Four from GMHA in Centennial Cup tournament

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Four former Guelph Minor Hockey Association players are playing for the Ontario Junior A Hockey League champion Collingwood Blues in the Centennial Cup Canadian junior A championship tournament this week.

Forwards Ethan Broderick and Mark McIntosh and defenceman Dylan Hudon played all their minor hockey in the GMHA system while defenceman Ryan Cook played his U16 year in Guelph. Broderick is from Belwood, McIntosh is from Elora, Hudon is from Rockwood and Cook is from Kitchener.

The tournament involves the champions of the nine junior A leagues in the country as well as the host Portage Terriers.

Collingwood is in Group B along with Portage, Saskatchewan champion Battlefords North Stars, Manitoba champion Steinbach Pistons and Superior International champion Kam River Fighting Walleye.

Teams in Group A are the Alberta champion Brooks Bandits, Northern Ontario champion Timmins Rock, Central Canada champion Ottawa Junior Senators, Quebec champion Cobras de Terrebonne and Maritime champion Yarmouth Mariners.

The Blues have started preliminary round-robin group play with a pair of wins as they defeated Steinbach 2-1 in overtime Thursday and slipped by Battlefords 3-1 Saturday. McIntosh had a goal against Steinbach and an assist in the Battlefords game.

Collingwood is to complete preliminary play with games against Kam River (0-2-0) Tuesday and Portage (2-0-0) Wednesday.

The playoff round is to start Friday.

• Guelph Sports Journal