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A total of 209 teams and over 10,000 participants, officials, volunteers, celebrities, and spectators gathered on Memorial Boulevard to play hockey right on the streets in the core of Winnipeg this past weekend. Celebrating both Canada's game in its most pure form and the most beautiful weekend of weather in a while... there was smiling, camraderie, and sportsmanship everywhere as part of the largest road hockey tournament ever held in Manitoba.

However, different from the way road hockey is played in streets and driveways across this great nation, the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Presents Play On! event was highly organized. It featured separate divisions for men, women, boys, girls, and coed teams of all ages and skill levels, competing on seventeen rinks (each featuring regulation sized steel nets) non-stop for two whole days.

Danny Lavigne e-mailed organizers after the event, saying: "I was just thinking that you guys should put on 2 - 3 tournaments a year in Winnipeg; I was in the tournament and it was the most fun I have had in many years. You'll get way more teams because people will be telling everyone."

From families to NHL players, all levels of skill were represented.

But Nigel Dawes, a Winnipeg-raised forward with the Phoenix Coyotes, was hesitant to count himself among the stars.

"I haven't played street hockey in probably four or five years, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll just try not to embarrass myself out there," the 24-year-old Dawes said before playing a match involving event sponsors -- including the Winnipeg Sun -- and celebrities such as former Blue Bomber kicker Troy Westwood.

"This is obviously a great event, and it goes across the country."

Dawes drew a crowd of youthful sideline gawkers, many of whom tossed caps onto the play area following his hat-trick.

On another rink, Dane Schioler, 13, stormed out of the gate with his peewee hockey buddies, taking his first game by a whopping 10-0 count.

"There are tons of people here," Schioler said of the thick crowd lining Memorial in the sunshine.

"We want to win but we're having fun," he told a reporter.

"If you want to try this out, come next year -- it's great!"

The event included teams that came from all over the Province, including Thompson, Churchill, The Pas, and Brandon. Others from Kenora, North Dakota, and St. Paul, Minnesota also competed as part of the tournament.

Congratulations go out to all division winners, who were all very deserving and who took home some great prizing that included new hockey gloves and composite sticks provided by SANDE Hockey, and hats provided by The Hockey News. Pictures of all division winners are now posted! Special congratulations go out to Team Iceberg and the Coffin Dodgers who were the winners and finalists, respectively, in the Elite Division, and who will represent Manitoba at the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Presents Play On! National Championships and compete for the Redwood Cup later this year.

Organizers look forward to returning to Manitoba again in 2010.

Play On Winnipeg!

With contribution from and thanks to Ross Romanuk of Sun Media

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