U13 HL Huron Heat claim WOGHL championship with win over Lucan Irish

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

This weekend, six Huron Heat teams will be making their way to the Toronto area for the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) provincial finals with hopes of returning with gold medals around their necks.

 

The U11 BB Huron Heat play their first provincial championship game in Ajax at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 12 against the Toronto Leaside Wildcats, followed by a contest with the Scarborough Sharks that afternoon.

 

Also on Friday, the U11 C Heat begin their quest for a provincial championship in Mississauga, first playing the Belmont Blazers at 8:15 a.m. and then the Lakeshore Lightning that afternoon.

 

The U13 BB Heat, also in Mississauga, will begin their year-end tournament with a game against the North Halton Twisters, also at 8:15 a.m. on Friday with an early afternoon game against the Toronto Leaside Wildcats to follow.

 

In Brampton, the U13 C Heat will play the Sault Ste. Marie Wildcats at 9:15 a.m. on Friday morning, followed by a 3:45 p.m. game with the Fort Frances Leafs, both on Friday.

 

The final Huron Heat team to begin its provincial year-end tournament on Friday is the U15 C Heat, who will play the Wilmot Wolverines in Oakville at 2:45 p.m. to open the tournament, followed by a 9:15 p.m. game with the Georgina Golden Hawks later that night.

 

The tournament continues for the five teams on Saturday, April 13. The U11 BB Heat will play the Kanata Rangers, the U11 C Heat will also play a Kanata Rangers team, the U13 BB Heat will play the Sudbury Lady Wolves, the U13 C Heat will play the Lucan Irish and the U15 C Heat will play the Ilderton Jets. If successful, the teams will then play for a spot on the podium on Sunday.
Also on Saturday, April 13, the U9 B Heat will join the mix, beginning their year-end tournament in Brampton with games against the Gloucester Cumberland Stars and the Brantford Ice Cats followed by games on Sunday, April 14 against the Burlington Barracudas and the Durham West Lightning.

 

Looking back, the U13 HL Heat won their Western Ontario Girls’ Hockey League (WOGHL) provincial championship game over the Lucan Irish in Clinton by a score of 4-0, capping off a remarkable season for the team that ended with a record of 29-11-2 and that provincial championship.

 

Also on the weekend, the U9 C Huron Heat played in their year-end tournament over the weekend of April 5-7 in St. Marys, opening with a 3-1 victory over the Woodstock Wildcats on April 5 and followed by a 2-0 loss to the Lucan Irish later that afternoon.

 

The next day, the Heat played the Sarnia Lady Sting and lost by a score of 6-1. The team would then play one last game on Sunday, April 7, taking on the Chatham-Kent Crush and beating them by a score of 4-0.

 

Also on Saturday, April 6, the U13 BB Heat beat the Mooretown Lady Flags by a score of 3-1 in an exhibition game in Goderich, while the U7 team played the Waterloo Ravens on the road, though a score for that game was unavailable at press time.
On Monday, April 8, the U11 BB Heat played an exhibition game with the Kincardine Kinucks on the road, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time.

 

Looking beyond the year-end tournaments for the Heat, there is an equipment and jersey return session scheduled for 7-8 p.m. on Monday, April 15 at the Central Huron Community Complex in Clinton. Then, on Wednesday, April 17, try-outs begin for the 2024/2025 season with sessions scheduled over the subsequent two weeks, all in Goderich at the Maitland Recreation Centre, also known as the YMCA.