THUNDER BAY – A new era of competition for the Thunder Bay Kings is set to begin this weekend as they will commence play in the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

Each of the Kings under-18, U-16 and U-15 sides will play a 28-game regular season slate over the course of seven weekend trips for match-ups in the provincial capital and area.

All three teams will take to the ice November 12 at Scotiabank Pond, a four-pad facility in the Downsview area of Toronto, and where the GTHL offices are also situated.

First up will be the U-16 Kings taking on the Toronto Jr. Canadiens at 6:55 p.m. while the U-15s will meet the North York Rangers at 7:15 p.m. before the U-18 squad faces off against the Toronto Marlboros at 8:30 p.m.

Each squad will also play twice Saturday and once more Sunday before returning home.

Including Thunder Bay, there are 13 organizations competing in each of the GTHL’s U-15, 16 and 18 AAA divisions.

KINGS GTHL WEEKENDS
Nov. 12-14
Dec. 3-5
Dec. 17-19
Jan. 7-9
Jan. 28-30
Feb. 11-13
Feb. 25-27

Thunder Bay’s U-13 team will also be making a pair of visits to face-off against GTHL teams during the season as well.

CHARTER FLIGHTS: As part of the GTHL venture, the Kings have partnered with Air Canada and have secured charter flights to and from Toronto for each of their GTHL weekends.

This will allow each of the teams to make the trips together and alleviate any potential travel conflicts with regular flights, especially in terms of making sure all their equipment, and such, can be also be transported.

Photo credit: James Mirabelli

KINGS GTHL OPENING WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday, Nov. 12
U-16: vs. Toronto Jr. Canadiens 6:55 p.m. (Scotiabank Pond 1)
U-15: vs. North York Rangers 7:15 p.m. (Scotiabank 2)
U-18: vs. Toronto Marlboros 8:30 p.m. (Scotiabank 1)

Saturday, Nov. 13
U-15: vs. Don Mills Flyers 10:40 a.m. (Chesswood Arena 1)
U-16: vs. Toronto Marlboros 12:10 p.m. (Chesswood Arena 1)
U-18: vs. Toronto Red Wings 12:25 p.m. (Westwood Arena 5)
U-15: vs. Mississauga Rebels 4:30 p.m. (Chesswood 1)
U-16: vs. Toronto Red Wings 6 p.m. (Chesswood 1)
U-18: vs. Reps Hockey Club 6:15 p.m. (Westwood 5)

Sunday, Nov. 14
U-15: vs. Markham Majors 1 p.m. (Thornhill Centre West)
U-16: vs. Markham Majors 2:30 p.m. (Thornhill)
U-18: vs. Toronto Jr. Canadiens 2:45 p.m. (Chesswood 1)