Play On New Brunswick!
Published Thursday June 4th, 2009
Street hockey tournaments enjoy success in the province, as national event makes stop in Moncton this weekend.
"Play on" is a common expression many street hockey players use to bring a game back into action after a car or other disturbance has caused a stoppage.
Using that phrase won't be necessary at the Play On! 4-on-4 Street Hockey event in Moncton June 6-7, as the city's Assumption Boulevard will be closed to vehicle traffic for the national tournament, which is making its first ever stop in New Brunswick and is expected to draw around 100 teams in several different categories.
"I've worked and lived in Atlantic Canada my whole life, it was a natural progression from Halifax to Moncton," explains event organizer Patti Dow, of the CBC Hockey Night in Canada sponsored event, which began in Halifax six years ago and now includes 12 cities across Canada. "Moncton being the hub and geographically it allows people to come in from all over P.E.I. and New Brunswick."
Although the tournament is based in Moncton, the teams involved will make this a truly Maritime-wide event as there are teams from all over the region, including many from major New Brunswick centres like Fredericton and Saint John.
It just goes to show that the draw and popularity of street hockey is expanding in the province. Just last month, Saint John played host to a hugely successful 3-on-3 street hockey tournament in support of MindCare New Brunswick.
Event organizer Peggy Brittain, of MindCare New Brunswick, explains that the decision to host a street hockey fundraiser wasn't a difficult one to make.
"We have another event each year that's known as Skate to Care, which happens in February," she says. "What we kind of noticed was we were missing a male demographic, most participants were women "¦ We kind of looked around for another event, we considered pond hockey but Plaster Rock is so successful, we then kind of looked at why don't we try to cash in on the period in between the closing of hockey rinks and the opening of ball season. That's kind of how we got to street hockey.
"It's kind of nice because you don't even have to have a ton of equipment, it's not so weather-dependant either, which is good as Saint John can be hot and cold and all over the place."
The second year event in Saint John featured 60 teams, over 600 participants and raised $65,000 for MindCare New Brunswick.
While the Moncton tournament is expected to be bigger and have a higher profile, both events are worth supporting for the players and the surging popularity of street hockey tournaments in the province is welcome, regardless of which part of the province you live.
"I'd like to see more tournaments to tell you the truth," says Chase Larsen, 21, who is coming to Moncton with his Saint John based team for the tournament. "It's just one of those things, like everybody, a good majority of hockey players go out and play ball hockey most of the time I would say.
"I expect some pretty good competition. It would be nice to go far, but it's not that big a deal, it's just for fun. I'm not going to get all mad about it if we don't."
Another team making the trek to the tournament from Saint John is that of 35-year-old Sean McGuire, whose squad consists of his brother, brother-in-law and cousin.
"My cousin Tim had always put a team in for the world's here, the 3-on-3 "¦so we just as a family thought we'd put a team in up there because it was so much fun," McGuire says. "It gets us a chance to get away and stay in a hotel room for a couple nights and eat out on the town a couple nights."
McGuire explains that like many Canadians, hockey is a big part of his family's culture.
"It's always been in our blood, it's a Canadian pastime that has never grown old," he says. "There's going to be that competitive edge obviously, it makes you try a little harder."
Along with attracting teams from away, the tournament is also expected to have a great impact on local street hockey, according to Jon Richard, who is the founder of the Moncton Ball Hockey League.
Richard says the local league has grown from 80 to 120 players in only two years of existence and he expects event like this weekend's to help continue that growth by giving players a fresh take.
"Compared to the league where you're only competing against guys you already known from Moncton, what is good about this tournament is it's going to be players from Saint John and maybe a few from Nova Scotia and a bunch of new faces. It's always good to play against new competition."
Winners from each of the Play On! events in 12 cities across Canada will travel to Toronto in September to compete for a national title and the Redwood Cup, a trophy which is housed throughout the year in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's a fact that isn't lost on Richard and his team, The Chiefs.
"(Our team's goal) is to do the best we can and win of course," he said. "A lot of the guys I put in this tournament we've been playing together for the last two to three years now "¦ There's quite a bit of pressure, especially where you don't really know who you are facing until you get there. We'll be watching the games and taking notes."
Although the tournament is only in Moncton this year, Dow says it's a possibility the event could expand to include other Maritime cities in the future.
"We're not saying no, it really depends on the relations with the city. It's not a rock concert but it's a large scale event which requires a lot of support from the municipalities," she says. "It really depends on the city if they would like us to go."
For local Moncton participant Denis Dumont, it's a real honour to have the tournament in his city and he'd love to see the event expand in future years.
"It means a lot. We all knew that Moncton was one of the Atlantic capitals for sports, so it's real important that we have events like this, some national events here and there in New Brunswick, so we don't fall apart from the rest of Canada," he says.
Whether it's the MindCare event in Saint John or the national competition in Moncton, street hockey doesn't seem to be slowing in popularity in New Brunswick as countless competitors of all ages and background continue to enjoy the sport in one of its purest forms.
"This event allows people and especially youth that can't afford to play ice hockey to participate. It usually comes down to affordability, but they love the game," Dow says. "It allows people to play hockey in a real tournament and a real competition setting and that is probably the biggest reward for me is when I get a parent that can say how excited the kids are because they get to play hockey."
The Moncton tournament takes place from June 6-7 on Assumption Boulevard. For more information on the event, visit www.playon.ca
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