Popular Cape Breton tournament back on the ice from pandemic hiatus
For the first time in two years, the puck has dropped for the 31st edition of the Vince Ryan Memorial Scholarship Hockey Tournament in Cape Breton, N.S.
Teams hit the ice Saturday at the Glace Bay Miners Forum and rinks across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
“It's awesome. It's really, really good, I missed it quite a bit. I'm out today seeing old and new friends,” said Theresa Doucette, a volunteer.
The Vince Ryan was one of the first events to announce its return for 2022.
Catherine Ryan, the widow of the tournament’s namesake, says she couldn't be happier to be back in the rink and cheering for familiar and new faces.
“We missed it terribly. We look forward to it every year. It brings back a lot of memories,” said Ryan.
According to tournament organizers, the event contributes about $5 million into the local economy.
A new store inside the forum couldn't be happier to see people back in the building again.
“Business has been booming with the Vince Ryan returning to the Miners Forum. We've had a lot of people in and out the door, so it’s been great,” said Justine Williamson, store manager.
This year’s tournament features 74 teams from across Nova Scotia.
Usually there are entries from across the country and United States, but organizers wanted to take a cautious approach as COVID-19 restrictions eased.
“They may be teams within our region but many of these are still staying in our hotels and eating in our restaurants and cash registers are ringing, so it's all positive,” said Destination Cape Breton CEO, Terry Smith.
“Of course we'd like to welcome teams back from across the country and we will get there.”
Smith says the winter has been difficult for tourism with the Omicron wave, and he says the island and operators really needed this event to go ahead.
“This is really the first big event that we've seen come back and we have things like the Cabot Trail Relay is coming up and then we will be rolling into summer with kitchen fest and many of our summer festivals,” said Smith.
The Championship games for each division are schedule for Sunday.
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