There is a variation on ice hockey called road, street or ball hockey and it resonates with most Canadians. When there was no ice or a January thaw forced them off rinks, they took their game to the street. One Canadian has turned this proclivity into a movement that has linked itself to Hockey Day In Canada, a CBC annual national paean to the game.
Scott Hill, director and founder of the Hockey Night in Canada Play On! street hockey tournament, says that the tournament has had some fits and starts in the past but now is billed as Canada’s largest annual sports festival (Ross Romaniuk, Winnipeg Sun, May 21, 2010). He can say that because the qualifying tourneys involved 16 Canadian cities coast to coast from May through August and has more than 225,000 participants.
It started modestly in 2003 in Halifax with 121 teams and it was growing until sponsorship problems caused it to cancel in 2006. Finally CBC got on board in 2008 and sponsors like Scotiabank, Booster Juice, SportChek and KFC gave it a national footing.
"It's just such a pure, sweet game," said Scott Hill who named the trophy after the very street where he played ball hockey growing up (Brandon Hicks, "Street Hockey:The Game At Its Purest," www.cbcsports.ca, Feb. 7, 2011).
Rules For Street Hockey
Part of the rejuvenation of Play On! hockey can be attributed to the wide net cast by flexible divisions and simple rules.
- there are four main divisions, Tidbit for kids under seven, both male and female; youth which is further sub-divided into six age groups, both male and female, from nine and under to 19 and under; adult with male, female, coed (at least 2 females) and 35+; and Elite who qualify for the National Redwood Trophy.
- division names are evocative too, such as Grinders, Snipers, Muckers and Contenders.
- each team needs four minimum and seven maximum players. If the intensity and speed that the Elites showed in Victoria was any indication, sub-ins were necessary and most teams had seven players dressed.
- there are only two pages of rules all geared to ensuring a fast and flowing 30-minute game. For instance, there are no penalties just penalty shots, no stalling tactics, and zone clearing after a goal instead of faceoffs.
There is even one rule about rain which states that teams will play on. In fact Katie DeRosa (Times Colonist, Feb. 13, 2010) wrote that this year's final was worthy of Rule 38, played in "pounding rain and the kind of wind that blows your umbrella inside out that gave the national championship a distinctly West Coast feel."
Results of the 2011 Redwood Trophy Tournament
Over 3,200 teams competed for this trophy through qualifying rounds and 60 made it to the tournament in Victoria. There were six women's teams and the Calgary Rheotech Mud Puppies beat out the Vancouver Wellwoods, 5-1. The women won $2,500.
The men's final was a thrilling game with the Montreal Royal tying the game in the last 30 seconds only to lose the shootout to the Vancouver Ball Hoggz, 6-5, who also won the 2010 title. They won $20,000.
Past champion (2009) Surrey Satans were back but lost to eventual finalist Montreal in the third round. Others like the Halifax Pre-Emptive Strike, Slave Lake Sting, Vancouver Goon Squad and Edmonton Sweaty Yetis will also have to wait until next year.
By the way, the Acadia Bullets, competing in their second national championship won their first game ever on Friday, but lost their next two.
Scott Hill has tapped into a common experience of hockey that has united so many. The utter joy of ball hockey erupting on Vancouver streets after the Canadians won the gold medal game of the 2010 Olympics and the quarter million competing in the 2011 Play On! events are each proof of street hockey's draw.
James Ellsworth - Now I am a Feature Writer for Suite 101 where I have almsot 60 articles. Also I am contributing regularly to Senior Living magazine.
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