7th annual Colin Chipman memorial tournament March 21-23

By Lawrence Powell

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

The Seventh Annual Colin Chipman Bantam AAA Memorial Hockey Tournament kicks off Friday, March 21 with a pair of afternoon games at the Bridgetown Arena followed by opening ceremonies at 5 p.m.

Acadia takes on Halifax in a 2 p.m. contest followed by Yarmouth vs West Hants at 3:30 p.m.

Organizers have pulled out all the stops for the opening ceremonies with the Chipman family on hand for the opening faceoff after Andy Kerr pipes the teams onto the ice. Bridgetown Mayor Art Marshall will also be on hand to welcome hockey fans, and MLA Stephen McNeil has been invited.

In total eight teams have signed up for the annual event. Division 1 includes Halifax, Western Valley, Cumberland, and Acadia. Division 2 is made up of South Shore, TASA, West Hants, and Yarmouth.

Play continues after the opening ceremonies as Cumberland takes on the home Western Valley squad followed by a 7 p.m. tilt between SouthShore and TASA.

The tournament picks up Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with Western Valley against Halifax. At 10 a.m. is Cumberland vs Acadia and at 11:30 a.m. West Hants takes on South Shore. After lunch, fans will see TASA vs Yarmouth at 1 p.m., Halifax vs Cumberland at 2:30 p.m., Western Valley vs Acadia at 4 p.m., and South Shore vs Yarmouth at 5:30 p.m. The day’s action finishes off with TASA taking on West Hants.Crossover action starts bright and early on Sunday as the second place Division 2 team meets the first place Division 1 team at 9 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. The second place Division1 team takes on the first place Division 2 team.

The championship game starts at 2 p.m.

Last year at the sixth edition of the tournament, Western Valleytook home the gold for the first time in the event’s history.

The win last year was especially sweet for the host team as they annually honour one of their own, the late Colin Chipman, #44, who played for the Western Valley Spartans as a defenseman beginning in the Atom Division.

“He was a dedicated player known for his team spirit and hard work ethic,” tournament organizers have described him. “Colin also played for the Nova Scotia Explosion Team in Halifax. His personality and smile remains in our hearts and will always be remembered by his family, team mates, friends, and anyone who had an opportunity to meet him, if only for a moment.”

Colin’s #44 jersey has been retired to his brothers and sisters Ryan, Adam, Allie, Leah, and Eric.