Hockey teams from as far as Boissevain, Stoney Mountain, and Winkler have come to Mitchell this weekend to participate in the Dick Penner Memorial Hockey Tournament.

“We knew that we had to honor Dick in some way,” says Event Organizer Kelly Wiens, “and somebody pitched the idea of a tournament and we took it and we ran with it.”

Though the tournament is running all weekend long, Wien indicates that the feature event took place at 6:30 PM on Friday when Dick Penner’s family unveiled a special banner and led a ceremonial puck drop on the ice.

“Dick was a lot of peoples’ firsts,” observes Wiens, “from their first school bus driver to their first employer at the gas station, he was a huge pillar in the community of Mitchell.” In addition to this, Wiens says Dick was also a huge supporter of local sports, so the Mitchell Minor Hockey Board felt this tournament was a good fit.

ATOM A, B, and C, hockey teams will be playing in this tournament. Wiens notes that not many children get to play in front of a large audience very often, so this will be a fun experience for everyone involved. “Our focus is first, to immortalize the heck out of Dick Penner,” states Wiens, “and second to make it an incredible tournament for the kids.”