The 6th annual Denis-Cormier high school hockey tournament will take place in Saint John from Jan. 26-28.
Officials say it is one of the biggest boys’ high school hockey tournaments in New Brunswick this season.
Twenty-two schools at the AA and AAA levels from both the anglophone and francophone school districts will compete to win the banner for their category and have the honour of getting their names on the Denis-Cormier Trophy.
The tournament honours the values of the late Denis Cormier, who was a leader in his community. Officials said the Saint John francophone community wanted to honour him by offering a fun tournament where fraternity, friendship and a passion for hockey are put forward.
“We started six years ago with just six teams and we are now growing to 22 teams, so the vision was to always go big, so here we are,” said tournament co-president Monique Daigle.
“There was no hockey team at Samuel-de-Champlain while most of the high schools had a team. Cormier’s son was very determined to play hockey at his school. Once the school got a team, Cormier was the manager.
“After he passed away, I don’t think he would have imagined the tournament would’ve been this big, but I’m sure he would’ve been very supportive and happy with the outcome.”
Daigle also said there’s a possibility of university and college scouts in attendance.
Games will take place at the Lord Beaverbrook Rink, Charles Gorman Arena and Peter Murray Arena in Saint John. The opening ceremony is at Lord Beaverbrook on Friday, January 26, at 5:30 p.m.
Daigle added the tournament still needs volunteers. More details can be found by clicking here.
