Remembering an old friend

It’s been almost four years since the unfortunate passing of Mark Hopkins, and still he lives on.
In hockey form.
The fourth-annual Mark (Hopper) Hopkins’ Memorial Hockey Tournament was held over this past weekend here, and what better way to remember someone than through something the person loved the most.
“He’d be honoured knowing that these guys are doing this for him,” said his sister Brenda Thomas.
Added Andre Giguere his brother-in-law: “We all love hockey and he loved it a lot, so this is a really good way to remember him.”
And the eight teams that participated were also honoured and more than glad to play in the tournament that raises money to help underprivileged children around the Fort Frances area.
“He was just a great guy, and this is a good cause for kids in town. We’ve donated for kids to play hockey, we’ve given to Friends of Little League, minor hockey here and things like that. He was an avid sports fan, so all of this is in memory of him,” said Sean Taggart, who was one of the organizers of the three-day tourney that began Friday.
And it was especially suiting this year that the ‘A’ Final was played between the two teams that were named after the man known as Hopper to his friends.
Hopper’s 1 and Hopper’s 2 were the teams to beat in the tourney and were set to clash against one another on Sunday, with one wearing the white Hopper’s uniform and the other in the black Boston Bruins-like jerseys, which was Hopkins’ favourite team.
“We had to split up Hopper’s 1, because a team dropped out. So we put the older guys on the second team, and we’ve made it to the finals and they’ve been bad mouthing us, so hopefully we can come out and put a little pain on them today,” laughed Taggart, who was playing with the grizzled Hopper’s 2.
The locker room before the game for each respective team had the feeling of an episode of “Making the Cut” (a reality CBC television program that gives former players a second chance at professional hockey) as many of the players hadn’t laced up the skates in quite a while.
Obviously these players weren’t of that caliber or had that kind of serious thinking, but with Hopper’s 2 being labeled as the “Black Aces” before the game (those cut from the reality program are put on the Black Aces team) players on both sides were taking the game serious, even though their bodies wouldn’t let them do what their minds asked.
“There’s a lot of guys that are getting up in age and their bodies are hurting a lot more. But we still have some good competitive spirit and we go out there and we try hard. Some guys make some good plays, and some guys make some bad plays, but it’s fun,” said Taggart before the final.
And adding another special touch to the final, and the tournament, was that Hopkins’ nephew, Matthew Giguere, who was playing for Hopper’s 2, was now 18 and old enough to play, and paid tribute to his uncle by wearing his old helmet.
“This is the first year that my son is able to play with Hopper’s Bruins and he’s wearing his uncle’s helmet to honour him. He’s just honoured to be on the ice and play for his uncle’s team,” said his mother Thomas, who trekked over 1,400 km from Iroquois Falls, Ont, which is where Hopkins was originally from.
The game itself was a blowout as Hopper’s 1 won 8-4, but in the locker room after the game both sides had nothing but smiles on their five o’clock shadowed faces, as they cracked a beer and reminisced about their friend.
“It was a hard thing when Hoppers passed away, and we were all pretty good friends with him. This would probably be something he would be a big part of, and this brings everybody together and we know that he’s probably sitting here next to us,” said Brent Tookenay, who was a member of Hopper’s 1.
“I remember when Hopper went to Bemidji one weekend and he ended up knowing more people than I knew, and I stayed there for four years. He was a really friendly guy, and took everyone under his wing. He was just a great guy and a lot of fun to be around,” he added.
And even though most of guys in the locker room were going to make a bee-line for the local pharmacy and stock up on Bengay for the week of soreness they were about to experience, they will always be a part of something that remembers an old friend.
“Sometimes the wives don’t really think it’s a good thing, but everybody looks forward to it. I’m sure it’s not the best hockey to watch, but it’s still all right.
“You can’t do things you used to be able to do, but it’s still fun and there’s lots of old friends here, and it’s still a lot of fun. The body doesn’t work as it used to, but the beer is still cold at the end of the day,” smiled Tookenay.