The breadth and scope of the Estevan Strippers annual senior hockey tournament will change slightly due to the decommissioning of the Civic Auditorium.
While they're still going to have 40 teams in the event this year. Strippers member Rick Rohatyn said they are asking Bienfait to rent their rink for 12 games during the tournament for 2018. That amounts to every team playing one or two games there during that weekend, but he said there’s no way they can run the same type of tournament with only two rinks in town.
“We really have very faithful teams that come constantly to the tournament and we really didn’t want to cut anybody out if we didn’t have to,” Rohatyn said Tuesday. “We’re going to go with the Bienfait rink for one year and see how things go that way.”
The tournament is an annual event that brings teams from around the province for a weekend in Estevan’s arenas, plus acts as a local fundraiser. The Strippers have donated money to the SaskTel Tankard and the Western Canada Cup in recent years, as well as other causes.
