The Thunder Bay Tournament Centre was rocking last night, as Thunder Bay's U9 division took to the ice for the biggest night of their young hockey careers, and far and away the most exciting night on the hockey calendar in our city.
The Kevin Kozar EPIC Shootout, presented by Cwench Hydration, was held on Friday night at TC, with 21 teams aiming to make it through the gruelling bracket to emerge as the inaugural champions of the event renamed in honour of our friend, and former KC Minor Hockey President.
When emerging star guest DJ/MC, Burke Clower, got on the microphone to announce the first goalies' names, it was time to give the U9's the spotlight, and let them truly shine in front of family and friends. There were great goals, epic saves, near misses, gasps and cheers from the crowd...it was a sight to see.
The players knew what was on the line, as it was staring them in the face all night...it was their chance to show off their best skills (courtesy of TikTok, YouTube, and hours of practice). In addition, they could be the first team to have their name on the beautiful new plaque donated by Louis Pradal & Sons and Buzzy's Jerzee City, and also bring home a huge supply of their favourite hydrating beverage, Cwench!
As the rounds went on, we had numerous exciting matchups going into sudden death overtime, where the excitement and tension were palpable. Out of the flurry of dekes, glove saves, pad stacks, and bardown snipes, four teams emerged to form the Final Four. It came down to a showdown between the West End Bruins, and almost all of Westfort. The Westfort Broncos, Mustangs, and Rangers, all lined up to take on the Bruins, who had earlier beaten the Elks Mayhem and Norwest Ice Stars. The Broncos gave it their all, but despite some theatrics and acrobatics from fan (and staff) favourite goalie, Reed Ritson, the Bruins were too strong, and moved on to face their second Westfort opponent, the Mustangs.
The Mustangs were riding their own wave, backed by strong goalkeeping from Maverick Hay, who had only let in five goals through three rounds...impressive! The Bruins would prove to be too strong in the semifinal matchup, and would move on to face the Westfort Rangers in the final.
On their side of the bracket, the Westfort Rangers survived a nerve-wracking first-round overtime goalie duel, squeezing past the Norwest North Stars 3-2 in sudden death. The Rangers would go on to move past both of their "Westfort" cousins, beating two strong opponents in the Maroons and the Maroons Athletics, on the back of balanced scoring and strong goaltending from Cole Holler. This earned them the chance to meet the Bruins in the Championship final, and gain redemption for their Westfort sisters and brothers.
The final was exactly what you'd expect from two talented teams with strong goaltending, as the Bruins netminder, Joey Facca, would keep up his excellent play to keep the skilled Rangers shooters at bay. In the end, it came down to the final shooter, with the Westfort Rangers emerging on the right end of a thriling 3-2 result, to take home the title.
Thank you to the Amy Johnson, Kevin Kozar's wife, as well as Harry and Miles, for being here to help make this night that much more special. We appreciate you, and thank you for being on hand to hand out the Championship plaque.
Events like this don't happen without a lot of help...we'd like to thank all the volunteers who made this night work, from the check-in process, to organizing the chaos in the stands, to the scorekeepers, teenage goal-judges and puck wranglers on the ice...thanks again to Burke Clower for taking Rick Ongaro under his wing on the microphone, keeping the crowd fired up. Thank you to the coaches, and managers who help these kids find the confidence and skill to put on such a fantastic show...and huge thanks to all the families, friends, and fans who showed up to support their loved ones.
HUGE thank you to our Presenting Sponsors, Cwench Hydration, for your continued support of our event...we appreciate you!
Congratulations to the Westfort Rangers, our 2024 Champions of the Kevin Kozar EPIC Shootout, Presented by Cwench Hydration!
