Official Program
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canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:01 AM Page 1 OFFICIAL PROGRAM December 26-31, 2008 • WFCU Centre • Windsor, Ontario Presented By: Alliance Hockey of Ontario • Hockey Canada • Windsor Spitfires • MidgetAAACanada.com • Windsor AAA Zone canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:01 AM Page 2 canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:01 AM Page 3 OFFICIAL SPONSORS OF THE 2008 MIDGETAAACANADA.COM CUP WE’RE LOCATED AT 7540 TECUMSEH RD. W. JUST A BLOCK FROM THE WFCU CENTRE, SO CHECK US OUT IN BETWEEN GAMES FOR GREAT EQUIPMENT AND APPAREL SPECIALS FOR ALL PARTICIPATING TEAMS. SIMPLY SHOW YOUR OFFICIAL 2008 MIDGETAAACANADA.COM CUP TEAM TOURNAMENT PASS!" 7540 TECUMSEH ROAD WEST • (519) 974-8081 canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:01 AM Page 4 Official Ring Sponsor of MidgetAAACanada.com Cup www.jostens.com canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:01 AM Page 5 MidgetAAACanada.com Cup December 26-31, 2008 A WARM WELCOME TO ONE AND ALL! On behalf of the organizing committee and all the volunteers of the 1st Annual MidgetAAACanada.com Cup, we would like to extend a warm welcome to all players, coaching staffs, family members, scouts and hockey fans who will be attending our innaugural tournament, December 26-31, 2008. And welcome to beautiful Windsor, Ontario and the new and incredible Windsor Family Credit Union Centre, home of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires. We are extremely pleased and proud to have partnered with the Windsor Spitfires and the local Windsor AAA Hockey Zone in staging this prestigious tournament, one that we are thrilled to say is set to become one of the top AAA hockey tournaments in North America! Indeed, for the next week, we are all in for a highly competitive brand of midget major hockey featuring teams from Ontario, the US midwest and as far away as California and Alaska. This prestigious Hockey Canada and Alliance Hockey sanctioned tournament will be witnessed by scouts from every sector of high level hockey including Canadian Major Junior, NCAA, USHL, and Tier 2 Junior A. We thank all of our guest scouts for making the MidgetAAACanada.com Cup part of their scouting plans over this holiday season. Players, Coaches, families and fans: we hope you enjoy all the action in the new, state-of-the-art, WFCU Centre, and we thank you all for being part of our innaugural tournament. And to our participating teams: all the best for a rewarding and success- ful tournament. We look forward to watching your excellent play and intend to make your tournament experience at the MidgetAAACanada.com Cup one of the most memorable hockey experiences you've ever had. Rick Virag Brad Belland President Vice-president MidgetAAACanada.com MidgetAAACanada.com 4050 Walker Road, Suite 103, Windsor, Ontario N8W 3T5 Canada Phone: 888 MAAC 60 (622-2260) • Fax: 888 249-8697 Email: [email protected] canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:02 AM Page 6 December 26, 2008 Dear MidgetAAACanada.com Cup participants, On behalf of the ownership group and executive staff of the Windsor Spitfires major junior hockey club, we take great pleas- ure in welcoming you to the 1st Annual MidgetAAACanada.com Cup. We are excited to be a premier sponsor of such a great event and are proud to be part of "the team" that is making Windsor the home for this tournament. We welcome all players, coaches and families to our great city, and also welcome our many friends in the junior scouting community who will be in attendence during this great week of Midget AAA hockey. As part of our sponsorship support we are excited and proud to be making our new state of the art facility - the WFCU Centre - available to help host the tournament. Windsor has always been a hotbed for advancement in hockey because it is central- ly-located for many scouts representing the OHL, NCAA, OUAA and CIS, and Tier 2 Junior A leagues and programs. Our goal in being part of this great tournament is the same shared by everyone involved in hockey: help continue its growth at every level. With that being said, we know that our team of professionals will be a great asset in gaining exposure for the tourna- ment and players to aid them in moving onto higher level opportunities for many years to come. We are committed to doing everything we can to make this a world class Midget AAA tournament, and we thank you all for being part of this innaugural MidgetAAACanada.com Cup event. canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:02 AM Page 7 Windsor welcomes you and your teammates the the first annual MidgetAAACanada.com Cup tournament! Our city has a long and successful history of playing host to athletic events of local, regional, and international calibre, and so we are especially proud to be the host of this new and exciting tournament: the MidgetAAACanada.com Cup! I know you don't need to be reminded of the prestige of the event. With 16 teams competing in this year's innaugural tour- nament, the excitement that has been generated throughout the Midget AAA hockey community thanks to the efforts of the tournament organizers - MidgetAAACanada.com, our own Windsor Spitfires, and the Windsor AAA Zone - has been huge. There is already significant interest from as many as 60 more Midget AAA teams for the 2009 event! They will find, as you will this year, that the hockey fans of our region are among Canada's most knowledgeable. They recognize excellent talent when they see it and there is no doubt that these games will be eagerly received and enthusiastically supported. The new type of player evaluation known as "Next Testing" will also be used, and the tournament will give you an opportunity to observe this state of the art assessment technique first hand. We invite you to enjoy our brand new WFCU Centre, which we proudly feel is the finest junior hockey arena in Canada! We also invite you to enjoy our outstanding hospitality, featuring intriguing and varied attractions and activities away from the rink. All and all, we think your time with us this week will be an occasion to remember! I and my colleagues on Windsor City Council and our sports-minded community thank the Windsor Spitfires, the premier spon- sor Printer Cartridge Canada, the Windsor AAA Zone, Sun County AAA Hockey and the Windsor Minor Hockey Association - along with all other tournament sponsors and volunteers, who have made the MidgetAAACanada.com Cup possible; and we are particularly delighted by something in addition: the opportunity this tournament has presented to fundraise for such excel- lent causes - such as Jake's House. Again my friends, Welcome to Windsor! We are pleased to have you and your families as our guest this week! Sincerely, canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:02 AM Page 8 December 24, 2008 Dear Midget AAA Hockey Community, The Windsor AAA Zone and the Sun County AAA Hockey Association are proud to be a part of the 1st Annual MidgetAAACanada.com Cup. As co-hosts of this new and exciting event, we are thrilled to know that the tournament promises to provide exciting, high-tempo competitive hockey for all to enjoy. Scouts from the OHL and several other junior and university organizations will be in attendance this week, which contributes to our respective organizations' goal of helping develop hockey and life skills of all players. We welcome all teams who have joined us for this innaugural event and wish you all the best of luck in putting your collective skills to the test against one another. This is indeed an exciting opportunity for Windsor and on behalf of the Windsor AAA Zone, and the Sun County AAA Hockey Association, we are pleased to support this event and look forward to a positive hockey experience, for one and all, at the city's new WFCU Centre. Yours in Hockey, Fred Baldwin Richard Ofner President President Windsor AAA Zone Sun County AAA Hockey Association canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:02 AM Page 9 December 24, 2008 On behalf of the Windsor Minor Hockey Association I would like to welcome you to the MidgetAAACanada.com Cup hockey tournament, taking place this week in the great city of Windsor! I was more then thrilled when asked by the tournament organizers if we would be interested in working with the Windsor AAA Zone and the Windsor Spitfires to help make this event come to life. The WMHA has always done everything possible to bring top notch hockey events to Windsor and I think we have hit the jackpot here and can't wait to see this tournament become bigger every year from here on in. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the WMHA I wish you all the best of luck and hope you enjoy your time here during the holidays. Keep Hockey Growing! President Windsor Minor Hockey Dean Lapierre Windsor Minor Hockey Association P.O.Box 713 Station 'A' Windsor, Ontario N9A 6N4 Phone: 519-254-1739 • e-mail: [email protected] canda cup page layout 12/23/08 1:02 AM Page 10 On line with MidgetAAACanada.com hat's that time-tested adage about "taking the creating 11 direct links to the website through their Official Telus boy out of the country...?" In the case of Cup website." W Montreal native Rick Virag, it can clearly be That support was further evidenced in 2004, when Virag was changed to the "country of hockey!" given the honour of dropping the ceremonial opening-game puck at Virag left his hometown of Montreal as a teenager, when his the National Midget Championship (formerly known as the Air father, a lawyer, took an opportunity with a Southern California Canada Cup, and now the Telus Cup).