Puck drops tomorrow on Soo Pee Wee 'Extravaganza' tournament

Young hockey players ranging from the U9 to U15 age categories will be competing in the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League Extravaganza tournament at several local rinks from Thursday, Feb. 9 to Sunday, Feb. 12.

The SPWHL has held the annual tournament for years but this year’s tournament has an added feature.

“We’ve never done an opening ceremony and other tournaments have been doing them and we liked the idea so we wanted to start doing that, just to kick it off and make it more public. More and more families are involved now and we’ve filled the stands,” said Amy Tolin, tournament director.

Though the action begins on Thursday, Tolin, an Algoma Steel representative and Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker will be at the official red carpet opening ceremony -  Shoemaker to drop the puck - at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10  at the YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena.

97 teams are participating in the tournament.

“It’s probably one of the biggest tournaments we’ve had,” Tolin said.

Teams from the Sault and area, Sudbury and area, Hearst, Cochrane and North Bay will be competing.

YNCU and Algoma Steel are the tournament’s biggest sponsors.

The YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena Pro Shop will provide Player of the Game $20 gift cards. 

Team Essentials will provide prizes for hat tricks and shutouts and provide tournament apparel, Tolin said.

There is an added post-COVID lockdown buzz of excitement among the players, parents and organizers surrounding this year’s tournament.

“I think that’s what it is, 100 per cent,” Tolin said.

“For the last couple of years people haven’t been able to get out and do the normal tournaments and they've been staying in their own cities or surrounding areas, so this year I feel like there’s a big surge in interest in the tournament.”

This year also marks the first time the tournament has included U15 teams, Tolin said.

Medals will be presented for winning teams and runner up teams in each age category.

Northside Volkswagen, Bulk Barn, LBMX, Reyco, Dr. Floreani, O'Toole & Dool Orthodontists are a few of many Sault entities that have teams in the tournament.

The majority of the teams are all-male with some female players on their rosters but the tournament also includes the all-female Wildcats team.

Admission to the games is free.

Games will be held at the YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena, Rankin Arena, both rinks at the John Rhodes Community Centre, McMeeken Arena and GFL Memorial Gardens.

All finals will be played at the YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena except for the U9 final game that will be played at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The tournament schedule and more information about the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League Extravaganza can be found on the tournament’s website.