Amherstburg Stars U21 team falls short at OMHAs
- Fred Groves
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
History was made in Kingston this past weekend for the Amherstburg Stars.
At the Ontario Minor Hockey Association U21 championship tournament, it was the last official time that the Stars would be represented at such an event.
Moving forward, Amherstburg Minor Hockey Association will join Erie North Shores (Kingsville-Harrow).
“We won a banner last week, it was the last hurrah for the Stars,” said U21 coach Dennis Emerson.
On March 23 at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, the Amherstburg U21 team won the Bluewater League title, beating the Riverside Rangers. That earned the locals a trip to Kingston where they played in the eight-team finals.
The Stars opened up Friday night with a 4-0 loss to the Walkerton Capitals.
“We ran into some penalty trouble in that first game and we could not get past that,” said Emerson.
Saturday was a long day for the team and supporters who made the trip. At 9:30 a.m., Amherstburg came up short 4-1 to the Douro Dukes and then later, at 7:30 p.m., were beaten by the Milton Winter Hawks.
The other division comprised of Ennismore Eagles, Saugeen Valley Steelheads and the Woolwich Wildcats. Ennismore and Milton went 3-0 in the preliminary round-robin, two-division format before advancing to the semis.
Emerson said it was a different style for the Stars, as they were used to playing series instead of just one game against an opponent.
Despite going 0-3 and not making it to the semis, Emerson said there were a couple of birthdays to celebrate over the weekend.
“We are proud of everyone on the team. There are a lot of friends here and we had a good time.”
The good news for the U21 program is that Emerson will be the coach in the new yet to be named combined organization and he said only four players are not eligible to return due to age.
Amherstburg Stars U21 team falls short at OMHAs
By Fred Groves
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