When a merger took place between the South Southeast Minor Hockey’s SSE Wild and the London Minor Hockey Association’s LMHA Thunder, the London Bandits were born. The organization offers an opportunity for young
kids (up to Juvenile age) to improve their skills and learn how to be an effective member of a team.
The Bandits run a seeded program, an MD program, and a house league program. There are roughly 700 kids in
the organization. The seeded league falls under the jurisdiction of Alliance Hockey, and regular season play begins in mid-September. Playoffs and Playdowns begin early in February and continue through the end of March or early April. After each team has played a home and home series with the other teams in the league (mid November), the league is split into two divisions with the top teams being classified as AA (Constellation) and the lower ‘seeded’ teams being classified as A (Bristol). The divisions then continue playing within their own group (not against the other) to determine playoff positions. Bandit ‘seeded’ teams play against and travel to: London Jr. Knights (x2), Brantford, Burlington, Cambridge, Kitchener (x2), Sarnia, Stratford, Waterloo (x2), Woodstock, St. Thomas, North London, Oakridge, and West London.
The MD league also falls under the jurisdiction of Alliance Hockey. It is administrated by the Bandit Committee,
comprised of six members of SSE and six members of LMHA. Regular season play begins in early October. Teams include West London, North London, Oakridge, Sarnia, Stratford, and two Bandit teams where numbers allow. MD teams play against all teams in their division throughout the entire regular season and these same teams in playoffs based on regular season finishing positions.
Bandits Tournaments
We have had three tournaments this past year: the Dan Pulham Memorial Tournament, Dec. 3-5, 2015, named
after an individual who volunteered his time for LMHA for many of years; the Jayden Elmore Tournament, Jan. 4-6, 2016, named after a young boy who was tragically killed in a tunnelling accident in the snow; and the Neil Barker Tournament, Jan. 13-15, 2016, named after a member of the LMHA community who was killed in a tragic accident on his motor bike.
Together, these tournaments filled the London Community Hotels and brought in over 350 teams from across
Ontario. The money raised from the tournaments goes towards the London Bandit Organization, and of course
ultimately goes back to our players, reducing fees and providing funds to keep our organization afloat.
It takes many volunteers to help our tournaments run smoothly, and we’re grateful for the support of our
sponsors, volunteers, and the City of London. Among those sponsors is Jack Ross, a sponsor for LMHA many years ago, who has continued to support us by providing trophies each year and sponsoring a team or two. Thank you to all our supporters!
Story submitted by Bandits Hockey
