U6, U7, U8 Blyth Brussels Crusaders heading to Wallace for Jamboree

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

This weekend will be a fun one for some of the youngest Blyth Brussels Crusaders teams, as they head to Wallace for its annual Jamboree. The U6, U7 Burgundy and White and U8 Burgundy and White teams will all be there with games beginning on Thursday and running throughout the weekend.

 

Also tonight, Friday, Jan. 10, the U21 Crusaders will be hosting the Shelburne Wolves in Brussels in the only non-tournament game on the schedule for the evening.

 

The next day, the U11 LL Crusaders will begin play in the Minto U11 LL Tournament in Palmerston, beginning with a game with the host Minto Mad Dogs, followed by a game with Arthur at noon that day.

 

In regular season action, the U9 MD team will host the Huron-Bruce Blizzard and the U13 LL team will play the Mid-Huron Huskies, both in Brussels. The U9 LL team will play an exhibition game with Central Perth that morning as well, also in Brussels.
The U15 LL team will play the Kincardine Kinucks later that day and the U18 Rep team will host the Minto Mad Dogs, both in Brussels.

 

The next day, Jan. 13, there is only one game on the schedule and it’s the U13 Rep team playing the Central Perth Predators on the road. On Jan. 14, the U11 Rep team will play the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Lucknow, followed by a trio of games on Jan. 15: the U13 LL team will play the Central Perth Predators and the U18 LL Crusaders will play the Mid-Huron Huskies 2 team, both in Blyth, while the U9 MD team will be on the road in Bayfield to play the Mid-Huron Huskies.

 

On Jan. 16, the U13 Rep team will play the Wingham Ironmen and the U15 LL Crusaders will play the Central Perth Predators, both on the road, followed by the U15 Rep Crusaders playing the Huron-Bruce Blizzard and the U13 LL team playing the Drayton Defenders, both on the road, the next night.

 

Also that weekend, the U9 MD team will head to Parkhill for its regional Silver Stick Tournament.

 

On Jan. 6, the U18 Rep Crusaders played the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Lucknow, followed by Jan. 7 games between the U13 Rep team and the Minto Mad Dogs in Brussels and the U18 LL Crusaders and the Huron-Bruce Blizzard White team in Ripley, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

 

Looking back, on Jan. 5, the U8 Burgundy and White teams played a pair of Mitchell Meteors teams in Blyth, while the U6 team played the Mid-Huron Huskies, all in Blyth, although scores were not kept for those games.

 

The U11 LL team played the Meteors in Mitchell that evening, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time, while the U11 Rep team was in Southampton and lost by a score of 6-3 to the Saugeen Shores Storm.

 

On Jan. 4, the U7 Burgundy and White teams played a pair of Mid-Huron Huskies teams in Blyth and the U8 White team was on the road to play the Howick Hornets and the U9 LL team hosted the Goderich Sailors Black team in Brussels, but scores were not kept for those games. 

 

On Jan. 3, the U11 Rep team lost to the Saugeen Valley Steelheads in Brussels by a score of 5-1. Also that weekend, the U13 Rep team was in Gananoque for a tournament, while the U15 LL team was in Palmerston for tournament play, but scores from those tournaments were not available at press time.

 

The first game of 2025 for the Crusaders was a tough one as the U11 LL team lost to the Mid-Huron Huskies 2 team in Seaforth by a score of 13-1 on Jan. 2.

 

In the last few days of 2024, both the U13 Rep and U15 Rep teams were in Kincardine for their annual regional Silver Stick Tournaments. The U13 Rep team opened play with a 6-1 win over the Mount Forest Rams on Dec. 27, followed by a Dec. 28 win over the St. Thomas Junior Stars by a score of 4-2 and an 8-5 loss at the hands of the Tavistock Titans.

 

The team’s record earned it a spot in the tournament’s quarterfinals on Dec. 29, which ended in a 7-2 loss to the Tavistock Titans once again.

 

On the U15 Rep side of things, the Blyth Brussels Crusaders played in the very first game of the tournament on Dec. 27, which ended in a 6-1 loss for the locals to the Mount Forest Rams. The team lost again later that evening to the Arran Elderslie Icedogs by a score of 5-1.

 

The team was then given Dec. 28 off before a Dec. 29 game with the Minto Mad Dogs, which ended tied at one.

 

There was one regular season game played by a Crusaders team on Dec. 29 and that was the U8 White team taking on Central Perth in Blyth, although a score was not kept for that game.

 

One day earlier on Dec. 28, the U6 team played the Mitchell Meteors and the U7 Burgundy and White teams played a pair of Mid-Huron Huskies teams, all in Brussels, but scores were not kept for those games.

 

Jumping back before the holiday break, on Dec. 22, the U13 Rep team played the Kincardine Kinucks in Tiverton, which ended in a 3-3 tie. The U11 LL Crusaders lost to the Huron-Bruce Blizzard White team in Blyth by a score of 13-0, while the U9 LL team played the Howick Hornets in Blyth, but a score was not kept for that game.

 

On Dec. 21, the U13 Rep team beat the Saugeen Shores Storm in Blyth by a score of 3-2, while the U13 LL team beat the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Brussels by a score of 6-3 and the U18 Rep team beat the AEMHA Ice Dogs by a score of 6-4, also in Brussels.
Also that day, the U7 Burgundy and White teams played two Goderich Sailors teams and the U9 LL team played an exhibition game with the Mid-Huron Huskies, all on the road, but scores were not kept for those games.

 

On Dec. 20, the U11 Rep team lost to the Saugeen Shores Storm in Brussels by a score of 4-0, while the U8 Burgundy team played the Howick Hornets, also in Brussels, but a score was not kept for that game.

 

Two days earlier, the U13 LL Crusaders beat the Wingham Ironmen in Blyth by a score of 2-1 and the U18 LL Crusaders lost to the Goderich Sailors, also in Blyth, by a score of 6-3.

 

On Dec. 17, the U13 Rep team lost to the Mid-Huron Huskies by a score of 3-1, but the U15 Rep team beat the Goderich Sailors by a score of 10-3, both in Brussels.

 

One day earlier, the U15 LL Crusaders lost by a score of 10-1 to the Mitchell Meteors in Blyth, the U13 Rep team beat the South Bruce Blades by a score of 4-3 on the road and the U18 Rep team beat the Mid-Huron Huskies by a score of 3-0, also in Blyth.
On Sunday, Dec. 15, the U18 Rep team beat the Bruce Peninsula Predators on the road by a score of 5-2, while the U11 LL team lost by a score of 15-0 to the Drayton Defenders Black team in Blyth. Also that day, the U8 Burgundy and U8 White teams played two Huron-Bruce Blizzard teams in Blyth, but scores were not kept for those games.

 

On Dec. 14, the U8 White and U7 White teams played two Wallace Sabres teams on the road, the U9 LL team played the Ironmen in Wingham, the U7 Burgundy team played the Zurich Thunder on the road, the U9 MD team played the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Lucknow and the U6 team played the Mid-Huron Huskies in Hensall, but scores were not kept for those games.
Also that day, the U13 Rep team beat the Mount Forest Rams by a score of 7-3 in Blyth, the U15 Rep team lost to the AEMHA Ice Dogs in Blyth by a score of 8-0, the U15 LL Crusaders lost to the Sailors in Goderich by a score of 4-0 and the U21 team lost to the Listowel Cyclones on the road by a score of 4-1. The U11 Rep team also played the Howick Hornets in an exhibition game in Blyth that night, ending tied at two.

 

On Friday, Dec. 13, the U11 LL Crusaders lost to the Mid-Huron Huskies II team by a score of 10-1, while the U11 Rep team lost to the Mid-Huron Huskies by a score of 2-0 and the U21 team tied the Mid-Huron Huskies at four, all in Brussels.

 

Also that weekend, the U13 LL team was in Wellesley to take part in the Richard Vollmer LL Memorial Tournament, but came up short, losing all three games the team played. 

 

Play began on Friday night with a game against the Shallow Lake Lakers, which the locals lost by a score of 5-2. The next day, the Crusaders lost to the Tavistock Titans by a score of 4-0, followed by a 6-0 loss at the hands of the Twin Centre Stars II team.
On Dec. 11,the U18 LL Crusaders were scheduled to host the Kincardine Kinucks, but that game was cancelled. One night earlier, the U13 Rep team was scheduled to play the Central Perth Predators in Brussels, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time.

 

On Dec. 9, the U7 Burgundy and U7 White teams hosted a pair of Goderich Sailors teams in Blyth, but scores were not kept for those games, while the U15 Rep team lost to the Shallow Lake Lakers on the road by a score of 5-1. The U15 LL team played the Goderich Sailors in Blyth that night as well, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time.