A Swiss junior hockey club will be taking on local competition.
Doug Kennedy, the Kicardine Bulldogs GM, has arranged for a third-tier Swiss junior club to come take on OHA teams. Kennedy says this is a unique opportunity that Junior C players don't get.
"The Junior B's and A's always get to play European teams, and to my knowledge the C's never have. With the help of Moore's Sports Group in Toronto, we went recruiting, and my goal for the next 4 or 5 years is to bring a different team over every year, so the Junior C teams all get a chance to play them."
Kennedy thinks a chance to take on a European team with a different style of hockey will be great for the players, and he's already spoken to other countries about coming over.
"I met with the Czech Republic junior operators when I was over there, as well operators from Germany and Austria. The people from Moore's also have good contact with Finland, Sweden and the Russians. So that's my plan, to get a different group here every year for the next few years."
Kennedy was in Europe with his high school team last year, where he started making connections to get the Swiss team to commit to the trip. His Bulldogs host the Swiss group in Kincardine November 28th. Then Mount Forest will welcome them the 29th, and Mitchell on the 30th. The Swiss team will also play games against eastern opponents in the OHA Junior C loop.