The Estevan Strippers' 28th annual Molson Spring Bust hockey tournament opened with one of the host club's toughest losses, and ended with perhaps its most inspiring victory.
Long-time Strippers member Barrie McKinnon died suddenly at his Estevan home on April 7, the opening night of the event.
He was remembered prior to each of Thursday's games with a moment of silence and the Estevan Viking 45s, with whom he had also played, retired his jersey before taking the ice that night.
That jersey came with the 45s to their locker room and to their bench for each game. The 45s went on to win the tournament's Preston Meyer Memorial Division, one of two divisions with a minimum age limit of 45.
"Barrie was full of laughs," Strippers and 45s member Rick Rohatyn said Monday. "He was a very comical guy. He always had a joke in the dressing room always had something to say.
"A lot of times it was controversial, a lot of times it was argumentative, but it was always in good fun."
Those who didn't know McKinnon also got a small glimpse at his personality in the beer gardens, where the Strippers hung their fundraising calendar. Front and centre was a picture of McKinnon riding a Zamboni in the buff, an ear-to-ear grin across his face.
"Anybody out there who knows the Strippers calendar knows the picture of Barrie on the Zamboni," said a smiling Rohatyn.
Sunday the 28 registered teams got down to the semi-serious business of determining this year's champions.
There, it was the Avonlea Antiques toughing out a 7-5 win over the Estevan Tower Wolves in the Sherritt Coal Division final - the tournament's unofficial championship game.
Avonlea led 5-2 after the first period and second period Estevan goals from Jason Dutka, Curtis Fuhr, and Kelly Gingras were not enough to close the gap.
In the Einar Fagerheim Division, Terry Perkins scored four goals and an assist to lead the Estevan Flyers to a 9-2 championship win over the Estevan Red Eyes. The Flyers had scored 10 goals total in their previous three games.
The Estevan Oilers went undefeated in four games to win the Tap House Division, including a 5-3 win over the Estevan CEDA Sharks in the final. It was the closest game of the tournament for the Oilers, who outscored their opponents by a combined score of 36-17.
And the Alameda Red Army beat the Estevan Baxter Cougars 7-3 to win the Days Inn Division.
The Ray Frehlick Division was won by Brandon North 40 and the Weyburn Ambassadors claimed the Bill Dutton Division title.
Those two division winners, along with the Meyer Division, were determined after round-robin play.
"We went through the whole tournament and never heard of any injuries, not even a stitch, in 50 games worth," said Rohatyn. "The two cabarets were well-attended and there were no real incidents. It really was a huge success."
The 29th annual tournament is scheduled to run March 30-April 3.
