The Road Rage Street Hockey Tournament is back for a sixth year the last weekend of May. The Servus Place south parking lot will be transformed into an outdoor arena, where several teams will compete for the Road Rage cup.
Road Rage was founded by four local St. Albert men, bonded by the game of hockey. Geoff Giaccobbo, Dave Ridd, Rob Brown and Rob LeLacheur have known each other for years, coaching or playing the beloved Canadian sport together. Event organizer Dave Ridd said the whole idea was to go back to old school road hockey.
"You just don't see it as much as when I grew up," Ridd said.
With this tournament, kids can unplug and get outside to play a fun game of shinny. Ridd said he and Giaccobbo both have children competing. It really is a street hockey festival, with Chorus Radio on location to play the tunes and a few different food trucks to supply the snacks.
This year the event sold out faster than ever, which Ridd said could be due to the absence of the Play On! ball hockey tournament (disbanded after 15 seasons because of a lack of funding). This year there will be 92 teams playing, including girls, boys and co-ed teams. There will be ten rinks operating in total: seven outside and three inside Servus Place.
"Our biggest challenge is to find enough people to help us ref," Ridd said.
He said the event wouldn't be possible without the many volunteers and sponsors. Local businesses and community members really pulled together to make this happen.
Every team gets a chance to take a picture with the Road Rage trophy, because the tournament is really meant to "take the big competition away and just have old school hockey fun," Ridd said. Although, the winners are awarded a small prize in the form of five dollar McDonald's gift cards.
The tournament runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Team registration is closed, but the event is open to the public. For more information visit www.roadragestreethockey.com
