51st Hockey Hounds tournament underway today

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on November 14, 2024.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

The puck drops on the Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds flagship tournament today.

The 51st annual U15AAA Hockey Hounds tournament gets underway tonight, with the first set of games across three ice pads getting started at 5:15 p.m. Games will be held at the Hockey Hounds arena and on both surfaces at the Kinplex.

The 12-team tournament will see teams from the four western provinces competing in two pools with 24 round-robin games ahead of the playoffs starting Sunday morning. Last year’s champion, the Northern Alberta Xtreme, will return to defend their title.

Locally, the Medicine Hat U15AAA South East Athletic Club Tigers will look to get a Medicine Hat team back into the championship circle for the first time since 1999. The SEAC Tigers finished seventh in last year’s tournament.

They’ll kick off the 51st Hockey Hounds tournament tonight at 8:15 p.m., facing the Weyburn Red Wings at the Kinplex. They’ll have a pair of games on Friday, facing RINK Winnipeg at 11 a.m. at Kin 2 and 8:15 p.m. at the Hockey Hounds against Prairie Hockey Academy.

The Tigers will have the final honours of the round robin, facing the West Central Wheat Kings on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. at Kin 2. That game will lead into the awards ceremony at 4:30 p.m. at Kin 1.

SEAC enters the tournament with a 4-7 record, coming off a 5-4 win Nov. 8 over the Lethbridge Golden Hawks.