Some of the golden oldies got together in 100 Mile House and Lac la Hache to play some puck for the Old Stars Hockey Tournament from Nov. 9 to 11.
“Everyone seemed to be happy and having a really good time,” said organizer Greg Aiken. “The games were pretty clean. There wasn’t too many scrimmages or any fights. Everybody seemed to get on pretty well.”
The tournament, sponsored by the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association (CARHA), made up of four divisions is only really for bragging rights as there are no trophies but players get an insurance and prize package from the association. Each prize came with a long-sleeved CARHA shirt this year. In the past, players have received towels, t-shirts, skate mats and other items.
The Kamloops Free Radicals won the 55+ Division, the Busch Leaguers won the 45+ Division, 100 Mule Young Guns won the Women’s Division, and the Ice-Aholics won the Recreational Division.
“We pretty much had mostly the same teams,” said Aiken. “As long as everyone is happy we don’t try to change too much and we got a lot of good feedback.”
He said he also received some constructive criticism, which he will work on for next year.
The biggest concern in the Women’s Division, where some games only had one referee on the ice.
Aiken said the women would rather have two on the ice and he said it was on the top of the list for next year.
He also said he would like to get the women, who play their games in Lac la Hache, more involved in the beer garden. All players get a free beer ticket for the beer gardens per game for a post-game drinking session.
“It’s hard to run a beer garden in two places,” said Aiken, before adding the tournament organizers were looking for a plan to fix it. “It’s been the tradition that the men play in town and the ladies play in Lac la Hache but maybe we have to change things a little bit.”
However, balancing the tournament’s ice time with that of minor hockey and the 100 Mile House Wranglers of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League can be challenging. Aiken said so far, the best fit is to have the women’s teams play in Lac la Hache but they are also looking for different options.
He also mentioned the biggest highlight of the hockey tournament is when someone managed to get a hold of the t-shirt cannon on Sunday afternoon. The person who found it proceeded to launch undergarments onto the ice.
Aiken wanted to thank the Red Rock Grill for catering the banquet on Saturday night, as well as Ken Mills and his security team, the bartending staff, New Age Entertainment and everyone who participated in the tournament and helped make it happen.
