This past weekend the North Bay & District Girls Hockey Association hosted their 26th annual girls hockey tournament.
After the success from last season, the NBDGHA Junior Lakers were awarded the opportunity to host a World Girls Ice Hockey Weekend event to highlight the growth of Girls and Women's Hockey in the North Bay & District area.
This years event saw 74 teams take part in the tournament plus an additional 10 Junior Lakers teams not playing in the tournament took part in the World Girls Ice Hockey Weekend festivities, with teams travelling from all over Ontario, teams visited from Northern Ontario, the Ottawa area, GTA, and Cambridge/Ancaster areas. Visiting and local teams got the opportunity to attend the Nipissing Lakers Women's Hockey Game on Friday night which saw over 3200 in attendance.
The tournament kicked off on Thursday night with a skills night for all Junior Lakers house league teams, these players got to hit the ice with the Nipissing Lakers and then visit their dressing room for a tour. On Saturday, visiting teams from other associations had the opportunity to tour the Lakers dressing room as well as have a question and answer session with a few of the Lakers players. This part of the event saw 17 teams take in the opportunity, with many stating that the dressing room tour and OUA games were highlights of their time in North Bay and they will spread the word and look forward to attending again in 2025.
Kiara Jefferies, president of the NBDGHA, says the board appreciates the community support.
"We would like to extend a thank you to all tournament sponsors who played a large role in ensuring this year's event was the best event to date," she stated in a release.
"Thank you to Tourism North Bay, The City of North Bay, 7N1D NoahStrong, Pellerin Paints, Cementation, Match Eatery, Gen7Fuel, Town Tees, The Brick, In Support of the North Bay Humane Society, Average Joes, John Ezekiel, See More Graphics, Caisse Alliance, Source for Sports North Bay, Ontario Women's Hockey Association, Hockey Canada, Hume Paint and Cementation."
Junior Lakers Success
With 15 Junior Lakers teams taking part in the local tournament, there was lots to celebrate this past weekend for the NBDGHA. 9 of 15 Jr. Lakers teams advanced to the elimination round of the tournament and qualified for the semi-finals.
The U11A Junior Lakers finished round robin play with 2 ties and 1 loss, similar to Central York and Sudbury who also found themselves tied in the standings. In the semi-finals the U11A Junior Lakers played a tough Sault Ste.Marie team, where they were unfortunately eliminated from the tournament.
The U11 Green Junior Lakers House League team showed great perseverance during their first tournament of the season, where they went on to defeat the Barrie Sharks 3-0 in the quarter finals. In the semi-finals the U11 Green team fell 4-0 to the Huntsville Sting Gold team.
The U13B Junior Lakers finished the round robin with a 1-1-1 record, this secured them a spot in the semi-finals vs a strong Temiskaming Shores team. In the semi-finals the U13B team fell to the eventual U13B Champion Puckhounds.
The U13 Blue and U13 White house league teams both played a phenomenal home tournament. The U13 White team finished 2nd overall in pool B with a 2-1-0 record after round robin play, while the U13 Blue team finished 1st overall in pool A with a perfect 3-0-0 record. Both North Bay teams would find themselves in the semi-finals securing at least one North Bay team in the championship game. In a hard fought semi-final the U13 Blue team prevailed 2-1 to advance to the finals. In the Championship game it was a battle of the North as the Junior Lakers took on the Sudbury Lady Wolves Green team. The North Bay Junior Lakers U13 Blue team fell 5-0 to Sudbury to bring home a silver medal.
The U15B Junior Lakers finished the round robin with a 1-1-2 record, good for 2nd overall in their division and placing them in the semi-finals vs the Hearst Ice Cats. The Junior Lakers unfortunately fell 4-1 in the semi-finals.
The U15BB Junior Lakers finished the round robin with a 2-2-0 record to advance to the semi-finals on Sunday morning vs the Whitby Wolves. The Junior Lakers fought hard and fell 2-1 in overtime to the Wolves.
The U18B Junior Lakers played their hearts out this weekend finishing first overall in round robin play with a 2-0-1 record and only 2 goals against. In the semi-finals the Junior Lakers played the Collingwood Lightning where they skated to a 1-0 win advancing to the semi-finals vs the Lindsay Lynx. The championship game would see both sides battle hard and 36 minutes would not be enough to declare this years U18B Champions. In 3 on 3 overtime the Junior Lakers and Lynx both had their fair share of rushes and chances but ultimately the Lindsay Lynx found the back of the net first with the U18B Junior Lakers finishing as silver medalists.
The U15A Junior Lakers was playing in their second tournament in as many weekends, coming off a Waterloo Fall Challenge Cup Championship win the Junior Lakers were looking to make it 3 straight tournament titles on the season. In round robin play the Junior Lakers skated to a 3-0-0 record with 10 goals for and zero goals against. This would earn the U15A team a bye to Sundays semi-finals where they would wait to see the results on Saturday evenings elimination games before knowing who their opponent would be. On Sunday morning the North Bay squad faced the Owen Sound Ice Hawks where they would earn a 5-1 win en route the championship game. In the championship game the Junior Lakers faced the Peterborough Ice Kats, the North Bay team would earn a 3-0 win to be declared the 2024 U15A Tournament Champions.
