Pucks hitting pads, skates spraying ice, and whistles followed by the booming voices of coaches.
These are the sounds of the BWG Leisure Centre on a Monday night as a team of more than a dozen boys and a few coaches prepare to make history for minor hockey in Bradford.
The U10 AA Bradford Bulldogs are already set to do something no other Bradford team has done: They’re heading to the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) AA Championships in Kingston this weekend.
In the past, other Bradford Bulldogs minor hockey teams have played at the AA level, but none has qualified for the OMHA Championships. Even more impressive, this is the first year they’ve played at the AA level.
The AA designation is based upon population and skill level and is the second-highest level (behind AAA) for minor hockey.
“I’m excited because it’s the biggest tournament for our age and year,” said player Noah.
“I’m happy that we get to go to the tournament because not a lot of AA teams make it in their first year,” added teammate Hudson.
From April 1 to 3 in Kingston, the Bulldogs will be among eight AA teams from across Ontario that will compete for the title and chance to go home with a #Redhat.
The Redhat is the ultimate signifier of a champion at the OMHA level. More than 375 teams will be playing in more than 850 games in five locations in the province, vying to be crowned with one of the 41 Redhats. The U10 Bulldogs hope to be one of those teams.
“If we win, we would get a Redhat and that’s really exciting and nerve-racking," said player Quinton.
This year the OMHA has designed a new playoff format to better serve players, coaches and parents by removing the elimination-style series, allowing for longer play time. This also helps to minimize the amount of travel time for families.
“Our players, parents and volunteers have endured so much during the pandemic,” says Ian Taylor, executive director of the OMHA. “We have been planning this for months and believe this is a great way to give them something special to look forward to and to ensure all our participants can be involved in more meaningful hockey right up to March and beyond.”
At minimum, the Bulldogs will be playing three games in a round-robin over the first two days. If they win, they’ll be playing in the semifinals on Sunday morning and in the OMHA Championship later that day.
“Only eight teams in all of Ontario go to the tournament, so it’s exciting for us,” said player Cooper.
There’s a clear feeling among players, parents and coaches that they can come home with a championship.
“It feels really good to see all our hard work pay off and we get to go to the tournament,” said player Nikita.
“We’ve definitely celebrated them, but it’s with the understanding that there’s still a job to do,” said Jessica Bly, team manager and parent. “We’re going to congratulate you for being top two within the York-Simcoe bubble, but the season isn’t done. They understand that this is going to be a big opportunity.”
It’s easy to see how proud the coaches are of their team, especially given the COVID interruption they dealt with in the winter.
“It’s about the kids' and parents' commitment when building a program, and the coaches and team staff putting it together,” said Bulldogs head coach Adam Lynn. “The kids are the ones who create the success. These kids love hockey, they love practice, and they love learning. Even with COVID suspending play, we were able to stay together as a team. It’s difficult at that age to help them continue to grow when we’re not able to be together but that just shows their commitment to the team, game and each other that they were able to return and have success.”
The season began in October and ran relatively smoothly until the province went into lockdown in December. Rather than wait it out, the coaching staff got proactive and creative to make sure the players felt like they were still part of a team.
“We had Friday night Zoom sessions where we would teach the kids about the game,” said Lynn. “We also gave them challenges throughout the time off — we had a shooting challenge where they had to shoot a certain number of pucks in a day and a stickhandling challenge. We were even able to run a two-on-two tournament on an outdoor rink. Those things helped build the bond of this team.”
Having lost a month of the season, and not knowing if and when it would return, the players aren’t taking this for granted and are embracing the moment.
“When COVID first hit, I refer to it like a bad breakup because it was done and there was no closure,” said Bly. “We tried to do things virtually but it’s just not the same. To hear them in the dressing room, you can hear the genuine enjoyment of being back as a team. They’ve just worked so hard since it returned.”
“We’re happy for them because they’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s paid off,” said parent John Henderson. “The cool thing is that they haven’t really lost a step after two years of not really playing competitive hockey. They were pretty excited to see an actual scoreboard again and see organized hockey. It helped them feel a little more normal.”
The bond of the team has stood out most for some of the parents who see their kids thrilled to be playing alongside their friends all season.
“It’s nice to see them succeed and it’s cool to see them come together as a team,” said parent Sean Connery. “My son is so excited to hang at the hotel and be with his buddies. You never know what’s going to happen or where life will take you, but when you’re on a hockey team you have 20 friends for life.”
“Their skill level has improved a lot,” said parent Peter Garcia. “My kid was in house league, and so it’s cool to see him move up to this level. He loves his teammates and gets so excited to go to practice because he gets to be around them. His love for hockey and his teammates has brought him to this level.”
The parents give a lot of credit to the committed coaching staff, who are focused on teaching the game the right way while instilling an appreciation for the sport.
“We did a word cloud, and I wanted the boys to put a couple of words that describe each of them,” said Bly. “It was really cool to see what the boys thought of all the coaches. They used words like ‘motivating,’ ‘part of the team,’ ‘compassionate.’ These are big words for nine-year-olds to use to describe grown men. It’s a really good group of coaches and the kids love them.”
With the OMHA Championship weekend just a few days away, the players are hoping to come home with the title and are proud of their achievements thus far.
“It feels good because we get to play in the big tournament and coach Adam said that doing it in our first year of AA is a big deal,” said player Nolan.
“Only the top two teams in every division make it and we worked hard to get here,” said player Adam S.
The consensus among the team on what they hope comes out of the weekend isn’t just to win. It's to have fun and try their best.
For the coaches, this season has been memorable as they’ve watched their team grow.
“We’re proud of this team for doing something no other team has done by making it to the OMHA Championships at the AA level,” said Lynn. “It would be pretty cool for these kids to win a Redhat, so we’re excited to see what we can do in Kingston.”
