By Tom Kennedy
Brantford.com

Firstly, in case you didn’t know, good on ya , is an Australian way of saying well done or thanks.

So why would I be thanking well-known filmmaker, director, writer, actor Kevin Smith?

Well, the Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament is just a stone's throw away and, without a doubt, the knowledge that Smith will be fielding a team has brought huge interest to the event and the city.

With just seven days till the event, the news is that registrations for the third annual Walter Gretzky tournament are more than double that of its inaugural year and Pat Shewchuk of the Tournament Capital of Ontario board said she knows all too well that Smith has been a huge draw card.

So far, 85 teams have registered for the tournament and when I spoke to Shewchuk earlier today she said she expected to be receiving more over the weekend despite today being the unofficial deadline.

It seems a lot of those teams would be travelling on the news that Smith and his crew would be competing in the tournament.

Were I not going to be involved in the media side of things, I would surely have planned to be there as a player or a spectator … Wouldn’t you?

Not only is a ball hockey tournament a good way to have fun and raise money for a good cause but you also have the chance to meet Silent Bob . How cool is that?

And as far as his participation and promotion of the event goes, I think he deserves a pat on the back and a round of applause from all those involved in the Brantford sporting community because the whole point of the tournament is to raise money for that very community.

Smith is not only bringing himself, his wife and whole bunch of friends up for the weekend, but is also sponsoring three teams of fans to play as well.

Not to mention, he’s doing all of this while also working on directing his upcoming film A Couple of Dicks, a detective comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.

When he’s done goaltending for his team, Puck U., he will be performing at the Sanderson Centre on June 6.

Smith’s Stocky Night in Canada will feature his popular question and answer style rhetoric as well as a podcast with Canadian film producer and longtime industry friend of Smith, Scott Mosier.

Now what, I hear you ask, is Smith’s motive for travelling to Brantford, fielding teams in the tournament and subjecting his goaltending skills to the scrutiny of hundreds, if not thousands, of fans?

To put it simply, when I spoke to him a while back he said that Wayne Gretzky was a man worthy of a religion and that, similarly, Walter was an amazing person, and that he wanted to give back to the city that produced these amazing people and meet Canada’s best-known hockey Dad.

So he does have a motive but I don’t think anyone will criticize him for bringing huge exposure to the event which now has the potential to continue to grow and raise funds for the city’s sports community.

So from myself and, I’m sure, the local sporting community and the city as a whole:
“Good on ya Kevin Smith.”