Nearly 80 former South Delta Minor Hockey Association players will be back on “home” ice this weekend looking to score big for the Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation (DHCHF)
The inaugural South Delta Minor Hockey Charity Event will see six alumni teams hit the ice this Saturday in three separate games at the Ladner Leisure Centre starting at 1:25 p.m. Through sponsorships, more than $11,000 has already been raised with all proceeds going to the DHCHF and SDMHA.
The event was the idea of SDMHA alumni Matt Ryan. It didn’t take long for the association and City of Delta to come onboard. There is even a hometown flavor in the beer garden with Four Winds Brewery providing the post-game beverages.
“I thought of it after always seeing guys I used to play with on different beer league teams. We would skate to centre ice and ask how things were going,” explained Ryan. “After doing it a bunch of times I thought this would be a nice way to get everyone back together again and turn it into a charity thing.”
The initial thought was making it a day-long tournament with teams playing a number of mini-games against each other. However, some stick handling was required to work around the current COVID-19 health restrictions which resulted in three “event” games instead.
Ryan even spent some time at his parents place going through some old Optimist articles on his former minor hockey teams to come up with more players that might be interested in participating.
The teams will mostly feature players in their 30s to early 50s. They have also been matched up on potential skill level, with one team featuring a number of former major junior players.
Among the number of sponsors steeping up is local realtor Allison Steen.
“Her dad Bill Steen was a huge minor hockey guy in the community,” added Ryan. “She heard about this and called me directly to sponsor as a tribute to her dad. I’ve been hearing a lot of stuff like that, which is super neat.”
Games at 2:55 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. round out Saturday’s schedule.
A $20 family admission includes entry into a raffle that features an autographed Thatcher Demko jersey among a number of prizes. For more information and to be a part of Saturday’s event visit here.
