Four local teams ready for Steel City playoffs

Four teams from Sault Ste. Marie will be in contention for championships on Sunday at the 23rd Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament.

The Soo North Stars at 3-0-1 have advanced in the tough midget major AAA division and will face the Chicago Flames in one semi-final at 10:30 a.m. at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

In bantam, the Soo Thunder will face Detroit's Little Caesars for the second consecutive game in the major AAA semi-finals at 8:30 a.m. at the Rankin Arena. The Soo Greyhounds will battle Michigan's Calumet Rotary in the minor AAA semi-finals at 10 a.m. at Memorial Gardens.

In midget AA, Northside Toyota has advanced in the semi-finals after finishing first in the C division with a 4-0 record. Toyota will battle the Sudbury Lakers at 10 a.m. at the Rhodes.

The Thunder finished second in the six-team division with a 2-0-2 record after beating Minnesota's Wayzata 3-2 and tying Little Caesars 2-2 in round robin play on Saturday.

Adam Pyymaki, Kevin Mills and Brad Dicandia scored in the win over Wayzata while Kyle Leonard and Pyymaki scored in the tie with Little Caesars.

The Soo Bantam Greyhounds finished with a perfect 4-0 record after doubling the Michigan Soo Storm 4-2 and blanking the Green Bay Gamblers 2-0 to finish the round robin on Saturday.

Luke O'Brien, Tyler Liukkonen, Dean Howard and Dylan King scored in the win over the Storm. Details from the shutout of Green Bay were not yet available.

In other semi-final match ups, the Marquette Electricians battle the London Jr. Knights in midget major at 10:30 a.m. at the Rankin.

In midget minor, the London Knights battle the Chicago Young Americans at 8 a.m. at the Pee Wee Arena while Oshawa's Don Cherry's meet the Chicago Chill at 8 a.m. at Memorial Gardens.

Belle Tire faces Elgin Middlesex at 8:30 a.m. at the Rhodes in bantam major while the Marquette American Legion meets the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers at 10 a.m. in bantam minor at the Pee Wee.

Quebec's Conquerants de La Sarre battles Milwaukee's Shaw Timberwolves in midget AA at 10 a.m. at the McMeeken Centre.

In bantam AA, Colorado's Arapahoe Ice Warriors face off against Brampton's Warren Park Eagles at 8 a.m. at the McMeeken in one semi-final while Thunder Bay's South End Rangers play the Thunder Bay Beavers at 8 a.m. at the Rhodes in the other.

The semi-final winners advance into Sunday afternoon's finals.

The bantam AA championship begins at 1 p.m. at the Rankin while bantam major final begins at 1 p.m. and the midget minor championship goes at 1:30 p.m. at the Rhodes.

The midget AA championship is slated for the Rankin at 3 p.m. while the bantam minor final begins at 3 p.m. and the midget major final faces off at 3:30 p.m. at the Rhodes.