Every year hundreds of kids that love the game of hockey get to experience an NHL atmosphere in a tournament that has been around for over 60 years.
The tournament founded in 1960 by Gerald Bolduc.
In 1959, Bolduc decided to build a team from Quebec City to compete in the hockey tournament in Goderich, Ont. After seeing how much fun his team had, Bolduc thought it would be a great idea to bring a tournament to Quebec and the tournament in Quebec City was started.
“The tournament would start here, and they would play on a outside rink,” said Patrick Dom, general manger for the Quebec Peewee Hockey Tournament.. “The first year there were only 24 teams, there was one team from Boston a few teams from Ontario and all the remaining teams were from Quebec.”
Dom said that the first event was so popular and crowded that tournament decided to move the finals indoors where the WHA’s Quebec Nordiques once played.
“They moved the outside rink inside because it crowded,” Dom said. “The love passion and relation between the tournament and the province of Quebec and was good and the people loved it.”
The tournament kept growing in terms of days, teams, and attendance. There are now 120 teams made up of 11 and 12 year olds that compete in the tournament every year in front of 200,000 fans over 12 days.
“What we want to do is bring the NHL to this level,” Dom said. “We want the kids to remember this forever.”
Famous hockey players have played in this tournament like Brad Park, Guy Lafleur, the Gretzky and Howe brothers, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, and Steven Stamkos.
Dom played in the tournament in 1979 and he says he still remembers the little things.
“I still remember every shift,” Dom said.