Below, please find important schedule expectations and
tournament information that you and your team need to know. Hope you enjoyed
the holidays and will be enjoying Team Canada playing the US tonight in the
World Junior Semi-Finals! Please…read on…
Tournament Schedule
As previously communicated, the tournament schedule will be
posted before the end of the day on Thursday, January 5th.
To be transparent, this tournament has been much more
popular than we anticipated and, as a result, scheduling has been a challenge. I
am told this is one of the 3 biggest tourneys in Canada in just its first year.
There are over 300 teams and there could have been over 400 teams if we had the
ice. As a longtime coach, I can hear coaches/managers/parents saying, ‘Good for
you but I am missing the part where that is my team’s problem.’ Fair enough but,
we need to be clear…again…
1.
This tournament starts on Thursday, January
19 and has been advertised that way since April.
2. As previously communicated, local teams
(under 1 hour and 15 minute drives) may play as early as 11:00AM on Thursday
and may have a 2nd game Thursday. When people read the previous
line, I have found that they think that we are talking about some other team –
it will likely be your team!
3. Also as previously communicated, out-of-town
teams (Windsor, London, Ottawa, Kingston, Sudbury, Soo, Cleveland, New York
– 2 hours or more away) could play as early as 11:00AM on Friday and
will have a second game on Friday as well. If an out-of-town team has hotel rooms for Thursday night, they could play as early as 7:40am on Friday morning.
4. On Friday and Saturday, games start as early
as 7:00AM and could end as late as 11:00PM for U15 and U16.
5.
A couple of finals will start as late as 5-6:00PM
on Sunday, January 22.
6.
Every team gets 4 games guaranteed.
7. Your team could have 3 games Sunday. A
few divisions have their final round robin games on Sunday morning which could
lead to a Sunday semi and a Sunday final.
8.
Divisions with less than 8 teams have no
semi-final. Top 2 teams go to finals.
9.
Divisions with 8-12 teams have a semi and a
final. Top 4 teams.
10.
Divisions with more than 12 teams have a semi, a
final and a consolation final. Top 6 teams.
Other Important Things You Want/Need To Know…
1. We used My Hockey Rankings as of January
1, 2023 to try and roughly balance multiple pool divisions.
2. Tournament scoring will utilize iPads using
Game Sheet Inc. software. If your team is not currently in the GSI system,
you will be sent a link to enter your roster. No paper game sheets.
3. Tournament Headquarters is upstairs at Sixteen
Mile Sports Complex (3070 Neyagawa Boulevard, Oakville, ON). A representative
from each team needs to come to Tournament Headquarters on Thursday or Friday to
pick up 20 tournament grab bags for their team.
4. All exhibitors/ vendors are located at Hockey
Village upstairs at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
5. The Oakville Blades (Junior A - OJHL) have a game
vs. the Milton Menace on Friday, January 20, 7:00PM at Sixteen Mile Sports
Complex – Rink 1. We have secured 1800 tickets for the game. If your team is NOT
playing on Friday night and you are interested in attending a fun, affordable
hockey event, please email [email protected]
with: your team name, your contact information and the number of tickets you
would like. Tickets are $5 each, will be allocated on 1st come 1st
serve basis and will sell out.
6. The Hockey Hall of Fame will be upstairs
at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. There will be exhibits, 10 interactive games
and trophies (Conn Smythe, Vezina, Hart and others).
7. All tournament and BarDown merchandise is
sold upstairs at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
8. The tournament photographer is located
downstairs at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
9. The Oakville Rangers are running a 50/50 draw
that runs from January 2 until January 23. People can buy tickets now at this
link https://bit.ly/classic5050
or buy tickets from 50/50 vendors at the tournament.
10. All games at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and
Joshua Creek Arena will be live streamed. So, if you have a game(s) at
those facilities and have friends/family who can’t attend, they could live
stream the game.
11.Tournament Staff/Volunteers will all be
wearing bright red hoodies with the Winter Classic tournament logo on the
front. Feel free to ask any of them a question. They will have or will get the
answer.
12. All decisions, disputes, complaints, appeals
will be handled by personnel at Tournament HQ upstairs at Sixteen Mile
Sports Complex. Local arena tournament personnel and volunteers cannot/will not
solve major issues. They are there to keep games moving along, monitor for
major injuries and answer general questions. Treat them with respect please!
13.The tournament has medical personnel
standing by at Tournament HQ. They can get to any arena in 10-20 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 arenas address (listed here - https://oakvillerangers.ca/Tournaments/6101/Venues/
), have a Certified Trainer on the bench and a parent in the stands who knows
your Emergency Injury Plan.
I am sure there is more but I am tired of typing and you
must be tired of reading. Looking forward to seeing you in 16 or 17 days!
John Verdon
Oakville Rangers Hockey Club – President
Acting (in every sense of the word) Tournament Chair