The Fish Findlay Classic returned to the Shawville arena this weekend, with 10 teams participating in the three-day hockey tournament.
The tournament, which was started 12 years ago by PHS teacher Darcy Findlay as a fundraiser for the Shawville District Minor Hockey Association (SDMHA), is named after Findlay’s grandfather, a longtime equipment manager for the Shawville Pontiacs Junior B team.
The tournament ran as a 3-on-3 format for most of its history, but last year Findlay shifted to a 5-on-5 format instead, hosting 10 teams across two divisions. This year’s tournament also featured 10 teams playing games from Thursday to Saturday. Team Queale won the B division, while the Redwings won the A division.
“It went well overall, the teams were close, competitive. The finals were tight games to the last few minutes,” said Findlay of the result.
He said this is one of the smaller tournaments he has hosted as the cost of referees and ice time has gone up in recent years.
“Times are tough for people,” Findlay said, adding that the tournament did not offer a cash prize to the winning teams this year.
Nevertheless, he said the tournament raised in excess of $2,800 for the SDMHA, which he said is the entire point of the tournament.
“We’ve been doing it for a dozen years trying to raise money for minor hockey, and a dollar is a dollar. I can sit here and say we’re raising a little bit less every year because expenses are getting higher, [but] it’s still a dollar raised.”
Blake Howarth, captain of the Redwings team, said his team has been in the tournament every year since the beginning, and have become the “old guys” of the tournament. He said the team still enjoys coming out to the tournament to support minor hockey.
“The majority of our guys have either played minor hockey themselves in Shawville, coach, or have a child in Shawville Minor Hockey [ . . . ] We enjoy competing to win championships, you never know which one will be your last,” he said.
Findlay said the tournament would not have been possible without the help of the volunteers who ran the score clock and the front door.
“They stepped up and filled the voids to allow it to happen,” he said.
