Alexis Mulligan of the Kishora team looks to get to a loose puck along the end boards before Montague’s Alyta Vandenbroek during a game in the Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School hockey tournament at Community Gardens earlier this week. The Kishora team is comprised of players from Kensington and Kinkora.
That’s when the girls and boys’ championship games will be played in the Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School (KISH) hockey tournament.
“Saturday night is going to be a lot of fun, and there should be great crowds here” said KISH principal and tournament organizer Donald Mulligan. “We have championship games.
“All the families will be here, the communities will be here and I know at UPEI the last couple of years it was a lot of fun to go in there. There were great crowds, a lot of anticipation and lots of excitement.”
This is the fourth year for the high school tournament, and the first time KISH has been the host school. Bluefield High School ran it for the first three years.
“Bluefield felt they had their run with it and they offered it to me at Kensington,” explained Mulligan. “I talked to the staff, we have lots of hockey fans on staff, so we decided we would pick it up this year and see how it goes.”
The non-checking tournament features 13 teams – eight boys and five girls. Male AA and A players and all female players are eligible to play.
“Bluefield’s goal was to make it a friendship and fun tournament, and we’re continuing that on because it’s worked the last three years,” said Mulligan. “It’s only a week and is a tournament, but it’s a lot of fun. It brings everyone together for a few days at the end of the hockey season.”
Play began on Monday evening, and games are being played at arenas throughout the province all week to cut down on travel.
Mulligan agreed with the assessment that the high school hockey tournament appears to build school spirit.
“It certainly has,” he added. “When I was (principal) in Kinkora, it was pretty amazing when our boys won the tournament two years ago. The whole community of Kinkora was there behind us.
“The way it has been set up the small schools can compete with the big schools and it’s been great for a lot of the communities.”
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