Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

Over the January 15th to 18th weekend, the Soo U18 Greyhounds of the GNU18HL made the trip to Peterborough to compete in the 2026 Steve Richey Memorial Tournament of Champions. The Greyhounds were one of thirty U18 AAA programs from across Ontario taking part in the highly competitive event, opening round-robin play on Thursday against the Ottawa Valley Titans.

The Titans set the tone early in the first period, opening the scoring at 14:17 when Hunter Sim capitalized on an early opportunity, finishing a play set up by Evan Streek and Jack Billo. Ottawa Valley continued to apply pressure and extended their lead at 10:12, as Sim netted his second goal of the tournament and his second of the game, this time assisted by Tyler McEnery.

Soo answered back midway through the period to cut into the deficit. At 6:13, Dreyon Boissoneau scored the Greyhounds’ first goal of the tournament, converting on a feed from Myka Venneri and Finlay Carlson to make it a 2–1 contest and swing momentum back toward Soo.

That momentum was short-lived, however, as the Titans struck just seconds later while shorthanded. At 6:11, Taavi Stevenson jumped on a loose puck and finished unassisted, restoring Ottawa Valley’s two-goal advantage at 3–1.

Both goaltenders settled in after the opening frame, with Soo netminder Gavin Zuccato and Titans goaltender Gavin Legree turning aside scoring chances to keep the game tight the rest of the way. Despite continued effort from the Greyhounds, they were unable to find another breakthrough.

The Greyhounds will look to bounce back quickly as the tournament continues. Soo returns to the ice on Friday, January 16th, when they face the Mississauga Rebels at 10:00 a.m. in their second game of the 2026 Steve Richey Memorial Tournament of Champions.