Kincardine welcomes return of regional Silver Stick tournament

The 35th annual Kincardine regional Silver Stick hockey tournament began Tuesday, with games played all day at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine, the Tiverton Sports Centre and the Ripley-Huron Community Centre.

The official opening ceremonies were held Tuesday evening at the Davidson Centre, just prior to the game between the Kincardine Under-15 (U15) Kinucks and the Listowel Cyclones, in the “B” division.

The dignitaries were piped in by members of the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band, including Jennifer Farrell, Dave Wilson, Lisa Moore, Bob Bale and Dale Shewfelt.

Nikki Bauman, president of the Kincardine Minor Hockey Association, then welcomed everyone to the Silver Stick event. She also thanked the sponsors, the coaches, the teams and their families, the officials, and the volunteers for their help in making the tournament a success.

Quinn Smith sang “O Canada,” Kincardine mayor Kenneth Craig did the ceremonial puck-drop, and the game was under way.

Kincardine did well against a hard-hitting Listowel team, taking a 3-1 win.

Tournament director Derrick Burrows said 40 teams are participating in the Silver Stick event, including five U13 “B,” five U15 “B,” 16 U13 “C,’ and 14 U15 “C.” Kincardine has teams in the two “B” divisions, as well as an additional team in the U15 “C” to even out the number of teams.

The Huron-Bruce Blizzard (Ripley and Lucknow players) has teams in the two “C” divisions.

Games continue Thursday and Friday, with the championships set for Friday afternoon at the Davidson Centre.

Follow the schedule and results, at silverstick.org/Tournaments/15678/.

In other Silver Stick news,

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) recently presented a cheque for its sponsorship of the Silver Stick tournament, to Burrows.

Plus, members of the Kincardine Legion-sponsored U13 rep team, competing in the Silver Stick tournament, gave back to their title sponsor, Dec. 18, at the Legion dinner, cleaning up and bussing tables.