540 physicians from across the province participate in annual hockey tournament

Date Published | Jun. 1, 2008

BY NORM TOLLINSKY

There was no shortage of doctors in Thunder Bay April 3 to 5 when some 540 physicians from across Ontario descended on the city for the annual Docs-on-Ice hockey tournament.

Thirty-seven teams sporting such colourful names as the Haliburton Tragically Hick, the Peterborough Quacks and the Northern Bastards, a Timmins area team, competed in the 26th year of the event.

“It’s a fun time for the doctors because it allows them to catch up on friendships, enjoy Canada’s national sport and, most importantly, contribute their time towards a meaningful cause,” said Docs-on-Ice co-chair, Dr. Andrew Affleck, an emergency room physician at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

Money raised through an auction of hockey memorabilia and a charity game featuring two teams of Thunder Bay doctors was donated to the hospital’s paediatric unit and to P.R.O. Kids, a local charity that helps children in need participate in cultural and recreational programs.

A team from Kingston topped the A division and one of the home teams, the Thunder Bay Blades, came a close second in the B division, said Affleck.

Teams from Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie also competed.

“In the upper division, it’s pretty serious, but as you go down to the lower divisions, it’s a lot of fun.”

Rules designed to limit injuries stipulate no body contact, no slapshots above the knees and mandatory half visors. Each game consisted of two periods of 22 minutes each.
Participating doctors, including some in their 70s, have to be reasonably fit to play, said Affleck.

“You can’t get through the weekend if you’re not in shape because you’re playing four games in two days.”

The tournament served as an opportunity to highlight Thunder Bay and its health care facilities.

“Any time you have a big event like this, it helps with recruitment,” said Affleck. “A lot of the doctors who came up weren’t aware of the North and the medical school, so we had an opportunity to showcase the community and educate them.”

Next year’s tournament will take place in Niagara Falls.