Hockey teams from across the Pontiac and beyond faced off against each other in what was the 11th annual Coupe Pontiac Hockey tournament this weekend, hosted at the Centre de loisirs des Draveurs hockey arena in Fort Coulonge.

The three-day fundraising event for the arena saw 25 teams compete in three-on-three games across three divisions.

For the second year in a row, the Danford Lakers won first place in the opening division, with a score of 4-3 against the Old Mob Crew.

The SC Messagerie won a decisive 7-2 victory against the Knights for first place in the A division, and the Punishers took the victory in the B division against Napa de Jeunes in overtime with a final score of 5-4.

Ryan Peck, a player for the Lakers, said he enjoyed the chance to participate in the tournament and support the arena. For him and his team, playing a three-on-three tournament is a rare opportunity.

“You don’t play three-on-three every day. But it’s fun. It’s a lot of action,” Peck said. “I think it [the competition] was better than last year. Some really, really close games. So every game we were fighting for it.”

The fundraising event also featured music from DJ Noy, Upstream Dave, DJ Martin Leguerrier, and DJ Paul Leblanc, providing entertainment upstairs in the Lion’s hall late into Friday and Saturday night.

Danick and Joel Boisvert, organizers of the event for the last 11 years, see the tournament as a way to give back to the community.

The event originally started as a high school project, where they were asked to create a fundraising event for the community.

The pair, along with the help of the Coupe Pontiac committee, have been able to refine and improve the event to raise over $100,000 for the arena in the last 11 years.

The Coupe Pontiac committee expects to raise over $10,000 dollars this year, which according to Joel, will go towards upgrading the refrigeration system in the arena.

“It’s a big expense, tournaments like this just help out to keep the rink going,” Joel said. “If there wasn’t any events like this throughout the year, we probably wouldn’t have a rink.”

“It’s rewarding for us,” Danick added. “Because both of us can profit off the rink. We [get to] play two times a week in our small town. Most of the guys have kids that play. We want to keep the rink going for future generations.”

The Danford Lakers emerged victorious in the Open Division of the Coupe Pontiac 3-on-3 hockey tournament in a tight 4-3 game. The SC Messagerie team won the A Division and The Punishers team won the B Division. Sitting down is Nathan Filadelfi. Front row, left to right: Devon Thompson, Cole Peck and Nolan Peck. Back row: Garth McLaughlin, Nic Carroll, Carter Peck, Luke Peck, Ryan Peck and Jeremy Maisonneuve.

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