More than 100 hockey players descended on Barrhead over the weekend to take part in the final hockey tournament of the year at the Agrena.
The Barrhead Old Vets Annual Invitational Hockey Tournament drew 12 teams from communities near and far, including Westlock, Sundre, Onoway and High Prairie, among others.
“We’ve been holding the tournament for more than 20 years,” said Shannon Carlson, one of the many people who helped put together the tournament.
The event is a “last hurrah” of sorts for the Old Vets, a fun way to end their season, he said.
Since the tournament began, Carlson said it’s usually had 12 teams take part. In recent years, the collection of teams has undergone a shift to a collection of six men’s teams and six women’s teams.
“It really took off when we went to six and six,” he said. “It’s much more fun mixed.”
While the general point of the weekend is to have a last bit of fun at the rink before the ice is ripped out for the summer, Carlson said there is more to it than that — the tournament also serves as a fundraiser for community groups.
There is a Saturday night dinner and dance, as well as raffles, which aim to raise money for charities and other community groups, like the FCSS, said team member Mark Thiesen.
All 12 teams are divided into four pools of three teams each — two pools of men’s teams and two pools of women’s teams.
Each team played the other two teams in their pool, then a crossover game against the team in the other pool that finished in the same place. That guaranteed each team played three games over the four-day event, Carlson said.
For the Old Vets themselves, they had an up and down tournament, Thiesen said.
In their opening game against the Rich Valley men, the Old Vets were in charge from beginning to end, running away with the game in a 10-0 win.
The second game did not go the Old Vets’ way. They fell behind 7-0 to High Prairie before breaking the goose egg. However, it was too little, too late as High Prairie went on to win the game 9-3.
“They’re a very good team,” Thiesen said.
Those split decisions put the Old Vets in second place in their pool, matching them up against Linaria in their final game. It was the closest game the men played all weekend, and they came out on top by a 4-2 score.
After the final game, Thiesen spouted all the well-worn clichés about the team’s performance.
“We battled hard and gave it 110 per cent and all that,” he said. “We had fun, and that’s the key.”
Thiesen also explained who the Old Vets are and what kind of league they play in, which is to say no real league at all. Instead, he said the team of men mostly over 30 get together with teams in the area and play short, home-and-away series with them through the winter.
“It’s friendly fun, but it’s also competitive,” he said.
