A Busy Saturday

I spent my entire Saturday out in the sun and excellent weather at the Play On! tournament in Winnipeg. It was a glorious day that started off a little gloomy with weather forecasts calling for rain throughout the day, but Mother Nature decided to be a teammate today as the sun came out later in the day and everyone stayed dry as the rain held off!

Play On! is the largest tournament of its kind on the planet as the 4-on-4 street hockey event travels across Canada to all the major cities. There are different levels of play and age groups that ensure that your group - blossoming NHL stars or kids who play rec floor hockey - find the right age group and skill level. There were some amazing games played over the weekend in a few of the elite level divisions, and I have to say that some of the best teams came from both the co-ed and women's divisions!

As a referee at this event, I had the pleasure of interacting with some of the teams as they played the game, and I was very appreciative of the teams that recognized that there is no Stanley Cup being awarded. The teams that came out and had fun were the teams that were more successful as those with dreams of stardom found out that Play On! is more about fun and teamwork than it is about highlight-reel goals and trying to embarrass another team.

Overall, there were lots of fist bumps, high-fives, and handshakes all Saturday as the teams competed to see where they ranked for Playoff Sunday. All teams were guaranteed three games with their entry fees, and everyone got a shwag bag filled with some great loot. Even the teams that were over-matched in their respective divisions seemed to be some of the better teams to deal with - they came to have fun, and that's the most important part of the Play On! events!

For the HBIC Playoff Pool entrants who may be reading this, because I am away from a computer all weekend, the Round Four pool spreadsheet will go up on Monday morning. I'll also spend whatever Sunday night I have calculating the updated scores. Watch for those Monday because I'm quite certain some of you will be risking points! Keep an eye out for that!

I'll be off the concrete after winners are crowned on Sunday at the Play On! event. Good luck to everyone in the tournament!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!