The Ottawa Citizen describes how five days after it began, the 14th annual Bell Capital Cup came to a close Tuesday at Scotiabank Place with the final eight championship games.
The last four were of the house league variety, the level some say the Ottawa International Hockey Festival is supposed to represent.
“You could definitely agree with that and hope that carries not only through the house league divisions, but to the competitive side as well. It’s all about having fun and the spirit of the game,” tournament general manager Scott Lawryk said.
“It’s about going out and being a kid, and sure mistakes will happen, but you get over it the next shift. It’s reflected more in house league than competitive, because competitive maybe do take it a little more seriously, but regardless of the level, the game is all about having fun.”
Fun was certainly the main theme as close to 400 teams from Canada, the U.S., Germany, Finland and Hong Kong made their way throughout countless arenas across the region and played 786 tournament games. The action got underway at the Bell Sensplex last Thursday as several teams took part in exhibition contests.
The tournament started in earnest on Friday as the real games began, but competition really took a back seat to new experiences, fond future memories and countless friendships formed.
“We had fun putting it on, but like any event, you run into hiccups here and there. But it’s all part of running a big event. But it’s always fun going through the Bell Capital Cup,” Lawryk said.
