Canada Here We Come!!

Thursday, 15th February 2007

The Manchester Phoenix U-15 tour to Canada is taking off, with the 2007 squad crossing the Atlantic today. Twelve players and twenty-four family members are making the journey with club sponsor Zoom Airlines. First year U-16 players form the squad’s core, with four Under 14s completing the side.

The tour is arranged through links forged by the old Altrincham club from where coach Paul Bayliss led a succession of visits to central Ontario. Families loyal to the idea of a Manchester rink have kept the tour alive over the last two years and this is our first opportunity to travel under the Phoenix banner.

The team will take to the ice no fewer than twelve times in seven days, giving the players a highly concentrated ice hockey experience. “It’s going to be hard work but a fantastic experience for all the players” says club chairman Paul Brown. “There’ll certainly be nowhere to hide because we’re only taking two lines of players. Most of them will get more match ice time in one week than they’ve had so far in the whole of this season.”

The Phoenix party will be based at Orillia, 90 minutes north of Toronto. There will be morning practices at the rink in nearby Coldwater, and competitive matches on seven successive days.

Brown continued, “We owe a great debt of gratitude to our hosts in Ontario. Every year they pull out all the stops to make us welcome. The hospitality is incredible and for the players it’s like hockey heaven. On previous tours we’ve been piped on to the ice by kilted bag pipers, greeted by local dignitaries, and we’ve even played in front of crowds of 500 paying spectators, all curious to see what the Brits are up to.”

“In Canada it isn’t just a question of which city we’ll be playing in, it’s a case of choosing which of a city’s many rinks we’ll be skating at. Even small towns have dozens of teams at what we call ‘junior’ age level and part of the challenge is to pitch our squad against suitable opposition. For that we have to thank Bob Beaumont of the OMHA who works tirelessly every year to liaise with the clubs.”

Matches have been arranged at Tottenham, Richmond Hill, Midland, Penetang, Parry Sound and Markham, with a further fixture currently being finalised. This year, however, there’s an extra twist to the tour, as Paul Brown explained. “Every tour we make new friends, and in the Spring, we’ll be able to return the hospitality for the first time. An U-16 team from Bradford, Ontario will be coming to the UK in April and we’ve already earmarked a date to play them on home ice. So, if you want to see what Canadian minor hockey is all about, come to Altrincham and watch our U-16s play Bradford, Canada on April 28th.”

Canada Here We Come!!

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