Warbirds to hold annual pre-season tournament

Throughout all the trouble in the BHL offseason, it seems one thing will remain a constant, the Minnesota Warbirds will conduct their annual pre-season tournament.

Owner Chris Coogan and General Managers Greg Ezell and Robi Albert had a small round table meeting in the Minnesota media over the weekend to announce the tournament, some changes and the teams who are scheduled to play in the tournament.

"We're very excited to announce that the Warbird Memorial Cup will be played this year, however, it has been re-named to the Frank Barron tournament." Chris Coogan told the press.

"Mr. Barron was one of the found fathers of hockey in Minnesota. We feel that naming our arena and this tournament are just a few of the small things we can do to thank him." Mr. Albert said.

For those not familiar with the tournament, it has been held for the past 3 seasons in the BHL/DMSL. Last year, Minnesota won their own tournament, defeating Brisbane and Montreal in the process.

This year it seems that there will be another team added to the fold.

"We're pleased to announce that Brisbane and Montreal both expressed interest in coming back and participating in the tournament. We also decided to add a third team to the fold and the Castlegar Castors have shown interest. We feel that the more teams that participate, the better this tournament will be." Ezell said.

There have been some changes to the rules as well.

"In the past, we wore our current season's uniforms. To make things more interesting, we've taken player suggestions on creating a tournament uniform. This year we're proud to announce that we will be using a submission by our captain Miika Kemppinen. Also, because we're hosting the tournament, we will be wearing our home uniforms throughout the duration." Said Chris Coogan.

"It should be an exciting time. Brisbane and Montreal will be looking to get some revenge while Castlegar wants to show the world that nothing has changed in the regime change." Said Albert.

The tournament looks to be starting on Saturday 5/2.