LONGUEUIL — They’re not young pups any more, but more than 200 hockey players well into their 70s and 80s are still able to play the game with grace and a lot of skill.
The players are competing in the Lassonde-Tyler hockey tournament to raise money for Alzheimer’s.
Twenty teams from across Quebec and Ontario are playing in the week-long event at the Gaétan-Boucher hockey arena in Saint-Hubert.
“They’re good guys. I love the competition. I love the guys. It’s just very, very nice,” Duane Stephens told Global News.
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Stephens flew in from San Francisco to compete.
The oldest player on the ice is Doug Palmer.
He’s turning 89 on April 28, but shows no sign of slowing down – though he does admit he has to keep his eye on the puck and other players a little more often than in previous years.
“Get the hell out of the way of the players coming at me,” he quipped prior to getting on the ice.
The players pay $75 to play in the event and almost the entire amount collected goes toward fighting the mental illness.
It’s a much bigger battle than the game being played on the ice.
“Nobody cares who wins or who loses. Nothing to do with it,” Larry Bergeron, the tournament organizer, told Global News.
The hockey competition runs until Friday, when a large ceremony will be held.
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