ballhockey.com announces 2017 Youth Provincial Championships taking place July 14-16

ballhockey.com is exciting to announce the 2017 Youth Provincial Championships. This Championship will take place July 14 to 16 in St. Catharines at the ballhockey.com Haig Bowl Arena.

The event will feature four divisions; Under 18 (born 1999 or later), Under 16 (born 2001 or later), Under 14 (born 2003 or later) and Under 12 (born 2005 or later).

Teams participating in Elite Leagues at the Barrie Ball Hockey Club & Niagara Ball Hockey Club this Spring will have an opportunity to earn entry to the tournament by winning their respective club championships. Teams from outside those clubs can enter the tournament by emailing Sara at sarak@ballhockey.com.

The deadline to register for the tournament is July 1. I you have any questions please feel free to call 905-684-7131 or email Sara.

Niagara Ball Hockey Club updates logo to celebrate 10th Anniversary

This Summer will mark 10 years since ballhockey.com's Niagara Ball Hockey Club played their first games back in June 2008. A lot has changed since the days under the dome on Eastchester Ave... but to celebrate we have updated our logo... check it out!

nbhc_10th_anniversary_logo.png

We also have a few events planned throughout the year to continue the celebration at the club.

Also a quick reminder that this year will be the 8th anniversary of the Pete Van Ryn Memorial Tournament. Registration is underway for the event that is taking place February 17-19. You can get your team registered today by emailing Sara at sarak@ballhockey.com.

The last game was played at Canada's Kandahar Air Field ball hockey rink

A photo of a team ballhockey.com sponsored in front of the old scoreboard from the Barrie Ball Hockey Club that was donated in 2011.

A photo of a team ballhockey.com sponsored in front of the old scoreboard from the Barrie Ball Hockey Club that was donated in 2011.

The iconic Canadian ball hockey rink at Kandahar Airfield, its boards adorned with faded Maple Leaf flags, has been dismantled.

A dozen Canadian embassy staff, including Ambassador Ken Neufeld and a few soldiers, played a final game of shinny last week on the concrete slab in the infield of the airfield’s boardwalk before U.S. army engineers helped take down the boards.

“I gotta say, it was a lot of fun,” Neufeld said. “But it was emotional, too.”

A Canadian soldier on his fourth tour in Afghanistan, who asked that his name not be published because of the sensitive nature of his current work, said that “to be part of the ceremony and bring those boards back, it felt like a healthy closing of a chapter.

Read the full article on the National Press website complete with photos of the dismantling. 

ballhockey.com Top 25 Ball Hockey Teams in North America updated for Jan/Feb 2017

 
 

2016 has been an amazing year for the sport of ball hockey. Heck even as I write this the sport is hitting new heights with the orange ball appearing on the NHL Network this week! 

As the year rounds out we have finalized our last Top 25 list for the year. There are a few new faces and some shake ups in teams 6-25. The Top 5 on the other hand remain the same as the October rankings.

The Montreal Red Lite remain seated as the #1 team in North America. Their continued dominance at a National level has them as the team to beat. Hopefully we can see them face off against a few more teams next year..........

Download the ballhockey.com Top 25 Ball Hockey Teams in North America to read the rest and see where your team stacks up!

Niagara Ball Hockey Club "Originals" division is a throwback to 2007

Death From Above; 2016 Summer "Originals" Champions

Death From Above; 2016 Summer "Originals" Champions

This year the Niagara Ball Hockey Club will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. A lot has changed over those 10 years, but this Summer a group of player who had been around since the beginning came up with an idea for a new division. Why not have a division that is geared toward the “original teams” that had played season after season back at the old rinks on Eastchester.

After a few drinks to hash out the details, club staff and players came to the agreement that the Fall Season would mark the beginning of “The Originals” division.

As the season progressed more teams grew curious about what the Originals was all about and wanted to know how they could be part of it. What was unique about this division is that at the end of each season the team reps will vote in consultation with their players to add new teams.

This group of guys has been a lot of fun to watch, whether it be during their games or in the post-game celebrations. They have rediscovered the meaning of “club” and have really been instrumental in bringing forward a new division that is now a major high light for the Niagara Ball Hockey Club.

A huge congratulations goes out to all teams that participated in the inaugural season, Death From Above, Prestige World Wide, Tonto, Reacharounds, Wolverines and Stonehands!!! This winter we are pleased to welcome these 6 teams back and welcome Dynamo and Legion who were voted into the Originals division.

Best of luck to all teams on a great season, we look forward to seeing who will be voted in for Spring 2017!

Prestige Worldwide; Originals "B" Champions

Wolverines; Originals "C" Champions

Cool Hockey announces 2017 North American Ball Hockey Championships event dates

It's a March Tradition. Cool Hockey Events' North American Ball Hockey Championships. This year's dates have been announced so it's time to book off March 10-12 (Men's C/D, Novice & Rec, Co-ed A & B.) or March 24-26 (Men's A/B, Women's A/B).

The event is expected to sell out by January so get in touch with Jason Kelly today to confirm your team.

Sun Shine Shootout 2017 details released; ballhockey.com looking for team to go represent Canada

If you are looking to take a vacation and play a ball hockey tournament all in one wonderful experience; well the 2017 Sun Shine Shoot Out will be taking place in Florida next June (23-25). This event put on by Matt Garry & Pasco County has attracted teams from all over the world to participate over the years.

This year, ballhockey.com is encouraging Canadian team reps to consider going down to try their hand at winning it all. If you are interested in representing ballhockey.com Team Canada we can help with jerseys and a portion of the registration fee. Email Mike (ballhockeymike@gmail.com) to have your team considered.

For anyone else, this event is always a blast with a beautiful indoor arena and beaches minutes away.

Mark your calendars! ballhockey.com releases 2017 signature event dates

What an amazing year of ball hockey 2016 has been. As we prepare to release the December update to the Top 25 Ball Hockey Teams in North America we are excited to announce our 2017 dates for our major tournaments. 

We hope this gives your team all the time they need to make it out to compete this year. We look forward to seeing you on the floor.

8TH ANNUAL PETE VAN RYN MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
February 17 - 19, 2017 - St. Catharines, Ontario

4TH ANNUAL GATEWAY TO THE WORLD OUTDOOR BALL HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS
July 7 - 9, 2017 - St. Catharines, Ontario

21ST ANNUAL WORLD OUTDOOR BALL HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY BAUER (MEN'S & WOMEN'S EVENTS)
September 22 - 24, 2017 - Barrie, Ontario

21ST ANNUAL WORLD OUTDOOR BALL HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY BAUER (OVER 35 & COED EVENTS)
October 13 - 15, 2017 - St. Catharines, Ontario

5TH ANNUAL BAUER CLASH OF THE TITANS
December 1 - 3, 2017 - St. Catharines, Ontario

CBHA Men's Team Canada Announced for ISBHF 2017 Indoor World Championship

The Canadian Ball Hockey Association is very pleased to announce the roster of Men's Team Canada for the 2017 ISBHF World Championship in Pardubice, Czech Republic.  General Manager Jeff Dzikowicz along with the input of the high performance director, scout Peter Upper, past coaches and players, as well as the broader ... 
 

The Canadian Ball Hockey Association is very pleased to announce the roster of Men's Team Canada for the 2017 ISBHF World Championship in Pardubice, Czech Republic. 

General Manager Jeff Dzikowicz along with the input of the high performance director, scout Peter Upper, past coaches and players, as well as the broader ball hockey community, in accordance with the CBHA High Performance model have selected a truly Canadian representative squad with players from six separate provinces. There are a number of returning players as well as an influx of new faces, including two graduates of the U20 program. The coaching was selected with an emphasis on Ball Hockey specific coaching experience with Past Team Canada assistant coach Ian Moores taking the Head Coaching reigns and Ray Cook having served as an assistant coach in for Junior Team Canada and Masters Team Canada and Nick Sbarra who served as an assistant coach for the last two Masters Team Canada teams.  

Victor Azevedo - Defence - Ontario - Team Canada 2015
Jim Babij - Defence - Newfoundland
Tim Barlow - Goaltender - Alberta - Team Canada 2013
Stephen D'Abadie - Forward - Alberta - Team Canada 2015
Justin D’Entremont - Forward - Saskatchewan
Cody Donaghey - Defence - Newfoundland
Jordan Escott - Forward - Newfoundland - Team Canada 2013 2015
Anthony Flores - Goaltender - Ontario - Team Canada 2015
Samuel Fortier - Defence - Quebec
Derek Gingera - Forward - Manitoba
Dustin Kelly - Forward - Manitoba - Team Canada 2009 2011 2015
Remi Laurencelle - Forward - Manitoba - Junior Team Canada 2010 2012 2014
Kevin Marchuk - Forward - Manitoba
William Marshall - Defence - Saskatchewan
Danick Martel - Forward - Quebec
Kyle Mcholm - Goaltender - Manitoba - Junior Team Canada 2016 2014
Shaq Merasty - Forward - Manitoba
Patrick O'Keefe - Defence -Newfoundland - Team Canada 2011 2013 2015 JTC 2008
Zach O’Brien -Forward - Newfoundland
Marcus Power - Forward - Newfoundland
Brian Szolga - Defence - Ontario
Ryan Tesink - Forward - New Brunswick
Calin Wild - Defence - Ontario  Team Canada 2011 2013 2015
Brad Yetman - Defence - Newfoundland
Nathan Yetman - Forward - Newfoundland - Junior Team Canada 2016

Thank you to all these players for their efforts and committment to Team Canada. Bets of luck at the ISBHF World Ball Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic in 2017!!

8th Annual Pete Van Ryn Memorial Tournament

This February the 28th Annual Pete Van Ryn Memorial Tournament will take place at the ballhockey.com Athletic Centre in St. Catharines.

This event feature's 5 divisions of play; Men's B/C, Men's D, Men's over 35, Women's & Co-Ed.

This tournament is in support of Growing Up Through Sports and every team entry will help support one youth to play hockey!

This tournament always sells out so make sure you get your registration in asap to Sara.

A special moment as father & son win Fall season championship at Barrie Ball Hockey Club

We here at ballhockey.com want to send a congratulations out to Jim & William Lowe for winning a championship at the Barrie Ball Hockey Club last night. Jim has been a member of the ballhockey.com family since the first season was played 22 years ago. He coached his son William to many championships over the years but last night was something different...

After a hard fought season and playoffs last night they won a championship as team mates. We'd imagine Jim must have felt a lot like Gordie Howe when he was able to lace up the skates with his son Mark in Hartford. Howe was once asked about playing with his son and said "I always refer to that as my greatest accomplishment and excitement".

Check out the tweet from Jim below for a pic post game!

Midnight Express win 2016 Bauer Clash of the Titans

Midnight Express after winning the Bauer Clash of the Titans

Midnight Express after winning the Bauer Clash of the Titans

They say the third time is the charm and that was definitely the case for the Midnight Express this past weekend. The Express (ranked #2 in the ballhockey.com Top 25 Ball Hockey Teams in North America) beat the Toronto Orangemen (ranked #10) 7-2 to win the 2016 Bauer Clash of the Titans.

Toronto Orangemen after finishing 2nd in the Bauer Clash of the Titans

Toronto Orangemen after finishing 2nd in the Bauer Clash of the Titans

The tournament saw 14 of the best teams in North America compete for $14,000 in cash prizes. Over $11,000 of that was up for grabs in the championship final that took place Sunday at the ballhockey.com Athletic Centre in St. Catharines. The Clash of the Titans is recognized as one of the most competitive ball hockey tournaments in the world after its 4th year being played. This year teams travelled in from Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Leominster, Toronto, Barrie, Richmond Hill, Niagara and Welland. 

As the dust began to settle on Sunday afternoon the quarter finals saw Midnight Express take on the Pittsburgh Gods and Toronto Orangemen take on the Niagara Rebels. Both games were worth watching with teams giving their all in end to end battles.

The final game between the Midnight Express and Toronto Orangemen was a lopsided affair. The Offensive of the Express proved to much with goals coming from Matt Tremblantt, Dayton Sopha, JC Gill (x2), JK Gill (x2) & Anthony Loveless. The Orangemen goals were scored by Danny Pacheco & Dylan Steele.

Two noticeable absences from the event were the Montreal Red Lite (Ranked #1) & Boston Saints (Ranked #3) but hopes are high that they can participate in the 2017 event taking place December 1-3, 2017. It is expected that the event will again be taking place in St. Catharines but confirmation will come at the end of February 2017.

The Midnight Express' winning team was: Frank D’Ambrosio, Sandeep Dhaliwal, Dave Digiornimo, Gurjeet Gill, Jaisen Gill, JC Gill, JK Gill, Shawn Hannon, Bobby Housser, Nicholas Laboni, Anthony Loveless, Marcel Mallais, Tyler McPherson, James Metis, Toby Monteiro, Fred Perrera, Mike Porter, Jacob Robitaille, Dayton Sopha, Matt Tremblatt, Chris Vegenas & Ben Vantullo (G).

You can watch the championship game in its entirely thanks to our partner WeeStreem who covered all the playoff games on Sunday providing live HD video streaming online!

2016 Clash of the Titans presented by Bauer & BallHockey.com 14 of the top ball hockey teams in North America compete for $14,000 in cash! (1st=60%, 2nd=20%, 3rd&4th=10%) 100% of the $ 1,000 entry fee is returned in the prize pool to the teams. Sunday, November 27, 2016 BallHockey.com Athletic Centre 16 Melbourne Ave.

Watch 2016 Bauer Clash of the Titans Quarter Finals Game #2 live online at 10:00am ESTWatch Clash of the Titans Quarter Finals Game #2 live online at 10:15am EST

2016 Clash of the Titans presented by Bauer & BallHockey.com 14 of the top ball hockey teams in North America compete for $14,000 in cash! (1st=60%, 2nd=20%, 3rd&4th=10%) 100% of the $ 1,000 entry fee is returned in the prize pool to the teams. Sunday, November 27, 2016 BallHockey.com Athletic Centre 16 Melbourne Ave.