Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

High Prairie’s loss is Slave Lake’s gain, it appears, at least when it comes to a major hockey tournament. The Treaty 8 First Nations Cup was to be played in High Prairie, but some sort of scheduling conflict caused organizers to pull the plug and look elsewhere. As a result, March 31 – April 2 will see 29 teams coming to Slave Lake. They’ll compete in three divisions – Men’s, Legends and Female.

The action commences this Friday, March 31 at 11 a.m. with Sucker Creek taking on Driftpile in the men’s division. The games run through to Sunday evening.

The loss of the tournament was headline news in High Prairie. It led on the front page of the Mar. 22 edition of the South Peace News.

‘Treaty 8 Tournament loss lamented,’ was the headline, followed by, ‘Efforts begin to bring popular event back to High Prairie.’

But it’s here for now, and it’ll be a mini business boom for Slave Lake.

“We are honoured and happy to be the host town,” says interim mayor Shawn Gramlich. “(It) will be great for our hotels and businesses.” He adds that the timing is good, due to break-up in the oilpatch.

“On top of that, though,” Gramlich says, “there is some really good hockey for our community to take in over the weekend.”