Hannah Impola of the Copper Country Cougars hits defenseman Sarah Hoch of Gino's Restaurant during the 37th Annual Copper Country Oldtimers Hockey Tournament at Dee Stadium in Houghton on Saturday, March 19, 2022. Shoot against the Kings. (Eddie O'Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)
HOUGHTON — The 39th annual Copper Country Oldtimers Hockey Tournament kicks off in earnest Thursday night at Dee Stadium and Houghton County Arena before games begin Friday through Sunday at the Calumet Coliseum. do.
The first game of the tournament will be a 60-plus game between the Calumet Generals and Traverse City 60-plus at Dee Stadium starting at 5 p.m.
Tournament Director Tom Pinter is looking forward to seeing what this year's event holds. Interest in the tournament remains high year after year.
“The league, and the guys that have been here in the league for so many years, just keep going.” He said. “Thirty-nine years of dedication from the players of the league and, most importantly, the teams participating in the game.”
Pinter said excitement for the tournament is so widespread at this point that he's receiving calls from teams looking for a way to get in on the fun as early as August.
“In August, we get calls from new teams, and in July we get calls from teams who want to join us.” Pintar said. “It's hard to say yes or no at that point because this is one of the deals that I started planning for this tournament in August for many years.
“This whole thing wasn't planned for me. A new team called me and said, 'I want to join. I want to join.' 'Please give me a time. Please wait 1-2 months. ” It will arrive by January. ”
Teams come from as far away as Cokato, Minn., the Twin Sights, Traverse City and even the Detroit area to compete in this tournament. This year, the tournament added four new teams and two new divisions as part of the weekend expansion.
The tournament committee split the women's division in half, with four teams competing in the women's elite division and four teams competing in the women's novice division. They also added a division of over 70 men. Only four teams are 70 and over this year, but Pinter acknowledged the division could expand in the future.
“We have split the women’s category into two and added a category for those 70 and older.” He said. “Next year we might see even more people over 70. We're only going to go with four teams. We have a few to choose from downstate between Troy, Lansing and Flint. Those teams are here and right now. plug.”
Pinter jokes that there may not be room to add more teams in the future. But that seems to be the biggest problem the committee has.
“Right now we have enough time to play three more games in Calumet on Saturday morning. That's it.” He said. “We have enough room to play five more games at Dee and Houghton County on Friday, which is possible considering we start the tournament at 9 a.m. Friday morning.
“I don't want to go down that route because it would mean teams would get the talent sooner. Otherwise, they would change the format or the length of the games and make the games 22-minute halves or 23-minute halves. You're going to have to consider doing that for half a minute. But then you end up like a puppy mill that just spits out games. ”
Looking to the future of the tournament, match length could become an issue if they continue to add new teams.
“Then those games may not be suitable for that player.” Pintar said. “There are so many different things you can do in a game. It's like the whole game is the runtime. There are always options available.”
The division of women's categories was a major focus of the committee this year. In the past, there have been six teams in this division, three of which were clearly stronger than the other three teams. This year, those three strong teams of hers will have her fourth team in the division, along with three weaker teams as well, which should make for a better match for everyone involved.
“Initially, it was a six-team division, but we had three good teams and three girls teams that just wanted to play in the tournament.” Pintar said. “Three teams that are down may be having fun, but they are on their own right now. They have their own division, and there are four novice teams. We’re going to have a great time.”
With players ranging in age from 21 to over 70 participating in the tournament, it's a weekend that proves that hockey is a sport played at all skill levels and all ages.
“Hockey is one of the sports you can play for the rest of your life.” Pintar said. “I mean, you can play basketball for the rest of your life. You can play softball. There are a lot of people who play hockey, especially into their 70s, and some of them are pretty good at it.”
The Old Timers Tournament could not exist without community support. Pinter said the organization cannot thank the sponsors enough for all they do and give to put the league and tournament together each year.
“We do not value Northern Driveline and Suomi Restaurants highly enough.” He said. “Whenever this book (tournament program) comes out, I always get in there and start looking. The support of local businesses is amazing. It's pretty impressive.”
Game begins Thursday at 5 p.m. at Dee Stadium Game begins Thursday at 6 p.m. at Houghton County Arena Friday, game at Calumet begins at 10 a.m. with final game set for 7:29 p.m. Friday, Games will begin at 3pm at Dee Stadium, with back-to-back games featuring teams from the 21-and-over division starting at 7pm.Houghton County His Arena will also have games starting at 3 p.m.
Saturday, games at Dee Stadium and Houghton County Arena begin at 9 a.m. Games will begin at 11:40 a.m. at the Coliseum, featuring a key matchup between the Red Team and Bills B&B Bar in the 21-and-over division.
Sunday, games begin at 9 a.m. at all three rinks. The 21-and-over division championship will be held at Houghton County Arena starting at 3:40 p.m.
