Lancers, Spitfires to host series with Czech U-20 team
By Josh Kolm
Sports Editor
August 31, 2010
 In another opportunity for local athletes to compete against the best in the world, the Lancer Men’s Hockey team announced that, in partnership with the Windsor Spitfires, the Czech Republic World Junior Under-20 team will come to the city to play a series of games in September.
The Lancers will get first crack at the Czech team on September 8 at the Essex Arena & Sports Complex. The Spitfires will play the team the next night at the WFCU Centre.
The Lancers will get another chance on Friday September 10 at the Vollmer Recreation Complex in LaSalle. The Czech team will then make the trip to London to play against the Lancers’ rivals, the Western Mustangs.
Both teams will have their work cut out for them. The Czech Republic team will look very similar to the one that will compete at the World Junior Hockey Tournament in December, featuring the best young hockey players in the country.
Furthermore, the Spitfires will be a very different team in September from the one that repeated as Memorial Cup champions in May. In addition to losing many of their best players, including Taylor Hall and Cam Fowler, to the NHL, the Spitfires traded Justin Shugg and Marc Cantin this past weekend in exchange for four future draft picks, draining the Spitfires’ scoring ability.
If the Lancers have one thing going for them that the other teams don’t, it will be chemistry. The team will be largely comprised of the same players who skated last year, with the benefit of year’s experience playing together. That’s something that can’t be said for the Spits, who now lack an experienced veteran presence, and the Czech U20 team, who are essentially an All-Star team comprised of players hand-picked from a variety of different teams.
That being said, Lancers Head Coach Kevin Hamlin knows the reason for these games goes beyond the final score.
“This is a really unique opportunity for the Lancers and Spitfires to host a world class U20 junior team here in Windsor,” Hamlin said. “We think the community is going to enjoy the chance to see these exciting games in early September.”
Ticket information for all games can be found at www.golancers.ca
|
