Pin Point on point with champion title

After two long days of back to back to back hockey games, it was team Pin Point who bested Hunter Motors with a score of 5-3 in the final, taking the glory and getting their names engraved on the skateboard trophy at last weekend's second annual Hot Karl Memorial Draft Tournament.

The tournament, a fundraiser for the Cross Cancer Institute Volunteer Association in memory of Karl Hetze, brought out 128 players this year, up from 94 athletes in its inaugural year.

The players were divided into teams at a draft party on Sept. 30, and played games from 9 a.m. past midnight on Saturday.

The final took place Sunday afternoon and was one of the best games of the tournament, said Justin Tebbenham, one of the organizers.

“This was the most exciting game all weekend, truthfully, ” he said. “This was the most fun game. It was the perfect two teams to beat. ”

“Karl was a big skateboarder, that's why we have that trophy like that, ” Tebbenham said, adding that Chris Pacholok had supplied the skateboard. “Every year, whoever wins the tournament, their names will be engraved on it, just like the Stanley Cup. We'll just make the trophy bigger and bigger as more people win it. ”

At the end of the day, it was not the score or the winner that was important, but the camaraderie the tournament reinforced, Tebbenham said.

“My buddy Karl passed away two years ago, and so it's just a memorial thing to remember him, ” he said. “It's kind of the only reason why we're doing this. Kyle was the guy who would bring everyone all together, so that's the whole point of all of this, getting everybody all together again. ”

He did not have final numbers as of publication date, but estimated that this year's event brought in more money than last year's $5,700.

“I wasn't expecting as big of a turnout as we had, ” Tebbenham said. “It was an unreal amount of people. The support we get, the community and everything, everyone comes out, it's a lot of support we get from everyone. It's going all to a good cause, so can't be happier with how the weekend turned out. ”

Many of Hetze family and friends attended the tournament and were similarly impressed with how it played out.

“I think it's been a really great tribute to our son and I guess all of his friends that come out every year, for the second year now, ” said Herb Hetze, Karl's father. “It just gets everybody together and it's a really great time. ”

“(Karl) started playing hockey when he was four years old, he played in Athabasca here all the way up to midget, ” said his mother Yvette Hetze. “If he could have been here, if it was for somebody else, he would have been involved in it right along with everyone. ”