Joey Payeur
They were small in number and stature, but there was no shortage of effort or goodwill among the competitors.
The Fort Frances edition of the Source for Sports Canadian Hockey Skills Challenge, held Friday evening at the Ice for Kids Arena, drew only six minor hockey players from five different age categories.
But that didn’t deter the participants from giving their all in the three skill events—and giving those on hand a good show at the same time.
In the fastest skater competition, Jared Cupp (1994 Competitive Division) used his experience and size advantage to post the quickest time around the pylon-framed course in 17.66 seconds.
Cupp raced only against himself as the lone member of his age category, as was the case for Nicholas Doerksen, who clocked a time of 20.50 seconds in the 1999 Recreational, Alex Gustafson (22.43 seconds in 1997 Recreational), and Cameron Turriff (19.10 seconds in 1998 Competitive).
In the only multi-player group, Noah Loveday (18.43 seconds) edged Eric Matthews (20.47) in the 1999 Competitive division.
When it came to the hardest shot contest, Cupp outgunned his younger counterparts in the two-round event with a top mark of 82.1 km/h, which came on his second try after his first blast clocked in at 66 km/h.
Matthews ripped his second shot at 69.2 km/h after his opening volley of 62.8 km/h, which was enough to nose out Loveday, who unleashed a pair of bullets registering 57.9 km/h and 66 km/h.
Rounding out the results were Doerksen (53.1 km/h and 49.9 km/h), Gustafson (both shots at 72.4 km/h), and Turriff (49.9 km/h and 61.2 km/h).
In the shooting accuracy battle, competitors had to hit as many of the mesh targets attached to the net as they could in 20 seconds.
Turriff walked away on top after connecting twice while Doerksen and Cupp each managed one
target.
The other three were shut out.
The Source for Sports Skills Challenge, in its second year of existence, provides an avenue for young hockey players to showcase their skills and raise funds for “Shoot for Cure,” a national charity that raises funds for spinal cord research.
More than 80 cities across Canada took part in this year’s event, with prizes given for those with the top three results nationwide in the girls’ overall division, as well as the boys’ competitive and boys’ recreational divisions.
The national rankings of the local competitors were not known by press time.
