Annual CCM Summer Shootout hockey tournament brings 24 teams to Moncton

Young hockey players took over the ice in Moncton, N.B., this Labour Day weekend.

A total of 24 teams from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Quebec were in town for the annual CCM Summer Shootout tournament.

“We have four different divisions going by birth years 2015 to 2012. It’s some really great hockey. It’s amazing how good these players are now at such a young age,” said Atlantic Hockey Group president, Charlie Bourgeois.

The weekend is designed to give kids one last weekend of hockey fun before school starts up and to help prepare players for the upcoming minor hockey season.

Although the game is at the forefront, Bourgeois says there is a bigger take away for the teams involved.

“For us it’s all about providing a great hockey experiences and to play at the highest level of play. It’s important for me to add that for us what’s most important is teaching life skills. We use hockey as a tool to teach respect, discipline, hard work, team work, how to be a good winner, and how to be a good loser,” he said.

Adding, “We’re very fortunate. It starts with our parents and our coaches, we have a great group of people that join our program and they share our vision and philosophy.”

Bourgeois says the Atlantic Hockey Group could only allow 24 teams to participate due to the amount of ice time they were able to secure.

While he says only two of the teams this weekend were female, promoting women in hockey is an important initiative.

“This past spring our program featured 42 female teams and I’m a father of two female playing hockey daughters and they went on the play high level hockey so I am all in on female hockey,” said Bourgeois.

The three-day tournament wrapped up on Sunday with some games being played at both the Superior Propane Centre and the Avenir Centre.

The Atlantic Hockey Group will now start preparing for its CCM Winter Academy, which Bourgeois says will see over 600 students on the ice in October.

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