5FEATURES

HOCKEYNOW.CA / MAY 21, 2011

BY / EVAN DAUM

For the fi rst time, OneHockey took its show north of the border, hosting it’s fi rst ever Ca-nadian event in Spruce Grove and Edmonton, Alta., May 6 to 8. Since 2004, OneHockey has been putting on fi rst-class summer hockey tournaments across North America, and for the organization’s president, Sebastien Fortier, the company’s most recent event was a roaring suc-cess.

“We were really nervous about our fi rst event in Canada. We know that Canadians know their hockey and have high expectations, and I think we exceeded all their expectations,” Fortier said.

“I’ve never seen so many positive comments from a tournament—ever. We’ve not had one negative email since the tournament was over.”

With 54 teams competing at the event, and hundreds of players taking over four Edmon-ton-area arenas, the tournament was a massive undertaking for Fortier and his staff.

“It was the fi rst time we ran a tournament out of more than one building. We brought a couple of our staff. We brought three of our own staff, but everyone else was completely new,” Fortier explained.

“The people that did work for us, they saved us. They did a great job and worked many more hours than they were supposed to, and they were able to suck it up and put together a crazy

event.”After pulling off their fi rst tournament in

Canada, Fortier is excited and looking forward to a return to the Great White North, with an-other Alberta tournament already in the worksfor next season.

“We’re planning to come back, next year. The City of Spruce Grove, especially Mayor StuartHouston and [City Manager] Doug Lagore re-ally supported us since day one. They saw ourvision about this, and they went over a lot ofbumps to get us there,” Fortier said.

“They really appreciated a good hockey tournament. We can’t even keep up with the comments and the emails right now. It’s justincredible.”

After their great success in Alberta, OneHockey’s next event will be in the Philadelphia area, June 30 to July 3, for players born between 1993 and 1998 birth-years, with another event sched-uled July 7 to 10 for players born be-tween 1999 and 2003. Just like in Spruce Grove and Edmonton, some of the best minor hockey players from across North America and the rest of the world will converge in Pennsylvania.

“Both weeks are our biggest event. This is our eighth summer doing this event. There are people that have been coming to this tournament since 2004, and it’s a really high-level event,” For-tier explained.

While whole teams can register to compete, individual players can also sign up to play to secure their spot at OneHockey’s premier event.

“Players can join us as individuals by applying on the website, and we’re going to put them on one of our own teams that are called, ‘All-American teams.’ Those teams are incredibly strong.”

To register for the Philadelphia event, or for more information on One-Hockey and other ways you can get involved, visit their site at www.one-hockey.com, or fi nd them on Facebook for all the latest.

PHILADELPHIA TOURNAMENTIS UP NEXT

ONEHOCKEY BRINGS WORLD-CLASS EVENT TO CANADA

Submitted photos

‘98 CHAMPS / Team Hockey Now Canada celebrates winning the 1998 division at the inau-gural OneHockey AAA Tournament in Spruce Grove and Edmonton, Alberta, May 6 to 8.

BIG PRIZE / A player from the Southern Alberta 2003 team skates with the OneHockey championship trophy.