Organizers of this past weekend’s Gary J. Surette memorial hockey tournament at Yarmouth’s Mariners Centre hardly could have asked for a more exciting finish, as the title game went to a shootout before a champion was crowned.
The Postech team faced Bay Ferries in Sunday’s final and – after Bay Ferries nearly won it as the buzzer sounded – the clubs went to a shootout to declare a victor.
The Postech squad prevailed in the shootout by scoring twice, Bay Ferries coming up empty.
Four teams took part in the April 7-8 tournament, the second annual tournament held in memory of Gary J. Surette, a Yarmouth County resident and former local minor hockey coach who died in late 2015 of cancer.
Aside from the championship trophy, which went to the Postech team, the tournament’s most valuable player honours went to Tanner Bateman. The Hector Babin award for sportsmanship went to Shayna Heroux.
Surette, who was 53 when he died, had coached at different levels in the 1990s and 2000s. The idea of having a hockey tournament in his memory was suggested by Brian “Sumo” Comeau, with whom Surette had coached.
Comeau served as coach of the Bay Ferries squad in this year’s tournament, runners-up to the Postech team coached by Allan Surette.
The inaugural tournament a year ago was part of a weekend of hockey that kicked off with a game featuring former National Hockey League players. That event served as a fundraiser for a couple of cancer-related charities.
While there was no NHL alumni game this time, the Gary J. Surette Memorial Association will be looking to do a cancer fundraiser at a later date.
The association is a non-profit group formed by friends and family of Gary J. Surette.
