For the first time in years, the Estevan Minor Hockey Association hosted a midget tournament for house league teams, and used it to remember a dedicated local hockey player.
The inaugural Aaron Lavoie Memorial Hockey Tournament ran from Friday to Sunday at Affinity Place and the Power Dodge Ice Centre. Eight teams were entered.
The tournament was named after Aaron, who died suddenly in February. He was a member of the midget Wolves hockey team when he passed away, and scored the game-winning goal for Estevan in a provincial midget A hockey game the day before he died.
A ceremonial puck drop took place Friday evening before the game between the Estevan Wolves and the Indian Head Chiefs.
Aaron’s brothers Landon, Jordan and Cameron dropped the puck for the faceoff.
“Aaron Lavoie, also known as Air Bud, was an amazing soul. He loved hockey. He played with heart and a competitiveness that never went unnoticed. He was always there for his teammates with a timely pass, timely hit to make a play and of course, a quick joke to make us laugh,” said Dalton Giblett, who paid tribute to Aaron before the game.
He also loved spending time with friends, travelling on road trips and creating shenanigans in the hotel rooms when on the road.
“If there was a story to be told, Aaron was usually involved,” Gibblett said.
Landon said his family was honoured that the tournament was named after his brother, and Aaron had many friends playing in the competition.
“On behalf of our family, we wish everyone the best of luck, and most importantly, have fun,” said Landon.
Jason Fenwick, who coached Aaron in minor hockey, said the decision was made to name the tournament after Aaron because he grew up here, his family was from Estevan and he loved the game.
“His most favourite part of the year was the tournaments,” said Fenwick. “He couldn’t wait for tournaments. When we decided to have this tournament, it was a no-brainer to name it after Aaron for his love of tournaments and competition play.”
As for the tournament results, the Regina Blues defeated the Esterhazy Flyers 6-3 in the A final, the Estevan Bears won 7-0 over the Weyburn Red Wings in the B final, the Yorkton Terriers knocked off the Wolves 6-2 in the C Final, and the Swift Current Wild defeated the Chiefs 4-1 in the D final.
The Wolves went 1-2 in the round robin. They opened with a 6-0 win over the Chiefs, and then they lost 8-3 to Esterhazy and 6-3 to Weyburn.
The Bears had a 2-1 record in the round robin, thanks to a 9-5 victory over Swift Current, a 5-4 loss to the Regina Blues and a 2-0 victory over Yorkton.
Fenwick was pleased with how the tournament went.
“It was a very good tournament. There were good teams with good competition. All of the kids were very respectful to each other and they played hard, and they did what Aaron Lavoie would have loved. They just had a lot of fun and made some new friendships and battled hard in every game.”
Members of the Lavoie family were at the tournament to present the winning team with the trophy and their plaque, and they were very supportive all weekend.
He hopes that this tournament can become an annual event for many years to come.
