Hurrah to novice Hounds

By Randy Russon
January 14, 2019
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Soo Jr. Greyhounds have skated home with the novice AA division championship from the prestigious International Silver Stick Hockey Tournament that wrapped up in Pelham on the weekend.

Pelham is located in the Niagara Region of Ontario.

The novice AA Hounds had a record of 3-1 during round robin play before upending the Belle River Canadians in the title tilt.

Soo coach Craig Kennedy told Hockey News North that “our group of players has worked extremely hard and takes great pride in wearing the Jr. Hounds logo and representing the city of Sault Ste Marie. All 16 players made contributions during the five-day event and even more importantly, are all great kids and representatives of Sault Ste Marie.”

The 35-year old Kennedy, a Sault Ste. Marie native, played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League as an above-average, two-way right winger with the Windsor Spitfires. Regular seasons and playoffs included, the hard-driven Kennedy scored 113 goals in a Windsor uniform. He then went on to play three seasons with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.

Interestingly, the Belle River team that the Soo beat in the championship game of the Silver Stick is coached by Brett Trudell. The 34-year old Trudell played parts of three OHL seasons with the Soo Greyhounds, including the 2001-2002 campaign when he was coached by Craig Hartsburg, who is the father-in-law of the aforementioned Craig Kennedy.

Players on the 2019 novice AA champion Soo Greyhounds include, in alphabetical order, Luke Cady, Jakson Carroll, Eli Chapman, Ethan Cress, Reegan DeZordo, Rocco Dos Reis, Cole Guizzetti , Levi Inch, Colin Kennedy, Ben McKinlay, Simon McLean, Mateo Muto, Bryson Palahnuk, Grayson Pedalino, Jarrett Solomon and Logan Watson.

As is the case with all Silver Stick champions, the novice AA Soo Jr. Greyhounds name will enter the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Kennedy, as coach of the novice Hounds, noted that “it is nice to see some positivity surrounding hockey in Sault Ste. Marie as there are some good things happening. Thanks for recognizing the kids and the good things happening in hockey around our city.”