The Prince Rupert Pick-up Hockey League is back in full swing with a brand new fifth team added to meet the high demand for participation.
League organizer Renaud Larose was hard at work over the weeks leading up to the beginning of the season in late September and currently has 90 members, with approximately 15 players on each team.
“I still have guys that want to play,” said Larose mentioning that he couldn’t add a sixth team due to time restrictions on schedule-making and a limited time for ice usage.
The pick-up league which encompasses both male and female players ages 18-and-up, play Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights.
“We’ve got Rampage players and first-timers. We balance all our teams evenly so that each team is evenly matched to the best we can, then we play,” said LaRose.
The five teams that make up the league consist of the Oceanside Sport Thrashers, the Rainbow Chrysler Red Wings, the CW Contracting Hammer Kings, the Hawkair Regulators and the Prince Rupert Grain Flyers.
The top four teams at the end of the season, which runs from September until March, will make the playoffs, with a best-of-three first round (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3) and a best-of-three final. Last year, Rainbow Chrysler won the Cook’s Cup, a title sponsored by Cook’s Jewellers.
This season the league will host its first ever Christmas Classic on a day during the week leading up to Dec. 25 and have a round robin tournament from 6 p.m. until midnight.
“There’s going to be food … it will be a blast,” said Larose.
