Players face off in Wayne and Lucy Eadie Spirit of Hockey tourney

Posted by Greater Sudbury Northern Life 

For those who understand the years of minor sport volunteerism that were involved, the tribute is only fitting. Wayne and Lucy Eadie have been synonymous with the Sudbury Lakers organization for much of the past four decades.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of young hockey players have donned the traditional green, gold and white Laker colours over that time span, an era that often included fielding teams in several different divisions of the Sudbury Minor Hockey Association.

A well-known athlete back in his day, Wayne Eadie had thrown himself head first into team management, working the bingos alongside his wife and countless other helping hands to help fund teams in both minor hockey and club basketball circles.

So when SMHA Board member Tammy Simpson presented the option of creating a new houseleague hockey tournament that would bear the names of two very instrumental cogs in the wheel of minor hockey, the support was unanimous.

February of 2008 unveiled the first edition of the Wayne and Lucy Eadie Spirit of Hockey Tournament and this past weekend, just under 40 teams gathered at three local rinks for the sequel.

Included in this year's field, along with local entries, were teams from Cumberland, Pembroke, Georgina, Timmins, Waterford and North Bay. Six divisional titles were up for grabs.

The Rayside-Balfour Minor Hockey Association swept both ends of the Midget ranks, ironically with both RBMHA squads chalking up 2-0 wins in their championship affairs.

The Rayside Howlers blanked the SMHA Predators on goals from Tayler Ouimet and Eric Samas, while Cody Lachapelle and Mathieu Huneault handled the scoring for the Ice Cats in their win over the Nickel Centre Sting.
A pair of very close finals kicked off play on Sunday afternoon at Cambrian Arena. Valley East Neil's Independent Cobras squeaked past the SMHA Auto Depot crew 4-3 in the Peewee Gold medal encounter as Tyler Kirkey netted the hat-trick, lifting the Cobras to victory.

Jason Fournier rifled home the remaining Valley East goal while Austin Nielsen, Nick Brouillard and Kyle Baron replied in a losing cause for the SMHA crew. A back and forth encounter to decide Atom "B" bragging rights as the Onaping Falls Huskies trim  East Nipissing Dynamic 5-4 in a very exciting final.

Tommy Lacasse, with two, Rian Donovan, Ramsy Bastien and Kyle Allair found the back of the net for the Huskies. Alec Boutilier enjoyed a two-goal effort for Dynamic, with Benoit Cantin and Patrick O'Bonsawin picking up solo markers.

Plenty of scoring in the Atom "A" finale as Val Caron Kwik Way bested the SMHA Ice Bears 7-4, powered in part by a hat trick from Preston St Pierre and two-goal outing courtesy of Nathan Cranley. Cameron Godin and Mathieu Paradis rounded out the scoring for the winners while Alex Guido (2), Nicholas Hechler and Mikka David replied for "Da Bears."

The tournament concluded late Sunday afternoon with the Bantam final as the Copper Cliff Hawks bolted out to a 4-0 first period lead, cruising to a 6-2 win over the SMHA Wildcats as Ryan Martel and Jake Santi paced the way with two goals apiece.

Joshua Burtney and Stefan Dempsey also hit the scoresheet for the Hawks, while Brendan Bulfon and Andrew Cummings answered for the Cats.

Of course, tournament results were not the only buzz about the rinks this past weekend. Roughly one year ago this time, we broke the news that the Nickel City Sons organization had been given NOHA approval to launch a Major Peewee "AAA" team that would compete in a newly-formed four team loop in Northern Ontario.

As some might remember, the ensuing debate mobilized forces on both sides, with many claiming the watered-down effect of having two "AAA" teams in a city our size would simply make it impossible to ever field reasonably competitive entries in all levels but Midget, when it came to provincial playdowns.

In fact, supporters on both sides of the equation often conceded that a single all-encompassing organizational body to oversee "AAA" hockey in Sudbury (perhaps eventually filtering down to all ranks of hockey) made much more sense in the long-run.

So perhaps it should come as no great shock that the parties from both sides have now entered into what is being described as very cordial discussions about the possibility of merging "AAA" under a single umbrella.

While the most recent gathering of the clan occurred just last night, at least some who were present at prior meetings acknowledge that trying to bring it all together before the start of the 2009-2010 campaign may be slightly ambitious.

Still, those that I have chatted with suggest a very positive frame of mind regarding the open nature of the talks to date. And while there are hurdles to overcome, the end result is well worth persevering towards.