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Floor hockey tourney draws a crowd

PORT HARDY - Suicide awareness tournament brings teams, fans out to honour lost family members
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Friends and family members take pictures of the Port Hardy Regulators Sunday following their victory in the men's Division I final of the Suicide Awareness Floor Hockey Tournament at Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy.

PORT HARDY — Victor Walkus, Ethyl Charlie and Angela Walkus hoped a floor hockey tournament would help alert people to suicide awareness  and prevention.

Based on the turnout for last weekend's Suicide Awareness Floor Hockey Tournament, that message was spread far and wide.

A near-capacity crowd swelled Port Hardy's Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena Sunday for the finals of the three-day tournament, which drew more than 20 teams for games at the arena, at Wakas Hall on the Tsulquate Reserve and at the Robert Scott Elementary gymnasium.

The tourney featured a large table with literature on suicide awareness and prevention and numbers for the North Island Crisis Line and other sources of help.

Nearby was another table where participants and spectators could write messages of remembrance for suicide victim Victor Walkus, Jr., to whom the organizers dedicated the tournament.

Many of the teams that took part in the tourney, including several that traveled from outside the local area, dedicated games to other loved ones.

A moment of silence was observed following the final game, just prior to the awards ceremony.

The Regulators of Port Hardy claimed the men's Division I title with a 3-0 win over the Fort Rupert Roaches. Earlier, a dramatic overtime goal by Ethan Shaw gave the Wolf Pack the men's Division II title.

The women's championship went to Port Hardy's Chicks with Sticks, who topped West Coast Pride. And the kids crown went to Quatsino, which outdueled the Warriors for the top spot.