It was mere days into the new calendar year when the Nickel City Minor Bantam "A" Knights resolved to get back out on the road, joining thirteen other teams in their age and category bracket at the 50th Annual Aurora Bantam Tournament.

After dropping their opening encounter to the King City Rebellion, the locals picked up steam, downing, in succession, the host Aurora Tigers (6-3), the Barrie Colts (4-3) and the East Gwillimbury Eagles (4-2).

With a record of 3-1, the Knights survived a tie-breaker with the Whitby Wildcats - Blue (2-0-2), advancing to the semi-finals by virtue of having recorded more wins. The end of the line for the locals would come opposite the Phoenix Jr Coyotes as Nickel City suffered a 2-1 setback in a contest dominated by great goaltending on both sides.

"We pulled our goalie with 90 seconds left and had a flurry of shots, but just couldn't score," noted Knights' head coach Bill Clarke. "The boys were very disappointed, for sure, but I'm sure it will be a moment in time they will remember forever."

Pleased with the effort right across the lineup, Clarke did make note of the play of twin brothers Ty and Brody Cloutier, with the former finishing with something in the neighbourhood of eight goals scored in the five game set.

Rounding out the team roster for the 2018-2019 edition of the Nickel City Minor Bantam "A" Knights are Liam Lacroix, Zachary Garbutt, Egan Makela, Cody Clarke, Patrick Beals, Drake Jacko, Wyatt Letford, Chris Dore, William McBride, Kyle Dessureault, Ryan Ricci, Hayden Trudeau, Nico Nadeau, Carson Robert, Cole Stack, head coach Bill Clarke, assistant coaches Tim McBride and John Beals, and co-managers Karen Garbutt and Pam Trudeau.