Dec 04, 2009 - 04:30 AM

By Brian McNair

It was just three years back when Josh French was talking enthusiastically about a kid by the name of Matt Duchene, playing for Haliburton at the annual Eastdale Christmas Classic Hockey tournament.

A lot has changed since then, but if French's prognostication skills are still as deft, there's yet another good reason to check out the tournament he's been running for the past five years now.

Matia Marcantuoni.

The 15-year-old Marcantuoni, already being touted as a possible top-five pick in the next Ontario Hockey League draft, will lead his Hill Academy team into Whitby next week for the two-day tournament, now called the Maxwell Mustangs Christmas Classic.

French was bang on about Duchene, who's now playing in the National Hockey League as an 18-year-old.

Whether Marcantuoni is of the same ilk remains to be seen, but French is confident the tournament is still among the best on the high school scene these days.

French has moved over from Eastdale to the newest school in Oshawa, Maxwell Heights, but he's still attracting some of the top teams in the GTA, and beyond, to the event, which kicks off Thursday at 9 a.m. at both the Iroquois Park Sports Centre and the McKinney Centre.

"It's the first really big tournament of the year," says French, who is trying to help fill a void left by the retirement of the Father Goetz tournament three years ago. "It's actually a really good time of the year to have a tournament."

Among the 28 teams are 10 from Durham Region: French's Mustangs, the Eastdale Eagles, Courtice Cougars, Denis O'Connor Chargers, Holy Trinity Titans, St. Stephen's Royals, Dunbarton Spartans, All Saints Titans, Anderson Raiders and McLaughlin Trojans.

French expects Dunbarton and Holy Trinity to be among the better LOSSA teams this season, and points out Anderson routinely steps up at this tournament, having won silver and bronze medals in the past.

Marcantuoni's Hill Academy team is the defending champ and among the favourites again, along with the likes of Mowat, Brother Andre and Stouffville.

As for his own team, French realizes it will take its lumps for awhile, currently drawing only upon a small group of Grade 11 students and those in younger grades.

But, he knows what it takes to build a strong program, having done so at Eastdale, and expects his team to be a contender within the next three to five years.

"Our goal is to build a program from the bottom up," says French. "To have a tournament like this really helps in that."