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After 22 years, the Whistler All Star Hockey Tournament (WASHT) has gained a reputation as one of B.C.鈥檚 favourite spring hockey competitions.
With over 1,100 athletes attending from 65 teams, the 24-day tournament has seen athletes and their families travel from as far as Minnesota, California and even China. And there鈥檚 no shortage of 麻豆社国产residents on the ice.
鈥淎 lot of people like coming here,鈥� said Kevin Sopp, who organizes the tournament with his wife Jennifer.
Teams will sometimes draw players from different parts of Canada to fill out the roster, allowing players to compete from smaller clubs that are unable to attend as a full team. For up-and-coming hockey stars, it鈥檚 an opportunity to get in front of some top-level talent scouts.
鈥淭here鈥檚 probably three academies here looking at kids,鈥� said Sopp. 鈥淭he biggest one in the province and probably the highest touted, Pursuit of Excellence, sent two coaches here.鈥�
Over the last 20 years, the tournament has helped many prospective juniors get recruited. Dalton Thrower from 麻豆社国产was signed to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2012 draft and 17-year-old Jake Virtanen from Abbotsford was just drafted to the Vancouver Canucks last week. Both spent time on the ice at Meadow Park during the tournament in the past.
Sopp begins to market the tournament to coaches and associations around North America as early as September to make sure he has a full competition roster in time for June.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 sit back and wait for people to come to us,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e make sure that people that are out there thinking about doing spring hockey, know about us.鈥�
But with a successful turnout of 65 teams this year, Sopp said there isn鈥檛 much room to expand the tournament beyond its current capacity.
鈥淵esterday we were on the ice at 7:30 a.m. and finished up at 9:30 p.m.,鈥� he said. 鈥淭wenty-four days is a long time to be away from our regular jobs. There鈥檚 only so much ice and so much time.鈥�
