Pembroke – The opening night of the 40th annual Terry O’Neill Pembroke Regional Silver Stick Tournament honoured four decades of hockey tradition in style with an electrifying initiation ceremony last Friday.

The Pembroke Memorial Centre (PMC) hosted a special ceremony honouring past and founding members of the tournament, along with officials and sponsors. The visitors walked onto centre ice as 104.9 myFM Host Kyle Robinson acted as emcee and introduced each one.

“Tonight, we celebrate a very special occasion,” he said. “This hockey tournament has helped put Hockey Town Canada on the map.”

Tournament Director Norbert Chaput, International Director Charles Chappell and Pembroke Mayor Ron Gervais were some of the first on the ice as Joe McLoughlin’s bellowing bagpipes welcomed the special guests.

Once the guests were in place, Mr. Robinson also took a moment of silence in honour of Remembrance Day, our fallen soldiers and all those serving abroad. Pembroke Community Choir Facilities and Concert Convenor Bentley Horne sang the national anthem passionately.

U11B Tier 1 team captains Rhett Wightman of the visiting Castor Canucks and Jackson Bergeron of the Pembroke Kings’ were joined by Mayor Gervais and three of the Silver Stick Tournament committee’s longest-serving members, Doug Malliff, Frank Schilling and Gery Bergeron taking part in the official puck drop.

The opening ceremony was held at the Pembroke Memorial Centre just before the U11 Kings’ match against the Canucks and Silver Stick Tournament officials were treated to a reception following the event, where they watched their home team suffer a hard-fought 7-3 defeat.

The arena will host 125 teams and thousands of visitors over four consecutive weekends of high-flying youth hockey for the annual Silver Stick regionals. The tournament runs until December, starting with U11 teams and working its way up in age groups to U13, U15 and U18, with skill tiers and lettered groups dividing up games.

Mr. Chaput said the event serves as a qualifier for teams to move on to the international finals held in various locations, such as Forest, near Sarnia in southwestern Ontario and higher levels in the parallel city of Port Huron, Michigan.

Mr. Chaput said the tournament has welcomed nearly 5,000 teams over the past 40 years, and there are at least 700 combined hours of Silver Stick experience among veteran members.

He said each team comes with about 15 players, with the older groups bringing more like 18 to 20 to account for fights, suspensions and injuries.

“At this age, both parents are here so you’re talking 30 adults with the teams and then coaches as well. We get a lot of people in town,” he said. “It gets pretty packed, with all the hotels from here to Renfrew to Petawawa. We have teams staying everywhere.”

“It is a legit tournament,” he told the Leader. “There are several regionals all over Ontario and several in the States as well.”

The tournament is sanctioned by Pembroke Minor Hockey, and Mr. Chaput said it’s great for the city. He estimated it raises $6 to $8 million annually in economic spinoff.

He added one of the biggest changes in the modern Silver Stick tournaments is how everything has gone digital, saying despite a few older members being apprehensive, it’s been a blessing in disguise.

“This year we’re doing live scoring, so a grandparent at home could be checking as the game goes on.”