Jun 05 2016

Kevin Smith brought them, Walter Gretzky keeps them coming back

Annual street hockey tournament continues to fund lung health research

June 5, 2016

Brant News
By Sean Allen

2016 Opening CeremonyNow six years removed from actor-director Kevin Smith’s last appearance at the Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament, its safe to say the dozens of attendees that continue to participate from the View Askew Street Hockey League are big fans of Brantford and Gretzky, too.

The contingent from the VASHL, who attend from all across the eastern U.S. and Canada, grew for the eighth consecutive year at the annual fundraising tournament for the Ontario Lung Association.

The league members were first united in Brantford when Smith attended the tournament in 2009 and 2010. The Hollywood star is a fan of the Gretzky family and wanted the chance to meet and support Walter, who is a leading local booster of the Lung Association.

But even after Smith stopped attending, VASHL players kept on coming back.

The VASHL had 12 teams entered in the tournament  this year. They get their own division to compete for the Walter Gretzky Cup each year.

“We appreciate that you mark this date of in your calendar year after year,” Chad Asselstine from Ball Hockey International said during opening remarks on Saturday. BHi operates the tournament on the logistical side.

Five players from the VASHL have made the trek without miss since 2009 – Darryl Clarke, Mike McCutcheon, Paul Saunders, Mike Duyn and Mike Crandall.

Clarke said the league will continue to come to Brantford every year for a chance to spend some time with Walter and support his cause of the Lung Association.

Every year, the VASHL players get together to come up with a gift for Walter.

This year, they all signed an exclusive new VASHL jersey design, which pays homage to Smith’s Silent Bob character and the Chicago Blackhawks, emblazoned with the signature Gretzky No. 99.

Top-level sponsors, including Turkstra Lumber, Scotiabank, Streetseen Media and BHi, were recognized during the opening ceremonies.

In its 10th edition, the Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament had already raised more than $82,000 for lung health research during its first nine years and also set an official Guinness World Record in 2010 for the largest street hockey tournament.

In total, more than 125 teams spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday competing in ball hockey on 20 rinks located in and around Lions Park in Brantford.

UPDATE

In sharing Brant News’ story on the tournament on Twitter, Kevin Smith promised to return to Brantford to play in the Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament in 2017.

Via Brant News