first game against the Pacific reps on April 23 and then face off with the West champions on April 24, the Atlantic champs on April 25, the Quebec champs on April 26 and the Central champs on April 27 with all games being featured, 7 p.m. matches.
Semi-finals are slated for April 28 at noon and 3:30 p.m. while bronze and gold-medal games are on the card for April 29 at noon and 3:30 p.m., respectively.
For more information and a full schedule, visit www.hockeycanada.ca/teluscup.
Advance tickets can be purchased at www.greatersudbury.ca/tickets.
And for more information about volunteering at the Telus Cup, visit www.sudburyminorhockey.ca.