The 33rd annual Estevan Strippers Spring Bust hockey tournament concluded on April 12 as 36 teams competed over five days.
Teams started the tournament on April 8, and competed in all three Estevan rinks; Affinity Place, Icon Centre and the Civic Auditorium
There were eight divisions that made up the tournament. The Century 21 (women’s), Bill Dutton and Ray Frehlick (45-plus) made up three of the divisions. And the Westmoreland Coal, Days Inn, Einar/Rod Fagerheim Memorial, Tap House and Preston Meyer Memorial made up the final five divisions in the 30-plus category.
The tournament began with a round robin-round before the gold medal games.
The Century 21 division featured two pools of six teams. The Estevan Wildcats and Melville Moneybags won both of their round robin games, and met in the division final.
The game came right down to the wire and extra time was needed when the score was knotted at one after regulation. The Moneybags scored on a short-handed goal to win 2-1 in overtime.
The OHL Hooters beat the Bienfait Bulldogs 2-1 in the third place game, and the Oxbow Hot Dogs defeated the Swan Valley Extreme 7-4 in the fifth place game.
In the gold medal game of the Preston Myer Memorial Division, the Estevan Cougars overcame the Oxbow Coyotes 8-3. There were eight different goal scorers for the Cougars: Kelly Kjersem, Darren Pushie, Corey Semenuik, Riley Mishke, Dan Crooks, Jason Ellis Brad Wilhelm and Rene Blanchette all scored.
The Woodley Whites won 4-3 against the Regina Blackhawks in the bronze medal game.
Other medal games in the 30-plus category included, the Souris Valley Sioux defeating the Estevan Tower Wolves 7-4. The Sioux had a commanding 5-2 lead after the first period and held on to it in the second. Dave Odgers had a hat trick for the Sioux, while Jeff Clausen scored twice.
Jason Kuchinka had the other goal, as the Sioux went undefeated in the tournament.
Billy Lester, Jesse Lester, Josh House and Sheldon Beatty scored for the Tower Wolves.
The Carnduff Chiefs defeated the Torquay Hoppers 10-4.
In The Einar/Rod Fagerheim Memorial division, the Estevan Flyers beat the Estevan Tap House Rookies 6-3, and the Flyers went undefeated in the tournament. Mike Merriman lead the scoring for the Flyers with two goals; and Kerry Biette, Brian Dueck, Troy Moroz and Brett Blackstock had the other tallies.
Jeff Young scored all three goals for the Rookies.
The Avonlea Antiques edged the Regina Nordies 5-4 in the bronze medal game.
The Carlyle PureChem Hawks went undefeated in the round-robin and they beat the Estevan Vikings 5-2 in the Days Inn division gold medal game.
Todd Holt had two goals for Carlyle, while Mike Smith, Pat Spagrud and Mike Currie had the other goals. Kyle Mulligan and Trevor Diechert had the two Viking goals.
In the bronze medal game, The Alameda Red Army had a 5-4 victory over the Regina Piranhas.
The Estevan Eclipse overcame the Estevan Sharks 5-3 in the Tap House division gold medal game. The Eclipse had a narrow 2-1 lead after the first, but three goals scored in the second helped them win the game. Keven Kuntz and Chris Hammet had two goals each for the Eclipse and Wade Young had the other goal.
Darren Romanyk, Chris Walsh and Adrian Fraser scored for the Sharks.
In the bronze medal game the Weyburn Thrashers defeated the Estevan Red Army 8-6.
Also, in the 30-plus category the Balgonie Olys were a no-show in the Tap House division and the Estevan Red Army replaced them at the last minute. The first game that Balgonie was scheduled to play was forfeited and the Red Army played in the final two round-robin games as well as the medal round.
In the 45-plus category, the Regina Slow Shots and the Weyburn Ambassadors went undefeated in their pools in the Ray Frehlick division, and Regina overcame Weyburn 5-3 in the gold medal game.
The Ambassadors led 3-1 after the first period, but four unanswered goals by Regina led to their victory. Todd Gable had two tallies for Regina, and Greg Bourassa, Stephane Langlois and Lance Kirkpatrick all had singles.
The first period goals for Weyburn were scored by Brad Hanson, Greg Happ and Brent Stephanson.
In the bronze medal game, the Estevan Viking 45s defeated the Energy City Wings 7-2 and the Brandon North 40 edged out the Woodley White 45s 4-3 in the fifth place game.
For the Bill Dutton Division the teams just played the round robin and were placed by the most amount of points.
The Estevan Capitals went undefeated to earn first place, the Estevan Tower Wolves 45s were the runner ups and the Indian Head Saints and Yorkton Old Relics placed third and fourth respectively.
Also awards were handed out after the tournament.
The Oldest Player Award, which goes to a player who had not previously won the honour, went to Gary Ewen of the Brandon North 40, who is 68 years-old.
The Tap House Sportsmanship Trophy, which goes to a team that played three games and had the fewest penalty minutes, was given to the Melville Moneybags since they had no penalty minutes.
The Torquay Hoppers and the Oxbow Coyotes both earned the James Schroeder Memorial Sportsmanship Trophy, which goes to a team with four games played,. They each had four penalty minutes each.
During the tournament there was a silent auction and $6,220 was raised. The Strippers will also be donating $5,000 towards the Saskatchewan Summer Games that will be held in Estevan.
Next year's tournament will be held April 6 to 10.
