After filling up on turkey on Christmas Day, more than 50 young hockey players battled for some more turkey at a fun holiday tournament last week.
The Sunshine Coast Arena played host to the Turkey Bowl youth nine-a-side tournament Dec. 28 and 29.
A total of six teams took part, with the teams split into two divisions of three. Each team was made up of bantam and midget players with the idea of having two players from each division on the ice at all times.
Teams played each other once in their divisions and then crossed over, playing the other division in playoffs.
When all the ice chips had settled, the squad led by James Hamilton defeated the Cory Charleton team in the final.
Tournament leading scorer was Callum Vaughn with 10 points. James was the top goalie, and Brady Bjornson was named MVP.
Tournament organizer Tom Poulton said he was pleased with the event and hopes to make the tournament an annual affair.
"Everyone said they had a good time," Poulton said. "We added a few different things like penalty shots at the ends of the periods instead of penalty minutes, and we also played points per period. It was fairly intense and the games were all pretty close and well played."
Poulton pointed out the efforts of a number of volunteers who helped contribute to the event, including Jay Pomfret, Tracey Forrest and Deirdre Brown.
"To make tournaments go and run successfully, you have to have great volunteers," Poulton said. "Jay especially was a huge help. He recruited a lot of the players. It was a great event, and I'd like to thank everyone who participated."
