The Pincher Creek Oldtimers 35th Annual Tournament was held at the MCC arena from Friday January 24 through Sunday January 26.
12 teams competed in three 4-team divisions, with players coming from Pincher Creek, Elk Valley, Fort Macleod, Piikani, Lethbridge, Calgary, and parts unknown. The youngest participant was 35 (the youngest age allowed), and the oldest was over 60. The youngest player was born the first year of the tournament.
The Withdrawls won the A division, the Nighthawks won the B division, and the Rats won the C division.
The tournament is largely about maintaining the joy of playing hockey for the participants, and about getting together with friends, family and old teammates and adversaries. It was also an excellent chance for kids and grandkids to support their elders, including some local junior hockey players who came out to support their coaches.
Camfield (Lethbridge)
A total of 18 games were played over the course of the three day event. Each game was composed of a 25 minute period and a 20 minute period, with run time in effect when necessary to keep the tournament on schedule. A mickey shootout followed each game, with five players from each team taking their best shot against the opposing goalie. Sometimes the goalies took a turn at each other. The team that won the shootout earned themselves a mickey, often a more coveted prize than an actual win. Roughing and fighting were heavily discouraged. No checking. No centre line. CARHA rules were in effect.
Pincher Creakers
Dan Crawford of host team the Pincher Creakers participates annually. "I'm so glad that they let me keep playing with them," he said with a catch in his throat and a grin on his face. "We won the first mickey, lost the second mickey," he added, not particularly concerned about whether his team won or lost the actual games. Which is a good thing, given their actual record. "It's not all about winning and losing, it's all about having fun." Crawford estimated the median age of the Creakers to be mid-50's.
Photos:
One of the highlights of the weekend was the Saturday night dinner at the Pincher Creek Community Hall. Several participants remarked that the hardest game of the weekend was the first one on Sunday morning after the dinner. Organizer Roland Milligan thanked everyone that provided food throughout the tournament and for the dinner. He also thanked the referees, sponsors and those that donated door prizes. "I'd like to thank the teams for coming and participating in our tournament," he added. "If we didn't have all those teams we wouldn't have a tournament, and we like to put on a good show for everyone."
Veteran Creaker Grant McNab recently suffered a stroke, from which he is still recovering. "As a community fundraiser, we are running a silent auction for him, and his family," explained Milligan at the dinner event. Dan Crawford later said that that close $5,000 has been raised towards that goal.
Comedian Brian Stollery
After the dinner was concluded the doors were opened to the general public. Stand up comedians Brian Stollery and Terry Hollas entertained the large crowd. Their acts pulled from a wide variety of experiences and themes, but hockey-based humor was the core theme of the show. Each of them had the crowd laughing heartily.
Wendy Kay and Tammy Rubbelke at comedy event
There was some comedy on the ice earlier in the evening as well. During the last game of Saturday night, with 5 minutes left in the game, a puck shot up at the ceiling and shattered a light, raining broken glass onto the ice. The Booze Blues and the Nighthawks worked together with the ref, using hockey sticks and a broom to clean the glass up.
The Olsons (from all over)
Olson Team matriarch Lil Olson was present to cheer her team on. "Oh, the boys had a wonderful time, it was a good time," she said. Lil and her late husband Herman Olson loved hockey, and a dynasty was created. Herman died July 27, 2004. The Olson team honours Herman by wearing his number #12 under their helmet logo, which was designed around his helmet. "They had three memorial hockey tournaments in memory of Herman, in '05, '06 and '07," Lil explained. "He played hockey in '45. He played hockey in 7 decades." Cal "Pappy" Olson was Herman's oldest son. "He was born in 32, and started playing hockey in 41, when he was just young, he played in the 40's, the 50's, the 60's, the 70's, the 80's, the 90's, and into the 2000s," he said.
Pappy presiding over the Olsons bench
In 2011 Pappy decided to put the team back into commission in the Oldtimers tournament. "The guys thought it was awesome. We played in '12, we missed '13 because some of the brothers couldn't make it. This year we're back again, and next year again."
Most of those playing for the Olsons have some relation to the family. "She (Lil) adopted one of them, Tyler-son," Pappy said. "Then we have Herbie-son and Stacey-son. Those are the only ones we've got that aren't related."
The Olsons are still making hockey players. "Kevin's son is two and a half, and he has a stick with him most of the time."
Pappy was unable to play this year due to a shoulder injury, but he was as constant a presence at the rink as ever, as Coach for the Olsons and as a spectator of the other games.
Jeff Innes was having a good time at the tournament. "We are the Mystery Men. We played pretty good last night, but we didn't win the drink. That's disappointing. It's really like a tie. Today we played the Creakers, the home team, and we tied them, but we won in the shoot out this time. We never know who's going to show up, that's why we're called the Mystery Men. Half of us are from Lethbridge, the other half are from Pincher. Basically, we just show up, and it's 'Hey, hi, I'm Jeff' or whatever."
"We just meet everybody on day one and that's it. It's always a good time. It's a good tournament."
The Banshees (Pincher Creek)
Kyle Blood was netminder for the Banshees. "Originally we were the Chiefs, but we call ourselves the Banshees," he said, explaining the discrepancy between their jerseys and their current name. This was his first time lacing up this season. The Banshees lost their games but won the mickey shoot out on Friday thanks to Kyle (we talked with him on Saturday). "Yeah, that was awesome." He spends a fair bit of time being a hockey dad these days, and announces games when he can. He plans to play more later this year. "At the beginning of April there's a big hockey tournament in Cochrane. I think there's about a hundred teams." "It's fun. I was thinking about hanging up the skates after this year, but after playing, I think I have about five more years, ten more years..."
The Booze Blues (Fort Macleod)
Final rankings:
(win = 2 points, tie = 1 point, loss = 0 points)
A Division
Withdrawls 5 points - Goals for 16, against 14
Brown Stars 4 points - Goals for 17, against 9
Castaways 3 points - Goals for 14, against 7
Rusty Blades 0 points Goals for 9, against 26
B Division
Nighthawks 6 points - Goals for 16, against 4
Olsons 4 points - Goals for 11, against 7
Booze Blues 2 points - Goals for 8, against 18
Camfield 0 points - Goals for 5, against 13
C Division
Rats 6 points - Goals for 18, against 8
Mystery Men 3 points - Goals for 15, against 13
Creakers 3 points - Goals for 11, against 13
Banshees 0 points - Goals for 8, against 18
The games:
Olsons vs Booze Blues Olsons won 7 - 1, and won the shootout
Castaways vs Brown Stars Tied 2 - 2, Castaways won the shootout
Creakers vs Rats Rats won 6 - 3 but lost the shootout, MVPs Creakers Len Hilliar and Rats Richard Pinaroc
Mystery Men vs Banshees Mystery Men won 8-3, Banshees won the shootout, Banshees MVP Kevin Sassa
Rusty Blades vs Withdrawls Withdrawls won 7 - 6
Canfield vs Nighthawks Nighthawks won 5 - 1, Camfield won the shootout, MVPs Camfield Joe Rougean and Nighthawks Dan Robertson
Creakers vs Mystery Men Tied 3 -3 , Mystery Men won shootout, MVPs Creakers Marty and Mystery Men Brett Stimson
Banshees vs Rats Rats won 5 - 1, Rats won shootout, MVPs Rats Ian Fraser and Banshees Kevin Fujita*
Castaways vs Rusty Blades Castaways won 8 - 0, MVPs Castaways Trevor Kipling and Rusty Blades Gene Olsen
Camfield vs Olsons Olsons won 3 - 2, MVPs Kevin Olson and Camfield McKee
Brown Stars vs Withdrawls Tied 4 - 4, Withdrawls won shootout, MVPs Withdrawls Rod McKenzie and Brown Stars Razer North Peigan
Booze Blues vs Nighthawks Nighthawks won 9 -2 and won shootout, MVPs Booze Blues Dave Cook and Nighthawks Andy McIntyre
Rats vs Mystery Men Rats won 7 - 4, Mystery Men won shootout
Brown Stars vs Rusty Blades Brown Stars won 11 - 3 and won shootout, MVPs Browns Chubby and Rusty Blades Gene Olsen
Booze Blues vs Camfield Drillers Booze Blues won 5 - 2, also won shootout, MVPs Booze Blues Danny Smith and Drillers Shaun Van Buren
Creakers vs Banshees Creakers won 5 - 4 MVPs Banshees Chad Kuzyk* and Creakers Dan Crawford
Olsons vs Nighthawks Nighthawks won 4 - 1, MVPs Nighthawks Andy McIntyre and Olsons Tyler-son Borthwick
Castaways vs Withdrawls Withdrawls won 5 - 4 , MVPs Withdrawls Jerry Poelman and Castaways Steve Radvak
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