It’s Day 3 of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations boys A/AA hockey championship and Billy McLaren’s dogs are barking.

While the bronze medal game plays out on the ice at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex Thursday afternoon, the head convenor of the tournament and the head coach of the Denis Morris team is sitting in the lobby in his stocking feet with his boots on the floor in front of him.

“I have put a lot of miles on in the last couple of days and it’s a marathon. It is not a sprint, that’s for sure.”

McLaren’s tournament days started at 6 each morning and ended between 5 and 6 p.m.

He thanked committee members, Frank Cappelletti, Craig Bell, Nikki Royer, Albert Venneri, Tara Kochan, Andy Cecchini, Conner Fusarelli, Anthony DiPaolo and Danny DiLorenzo for making the event run smoothly.

“You definitely need a crew to get it done the right way,” he said. “With good support, you are going to get a great outcome and we have had a lot of compliments from a lot of teams.”

Between 30 and 35 students from Denis Morris helped out and none of the tournament would have been possible without the support of the Niagara Catholic District School Board.

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