For immediate release:
April 2, 2012
QUEEN’S PARK — Port Dover resident Will Hourigan was featured in the Ontario Legislature today when Renfew-Nippising-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski reported on the annual Opeongo Heritage Cup.
“The Opeongo Heritage Cup is a multicultural tournament contested each year by players with roots in the Bonnechere and Madawaska Valleys who have Polish/Kashubian, Irish, German/Wendish or Algonquin First Nation ancestral ties,” Yakabuski informed the Legislature. “This year, the fans were treated to perhaps the most tightly contested tournament ever. Each and every game was competitive to the end as the players gave their all, vying for the championship, symbolic of cultural hockey supremacy in the valley.”
MPP Yakabuski noted that the rosters included ex-NHLer Rod Schutt as well as a number of players with OHL experience, adding that, “The MVP of the tournament was Will Hourigan,”
Hourigan, of Port Dover, played for the Irish Shamrocks who went on to play a hard-fought battle in the tournament championship.
“In Sunday’s thrilling final pitting the German Black Eagles against the Irish Shamrocks,” Yakabuski concluded. “In a game that went down to the wire, the Shamrocks reclaimed the crown that had been held by the Algonquin Thunderbirds for the past three years.”
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at: (416) 325-8404,
(519) 428-0446 or 1-800-903-8629
HANSARD
OPEONGO HERITAGE CUP
Mr. John Yakabuski: What a great weekend of hockey at the Paul J. Yakabuski Community Centre in Barry’s Bay for the seventh annual Opeongo Heritage Cup.
The Opeongo Heritage Cup is a multicultural tournament contested each year by players with roots in the Bonnechere and Madawaska Valleys who have Polish/Kashubian, Irish, German/Wendish or Algonquin First Nation ancestral ties.
This year, the fans were treated to perhaps the most tightly contested tournament ever. Each and every game was competitive to the end as the players gave their all, vying for the championship, symbolic of cultural hockey supremacy in the valley.
The quality of hockey in this tournament is top-notch.
The rosters included ex-NHLer Rod Schutt playing for the German team, as well as a number of players with OHL experience. Among them, Sudbury Wolves player Sam Schutt, who is also Rod’s nephew.
The MVP of the tournament was Will Hourigan, who happens to be the nephew of Haldimand–Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett.
On a sad note, the honorary captain of the Irish Shamrocks, Phil Conway, a tremendous community-minded person with a long history in the valley and a current member of the municipal council, passed away on Tuesday, March 27. Phil was always an integral part of this tournament and he will be missed greatly, not only at the heritage cup, but everywhere in the valley.
In Sunday’s thrilling final pitting the German Black Eagles against the Irish Shamrocks, I have no doubt that Phil was providing somewhat of an assist to his compatriots. In a game that went down to the wire, the Shamrocks reclaimed the crown that had been held by the Algonquin Thunderbirds for the past three years. Congratulations to all, and a big thank you to David Shulist and all the volunteers who gave so much of their time to make the event another smashing success.