The annual Hockey for Hospice tournament is back for a 26th run, with 227 games scheduled this week.
The tournament, which started as a small skate-a-thon in Tecumseh, Ont., sees 124 teams playing in four arenas across the region this year.
More than $4.1 million has been raised through prior tournaments — with more than $2.7 million going straight to the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County ($1.6 million pays for tournament expenses).
Participating players, like 11-year-old Nathan Fish, fundraised in the weeks leading up to puck drop.
“It’s fun and for a good cause,” Fish said.
His team was one of the first in action Tuesday as the tournament got underway, with Fish assisting on a couple goals, and his teammate, 12-year-old William Monterrosa, scoring five times.
“It’s a new record for me,” Monterrosa said. “But it’s not a big, big thing.”
Behind the scenes of the whole three-day contest, volunteers like Paul Pietraszko said players like those two make it all worth it.
“I get a little wound up before but once you start seeing the pledges come in, you relax and you realize this is what it’s all about,” said Pietaszko, who’s been a part of the tournament since the very beginning.
Hockey for Hospice ran Dec. 27, 28 and 29 — with games being played at the Libro Credit Union Centre in Amherstburg, Essex Centre Sports Complex in Essex, Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex in LaSalle, and Tecumseh Arena in Tecumseh.
Organizers say all the players, their parents and supporters helped to raise more than $500,000 this year.
