25th Anniversary Memorial Tournament held over the weekend

by Stephen Dafoe and Morinville Online

Thirty-three years after Novice hockey player Dennis Blair Borduzak died, his memory is kept alive through a memorial tournament that celebrated its 25th year over the weekend. 

The annual 4 the Love of the Game Tournament took place in Morinville and Legal from Dec. 8 to 11, and brought together 16 local and visiting teams from across five divisions for 60 games of hockey.

Borduzak died following his Novice (now U9) year of hockey in 1989. The tournament’s name pays homage to the late hockey player’s number 4 jersey, which was retired in Legal in 2004.

“This is the 25th Anniversary of this tournament. This is huge. The name speaks for itself, 25th Anniversary,” said organizer Tasha Tappauf prior to the weekend-long event. “It’s just amazing that our little communities (Morinville and Legal) have been putting this tournament on now for 25 years. That’s a celebration in itself. We obviously must be doing something right if this tournament is consistently well-known within the Alberta hockey community and sought after.”

Tappauf was not alone in expressing enthusiasm for the annual memorial event. Tournament organizing committee member Kaylee Hewitt said being new to helping out, she had no idea how much hard work and heart are put into the events. 

“As I left a committee meeting with a handful of notes and to-dos, I became emotional thinking about the family and what this must mean to them,” Hewitt said. “I thought, If I ever found myself in the same situation as this family and lost one of my children, and had the support and love of strangers that sat in a room to organize a tribute tournament for him, imagine how much that would mean to me. Sometimes it’s about so much more than hockey.”

Organizers held two special events on Saturday, Dec. 10, in Legal. The first was the Borduzak ceremonial puck drop, and the second was an Alumni game featuring Dennis’ past team mates from the 88-89 Novice hockey team. The game was coached by their former coaches who came out to play members of the Borduzak family, family friends, and members of the community.

Organizers said they will donate a portion of the funds raised from the 50/50 draw and raffles during the event to a local initiative in honour of Dennis’ legacy.