Several rinks in Moose Jaw and surrounding communities were electric this past weekend, as the 3rd annual Epic Hockey Ice Melt Tournament took over the city.
Just over 50 teams from all over Saskatchewan and a few teams from Manitoba traveled to Moose Jaw to kick off the very short spring hockey tournament season.
Tournament Organizer and the owner of Epic Hockey, Trevor Weisgerber says there were many long days and late nights but overall, the event was a success.
“It turned out well. There were a lot of people at the rinks and the overall feedback was good. There was good hockey all weekend, as most of the finals went into overtime or were one-goal games, which is what you’re hoping for when you’re bringing teams in.”
This year it was bigger and better than ever with more teams and more hockey rinks being utilized. Over the four-day tournament, games were played at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, the Pla-Mor Palaces’ Bert Hunt and Wally Boshuck Arenas, the Barkman Arena in Caronport, Red Knight Arena at 15-Wing Moose Jaw, and the Southland Co-op Centre in Assiniboia.
“The city kept the rinks open longer pretty much just for the tournament. The Bert Hunt and Wally B were huge, that was kind of our headquarters with the two rinks. It was super busy there all weekend and the lobby was full.”
The tournament featured both male and female divisions. In the boys' division, it featured players born in 2015 (8-year-olds) all the way down to 2009 (14-year-olds). Also, there was a 2011 (12-year-old) female gold and silver division.
There being so many teams within the tournament, also meant that city saw an economic benefit of the event having people eat, sleep, and play within Moose Jaw.
“Coming in all of the hotels were filled up, and the restaurants and other amenities were being used all weekend.”
In the next few weeks, Weisgerber says they will reach out to all their sponsors to analyze the weekend and get some feedback on the ways to improve the tournament next year.
Weisgerber explains that he already has a list of things that he will be looking at for next year’s tournament.
“A big thing is getting someone in to help with the social media side of things just to get the information out to more people. Another thing is to have more people helping at each rink just so I’m not running around trying to do everything. Also, just trying to shore up some little things. All-in-all there were a few little hiccups but nothing major.”
Teams, parents, and coaches commended Weisgerber and his staff for putting on such an epic tournament to kick off the spring hockey season.
It was a tournament that needed the help of several supporting staff to make it run as smoothly as it did.
“It’s a lot of people, all my coaches, my wife, and my kids helped a ton. It’s a big project to put it on. I’m very thankful for all of them helping out.”
In addition, Weisgerber wanted to say thank you to all the volunteers, coaches, referees, parents, arena staff, and of course, all the community organizations who sponsored the tournament.
The community of Moose Jaw stepped up to help sponsor and promote the event. Subway is one of the major tournament sponsors, along with Visit Moose Jaw, Tunnels of Moose Jaw, and the Crushed Can Rec Room and Bar to name a few.
For next year, Weisgerber is planning on putting together a committee to help with the organization of the tournament.
To see the full results of the four-day tournament visit their website for all the information.