The second weekend of the Border Town Challenge welcomes hundreds to the arenas

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A spring hockey tournament has completed its second weekend with more than 50 other teams converging on four arenas in Cornwall and SDG.

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Jeff Carter, co-organizer of Own The Ice Hockey Inc. (OTI), said the response to the Border Town Challenge continues to grow for the tournament.

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“We have teams from all over, including Quebec and the U.S.,” Carter said, expecting that by the final weekend of play later this month, 160 teams will have attended the Benson Centre, the civic complex and arenas in Long Sault and Finch.

“Kudos to the facilities and the staff and all the people who come together,” he said, also crediting sponsor Cornwall Tourism.

The competitive spring season generally attracts elite and rep hockey players who combine from various regular winter season teams to form new teams.

The age range at the weekend was six to 14 years old.

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Some of the teams have established rivalries. For example, the Mini Preds Prospects from Laval, Que., faced the Cornish-flavored OTI Warriors for the 2014 Birth Year Gold Final for the second year in a row.

Unfortunately for the home side, they had to settle for silverware after the Mini Preds won 4-1. William Dupuis got the only OTI goal.

Mini Preds head coach Michel Massie said he appreciates how the tournament is well balanced.

He also pointed out how it gives him a chance to resurrect the logo of his former major junior team, the Memorial Cup-winning Granby Predateurs, who are now the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Another team with a local flavor, UFO HKY, also came up short for the gold, losing 4-0 to Sexy Potato from Syracuse, NY.

The color of the Sexy Potato t-shirt is pink, which reflects the origin of Sexy Potato, a non-profit group that raises awareness for suicide prevention. The initials, SP, stand for Suicide Prevention.

The first weekend of play in the 2024 Border Town Challenge took place on the same four rinks on April 26-28. The third and final weekend for this year is set for May 31 – June 2, where girls’ teams from the U9 to U15 teams will prepare for competition.

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