The London Knights are heading west The bus departed for the airport Wednesday afternoon as the boys are off to Victoria, B.C. for a pair of exhibition games in a series titled “Clash of the Kingdoms.” The series on Friday and Saturday is the first regular interleague pre-season meeting between WHL and OHL clubs outside of the Memorial Cup since 2010. “I think it’s kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity in junior to go across the country and play a team in the dub [WHL],” said Knights forward Ryan Brown. “Not many teams have the opportunity to do it, so it’s pretty cool to go play some new players and see some new rinks”. The Knights will take 25 skaters and three goalies on the road for the games which will be played at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. “I’ve been to Victoria once before and played in the rink once, and it’s a pretty cool barn and it’s a pretty cool place to be,” said Knights forward Brady Wassilyn. “Taking the ferry over and just being with all the boys, you know, getting to go on the bus to the airport, being in the airport with everybody is so much fun.” The team will use this trip as a bonding experience. With many new faces, it will give them all a chance to get to know each other outside the rink. “I think a lot of teams do like team builders,” added Brown. “I think this is perfect for us to get on a plane and get together for a couple days on hotels. It’ll be kind of like a retreat, to be honest.” Wassilyn remembers arriving in London mid-season and believes a few days away can work wonders. “When I first got here we had a two game road trip and I think that’s what brings the boys together as being on the road together,” he added. “I think it’s definitely a team bonding experience and I think it might be a little bragging rights here to see who is better between the OHL and the WHL, because it’s always a huge debate.” London will arrive Wednesday evening, and immediately after the game Saturday will take a red-eye flight back home. Buczkowski wins world junior cycling gold Eve Buczkowski of Talbotville, Ont. is bringing the rainbow jersey back to Canada. Buczkowski became the first Canadian since Maggie Coles-Lyster in 2017 to win the Junior Women’s Points Race at the 2026 UCI Junior Track World Championships in Limburg, Belgium. “I’m really proud because it was a result that I wasn’t necessarily expecting, but I knew that it was possible,” said the 17-year old. “Being able to come out and really just show that I am, I guess, the confident rider that I always wanted to be”. She explained her strategy which allowed her maximum points at the Velodrome. “Through the qualifier, I realized that taking easy laps and lapping the field was the not necessarily the quickest, but the easiest way for me to get the maximum amount of points,” she said. “Going into the final, I used the same plan of taking easy laps. When I took my lap, It put me at the top of the leaderboard and I was able to hold that position until the final sprint where I sprinted to solidify the win”. I went with a rider from Sweden and when she decided to launch an attack after the second sprint, then I decided to hop on and we worked together to lap the field.” She not only won the points race but also helped Canada to a new record in the junior women’s team pursuit. “That was like a pretty strong goal that the team of girls,” she said of the record. “Just being able to achieve it and like beating it by like more than seven seconds, it was like, we can do great things.” Buczkowski is headed to Sir Wilfrid Laurier University but has her sights focused on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif. London Majors stumble down stretch, open playoffs Friday After leading the Canadian Baseball League standings for a large portion of the 2026 season, the London Majors picked their worst time to have a losing streak. Needing just one victory in the final four games, London (31-17) lost all of them which cost them the pennant, and the top seed entering the playoffs. Their recent losses were Hamilton’s gain, as the Cardinals surged to take top spot in the standings. Tuesday night, the Welland Jackfish beat the Majors 11-3 in the completion of a suspended game which wrapped up the 48-game regular season. Hamilton, London and Welland all finished with identical records. Franchise history was made at Labatt Park when Maikol Escotto hit a two-run home run for the Majors, giving him 16 on the season, the most ever by a London player. The post-season will begin Friday. (2) LONDON vs. (3) WELLAND Game 1: Friday, Sept. 4 at London, 7:05 p.m. Game 2: Saturday, Sept. 5 at Welland, 7:05 p.m. Game 3: Sunday, Sept. 6 at London, 6:05 p.m. Game 4: Wednesday, Sept. 9 at Welland, 7:05 p.m. *Game 5: Friday, Sept. 11 at London, 7:05 p.m. *Game 6: Saturday, Sept. 12 at Welland, 7:05 p.m. *Game 7: Sunday, Sept. 13 at London, 6:05 p.m. *If necessary Mustangs open OUA football season Sunday After eight months on the job, Michael Faulds is finally ready to coach his first regular season football game for the Western Mustangs. Western will open its season at Alumni Stadium Sunday night against the York Lions (1-0). “We feel good as we’re two weeks into practices but we’re remaining healthy,” said Faulds of a long-training camp and week-one bye. “We’ve got a lot of first-time starters, which is exciting, but also a little nerve wracking at the same time. There will be a lot of new faces for the London community and the Western community to get used to, but a lot of marquee names that people are going to get familiar with pretty quickly.” With new starter Jerome Rancourt at quarterback, the Mustangs will take on the Lions who won their opener against Carleton. Faulds said week one showed the OUA has potential for a lot of parity this season. “There weren’t any blowout wins,” adds Faulds. “The biggest spread was an 18-point victory with Queens over Toronto, but all the games were tight. Special teams played a factor in a lot of games, as you see in Canadian football and you could also tell it was week one with teams trying to figure out their identity. That’s something for us to be mindful of as we enter this practice week is York is one and zero and they’re riding high right now. It’s important that we respect them like we will.”
