THE TOURNAMENT IS ON - DESPITE THE WEATHER - GIVE YOURSELF EXTRA TIME - BE PATIENT - BE SAFE - WE WILL MAKE IT WORK. ANY MAJOR CHANGES OR DELAYS WILL BE COMMUNICATED VIA EMAIL AND ON THE WEBSITE. THANKS!
Hello hockey fans!
We are now just a few hours away from puck drop at this year’s Oakville Rangers Winter Classic Tournament!
Thanks to you, this is by far Canada's biggest tournament with over 480 teams playing over 1000 games at 28 arenas on 42 ice pads in just under 60 hours.
More important than being the biggest, our not-for-profit club strives to deliver the best experience because tournaments are the greatest part of minor hockey - hotels, team meals, making friends and memories for life and maybe a shot at some Sunday glory.
Being organized, over-communicating, delivering value and managing expectations are all key to having a great weekend. To that end, we request that you please read this loooong email carefully, forward it to all your team members and act where required.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The tournament schedule is up and FINAL (Winter Classic (Oakville Rangers Hockey Club).
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
1. TOURNAMENT SCORING: The tournament will utilize iPads using Game Sheet Inc. software. If you are an OMHA team or you have played in any GSI-powered tournament, then your team is already in the system. If your team is not in the system, you should have been sent a link to enter your roster. You do not need to provide your own iPad.
2. TOURNMENT RULES: The FINAL tournament Rules can be found here: Winter Classic > Rules (Oakville Rangers Hockey Club) . Overall, we follow Hockey Canada Rules and we use the Ontario Hockey Federation’s (OHF) Suspension/Penalty rules.
3. APPEALS, DISPUTES, COMPLAINTS: All decisions, disputes, complaints, appeals will be handled by personnel at Tournament HQ which is in the Oakville Rangers’ office on the ground floor of Sixteen Mile Sports Complex across from Rink 1. Local arena tournament personnel and volunteers cannot/will not solve any game-related issues. They are there to keep games moving along, monitor for major injuries and answer general questions. Treat them with respect please or you could forfeit a game! It has happened.
4. THE TORUNAMENT MOBILE APP: Families and players should download the tourney’s mobile Winter Classic > SPORTSHEADZ Mobile App (Oakville Rangers Hockey Club). The app gives you instant access to up-to-the-minute standings, venue locations/maps/directions, a team chat, live notifications and so much more.
5. TEAM SWAG PICK-UP: A representative from each team MUST come to Sixteen Mile Sports Complex (3070 Neyagawa Boulevard, Oakville, ON) to pick-up 22 pieces of complimentary BarDown swag (sweet hats) for players and coaches. We are located upstairs next to Rink 1. We are open Thursday (9am – 9pm), Friday (9am – 9pm), Saturday (9am until 6:30pm) and Sunday (9am – 2pm).
6. HOCKEY VILLAGE UPSTAIRS AT SIXTEEN MILE SPORTS COMPLEX: About 20 exhibitors/vendors are located at the Hockey Village. Make sure you and your team plan a visit even if you don’t have games scheduled at the arena. Lots of stuff going on. Come on by!
7. HOCKEY HALL OF FAME: The Hockey Hall of Fame exhibits and 10 interactive games will be upstairs at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. As well, legendary trophies will be on display (4 Nations Cup, the Calder Cup, the Selke, the Ted Lindsay and the Canada Cup).
8. LIMITED EDITION WINTER CLASSIC BARDOWN SWAG: You can purchase hoodies, hats, t-shirts and a pile of other cool stuff at the BarDown Winter Classic Swag Stores located upstairs at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and upstairs at Canlan 4 Rinks Oakville.
9. BARDOWN BLOWOUT SALE: Located at the top of the stairs in Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in front of the glass of Rink 1. Winter Classic ball caps and bucket hats – regularly $30 – on for $10; BarDown Winter Classic hoodies – regularly $65 – on for $25 – while supplies last.
10. U16 AAA FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SHOWCASE: Back again this year and not to be missed. Featuring top teams from Canada and the United States including Canada’s #1 ranked Toronto Jr. Canadians, International Silver Stick Champions Detroit Honeybaked, Mount St. Charles Hockey Academy and other top teams. You want to see crazy good hockey and some future NHLers? Then we’ll see you at 5:00PM at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex for a bunch of U16 AAA and U18 AAA games running on Rink 1 and Rink 2. There are no tickets for this event – just show up and if we reach capacity (as we did last year) then you can still enjoy all the action in the Hockey Village. The classic rock band 5 Hole will be playing inside of Rink 1.
11. OAKVILLE BLADES JUNIOR A GAME: SOLD OUT!! The Oakville Blades have a home game vs. the King Rebellion on Saturday, January 17 at 7:00PM @ Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The classic rock cover band 5 Hole will be playing as well. We have secured 1750 tickets for the game…and they are gone. Sorry.
12. Chuck’s Roadhouse – Oakville: Chuck’s Roadhouse – Oakville is a supporter of the tournament. They will be hosting teams for the entire event and have developed a special menu to get you in and out fast. Please reserve your spot at least 5 days before the event by emailing your Team Name, Time and # of people to [email protected] . Reservations can be made as early as 11am and as late as 7pm. Chuck’s team will verify your spot via email. It is highly recommended to preselect the meals/drinks by jersey number to speed up the process.
13. TOURNAMENT PHOTOGRAPHERS: The tournament photographers are located downstairs at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and in the lobby at Canlan Oakville.
14. 50/50 DRAW: The largest hockey tournament in Canada needs the largest 50/50 draw! Proceeds are going to The Gift of Giving Back Food Drive, helping families afford minor hockey and coaching/player development. To purchase 50/50 tickets please go to https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/winterclassic26
15. LIVE STREAMING OF GAMES: All Oakville and Burlington arenas and most of the other arenas will be live streaming games. So, if you have friends/family who can’t attend, they could live stream the game. Go to www.LiveBarn.com and use promo code OKVL-LIVE to save 10%.
16. TOURNAMENT STAFF/VOLUNTEERS: Tournament staff will be wearing blue hoodies with bright red sleeves with the Oakville Tournament Series logo on the front. Feel free to ask any of them a question. They will help you get an answer but, in most cases, they don't have the answer. They can't help you with referee calls or suspected timekeeper mistakes or your schedule. Contact or visit Tournament Headquarters at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex or email [email protected]
17. THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE TOURNAMENT: The Oakville Rangers Winter Classic has joined forces with The Golden Horseshoe Tournament (The Shoe) which has been one of the best-run, most prestigious tournaments in the area for 55 years. The U14, U15, U16 and U18 AAA are branded The Golden Horseshoe divisions, and those teams will compete for The Golden Horseshoe Cup that has been won by hundreds of AAA teams and dozens of NHL players over the last 55 years.
18. VISIT OAKVILLE: Please check out the link below for an Oakville Visitor Guide from our friends and sponsors at Visit Oakville.
https://oakvillerangers.ca/Public/Documents/Tournaments/WC/2025/visit-oakville.pdf
19. 4 GAME GUARANTEE: As it says, your team will get 4 games guaranteed. Your 4th game may be a quarter- final (if you have qualified based on your first 3 games) or it may be a Playoff Preparation game (if you have not qualified to move on based on your first 3 games). We call it a Playoff Preparation game, some call it a Consolation game; some call it a meaningless game. A tourney game just before your league playoffs is not meaningless – work on PP, PK, try new line combinations, etc.
20. REFEREES: For every game, the tourney will provide the number of qualified referees required by our governing body (OMHA). Every year, a few teams complain that this game or that game should have had a 4-man crew, and our tournament is a cash grab or not safe or whatever. The well- known fact is there is a still a referee shortage due to abuse of officials and Covid. The tournament will always have the required number of qualified referees and in some cases more than required.
21. MEDICAL: The tournament has trained medical staff members standing by at Tournament HQ (Sixteen Mile Sports Complex) and Canlan. They can get to any arena in 10-25 minutes and will be kept aware of all significant injuries and manage logistics if necessary. Each arena will NOT have medical personnel so please have an Emergency Injury Plan in place. Know your arena's address, have a Certified Trainer on the bench and a parent in the stands who knows your Emergency Injury Plan. Here are the addresses of all tournament arenas Winter Classic (Oakville Rangers Hockey Club).
That’s it – I hope. Travel safe. See you soon!
John Verdon
Oakville Rangers Hockey Club – President & Tourney Guy
[email protected]