Barrie Colts U16 AAA crowned champions of Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament
In dominating fashion, the U16 Barrie Jr. Colts came out on top this past weekend at the annual Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament in London, Ontario.
What is widely considered one of the major weekends on the U16 AAA calendar, this year’s tournament featured a total of 32 teams from across the province and the United States, with the Colts finding themselves as the last team standing following their victory over the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks in the championship game on Sunday night.
The Colts outscored their opponents 35-2 during round-robin play, and continued their strong showing into the knockout stages, with convincing victories against the North Central Predators (5-1), the Whitby Wildcats (5-0), and lastly, defeating the Canucks by a score of 6-3 in the final.
“It was great,” said Jr. Colts forward Alex McLean. “I feel like our team really gelled in the process. At the end of the day, our team got better, and we won so it all worked out.”
McLean, led tournament scoring with 21 points (12-9–21) in eight games, including an impressive performance in the championship game, collecting a hat-trick to help secure Barrie’s first tournament victory of the U16 season.
“Winning the tournament gave us a little taste of success which is great,” McLean continued. “It also makes you want more success which will hopefully motivate us to continue to get better.”
As teams across the OMHA aim towards their aspirations of clinching a berth in the 2024 OHL Cup, the Jr. Colts in particular will look to build on their tournament victory as they open the OMHA-East regular-season starting this week.
Full statistics and schedule from the Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament can be found here.