The 2023 CARHA Hockey World Cup has come to an end. Across six days of action, hundreds of teams battled within their division for the chance to be named winner of their respective divisions. Visitors from around the world visited the City of Richmond and attractions nearby to take in the most highly anticipated amateur adult hockey tournament. 

“The event was an incredible success both on and off the ice,” says Becky Kolberg, manager of communications and digital media at CARHA Hockey. “Player feedback, although early, has been extremely positive.” 

The event started off with many competitors of the tournament participating in the March of Athletes from the athletes village to the Richmond Olympic Oval. 

Day one of play at the CARHA Hockey World Cup featured 41 different games across the rinks at the Richmond Olympic Oval and the Richmond Ice Centre. 

Day two saw 40 games across the seven different venues but one goalie scored the biggest win that day. Wathla Warriors goalie Cody Robinson surprised his girlfriend by getting on one knee and proposing, to which she responded with an emphatic yes. Truly a moment that the couple and CARHA will never forget. 

The third day of action at the CARHA Hockey World Cup saw tournament high 47 games across the seven venues. Teams battled it out against their opponents in hopes of advancing to the next round. Some games featured strong victories by individual players who propelled their teams to victory and others were stuck in a deadlock until overtime. 

On the fourth day of action, teams who had a game remaining battled it out on the ice to complete the seeding before the elimination tournament began. 

Mar. 24 kicked off the start of the elimination tournament, with each division having tournament formats that saw only three teams advancing to participate in the elimination tournament and others having all four. 

The fifth day of action also featured a highly anticipated event in the Molson Canadian 25-plus feature game final between an undefeated Devs team and hometown squad Britvegas. The stands were filled with hockey fans excited to see the division finals. 

“I believe the count was approximately 500, which is an average turnout for the feature game” says Kolberg.

The Devs started the game firing on all cylinders, as players Kolby Steen, Don Danroth, Ryan Uchaz, and Brandon Campos would all score in the first period. In the same period, Britvegas would respond with goals from Kyle Uy and Gunnar Wegleitner. In the second period, Britvegas would tie the game after goals from Josh Murphy with five minutes remaining and Gary Dhaliwal with one minute left in the period. The game would continue to remain at a deadlock between the two teams in the third period and overtime. Heading into the shootout, Britvegas would start it off with a goal from Jordan Deyrmenjian, followed by a save from their goalie Patrick Zubick. The teams second player in the shootout, Gunnar Wegleitner, would score for his team, putting all the pressure on his goalie and the Devs. Britvegas’ Patrick Zubick would make the save, securing the win for the hometown team.  

In the final day of action at the CARHA Hockey World Cup, 32 teams suited up for 16 games across the seven venues. In the women’s division, the Warriors defeated the Smooth Grooves 6-2. In the Vizzy 19+ division, the hometown Richmond HC defeated the Simpsons by a score of 8-2, and the Brigade bested the Surrey Beavers by a score of 5-1. 

HC Mehtimakelainen won against St. Moritz Selection 5-3 in the Molson Canadian Ultra 35+. In the Pizza Pizza 40+ division, BIK Karlskoga defeated HT Cream convincingly scoring seven goals by a score of 7-3. Trangsund 45 won 5-3 against Pitea VIP in the Gadar Promotions 40+ division. 

The Quesnel Goldpanners bested the Alta Tigers 2-1, to win the iPlayHockey 50+ division, while Val D’Or 50 beat the Langley Bears in the River Rock Casino Resort 50+ division. In the Cyclone Taylor Source 55+ division, the Trojans beat the Old Foxes by score of 6-1, meanwhile in the Lulu Island Winery 55+ division the Spare Parts Store tied the game late in the third period before winning in overtime against Muumiot. 

Trangsund 60 beat the Lindsay Pastimers by a score of 5-1, winning the Westcoast Sightseeing 60+ division and the Dispepat 60 secured a 4-2 win over the Whistler Winterhawks in the Stanley’s Grill 60+ division. The Vancouver Sign Group 65+ division featured SOHA Team Sweden and Cyclone Taylor Sports, with Cyclone winning by a score of 5-0. 

In the Lawrie Insurance Group 70+ division, the Schooners defeated the Global Oldtimers 4-1. Meanwhile, the SOHA 70+ team faced off against the LSH Antiques, with the Antiques winning the Universal Coach Line 70+ division by a score of 2-1. 

The final day of the CARHA Hockey World Cup featured a closing ceremonies for all teams and a musical performance. Teams were able to say their goodbyes before they journeyed back to their cities or ventured out to explore popular tourist attractions like Stanley Park and Whistler Ski Resort.  

“The Closing Ceremonies featured the band Dr. Stranglelove who kept everyone dancing right through until midnight. All of the participating travel teams took in the evening and we had a number of locals join in as well equating to approximately 1500 attendees” says Kolberg. 

The finale of the tournament left many participants and viewers wanting more of the CARHA Hockey tournament. “The number one feedback / question we received was ‘when and where will the next event be’? There is definitely appetite from the teams to participate in future events” says Kolberg. 

As of now, it has been confirmed the location of the next tournament has not been chosen yet, but the organization will chose carefully when the time comes for cities to bid on the event. “We cannot predict where future events will be held. It will all depend on the cities that demonstrate interest and the objective of the association at that time” says Kolberg. 

The next CARHA Hockey World Cup is expected to take place in 2027, due to the fact that they’ve adopted the tournament to resemble the Olympics. For more information, visit carhahockeyworldcup.ca.