BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Several local high school hockey teams use Christmas Eve as an opportunity to bring back their alumni to skate with the current players. The Century boys put their own spin on things.
‘Twas the hockey tournament before Christmas, when all through the ice, the action was fun, if a bit imprecise.
“You keep coming back, it’s like they keep getting younger every year,” said former Century forward Casey Foss.
Head Coach Troy Olson has run the annual three on three alumni tournament for more than 20 years.
“I think it’s good for our younger kids to see how the older guys play hockey,” said Olson.
In year 21, 48 Patriots, current and former, hit the ice. For the Century graduates, it’s another chance to be with the team.
“When you’re in high school it really means everything to you. And then you really forget. Once you go onto to college or the next stages of your life, and then all those memories start flooding back as soon as you hit the ice again with the Century jersey on,” said Foss.
“I think it speaks to the hockey culture. Hockey is a big community, but it’s a small community at the same time. If you play hockey for a long time, you make a lot of friend, you love putting the skates on and coming to the rink, for a lot of guys this is the only opportunity to do that,” said former Century forward Isaiah Thomas.
Of course, this tournament is also a chance for the more experienced players to show the current players how it’s done.
“We’re in a run right now where we have a lot of guys playing post high school. To see what they’ve learned as they improved after they left the program is really valuable for our young guys,” said Olson.
The winners of the tournament win a red trophy, with a familiar design.
“Kind of modeled off the Stanley Cup obviously. A couple of coffee cans and a plastic bowl, but it’s withstood the test of time, I think that bad boy’s about 30 years old,” said Olson.
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