Minor Hockey Weeks wraps up, event considered a success by organizers

Hundreds of players got the chance to compete in Minor Hockey Week over the past seven days, with the championship games wrapping up the tournament on Sunday.

There were 606 teams registered for the tournament, according to Steve Hogle with Hockey Edmonton. Twenty of those had to drop out before the tournament started and three more dropped out over the course of the week.

“We had a lot of challenges, we knew what the numbers were heading into this so we took a number of extra precautions in a lot of ways,” said Hogle. “All aimed at letting those teams work in cohorts as much as possible, reduce contact with volunteers, have the home teams do more such as the time keeping, handing out medals.

“So overall, we’re really happy with the way things have played out.”

Minor Hockey Week is one of the longest-running minor hockey tournaments in the world, according to Hockey Edmonton.

According to Hogle, parents were happy the tournament was back this year because of how important it is for the physical and mental wellbeing of the kids playing.

“Especially after missing out last year, the parents and players were so excited this was back that it just really hammered home the concept that we have to follow these measures to ensure that we get these games played,” added Hogle.

Out of the 804 games scheduled for the tournament, only 40 had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 cases.