A photo from the 2016 edition of the Tommy Gun's Outdoor Winter Classic. The 2019 edition of the tournament goes this weekend (rdnewsNOW file photo).

By Dan Hermanutz

10th year!

Tommy Gun’s Outdoor Winter Classic salutes the Sutters

Jan 23, 2020 | 2:59 PM

For the tenth year in a row, the Tommy Gun’s Outdoor Winter Classic is hosting midget hockey teams for a one of a kind tournament at the Bower neighbourhood rinks this weekend.

This year’s teams will be donning special jerseys honouring teams that each of the legendary Sutter brothers played for during their hockey careers, including the Red Deer Rustlers, Lethbridge Broncos, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.

“It’s going to be interesting with the Red Deer Rustlers versus the St. Louis Blues at some point in the tournament, possibly, it will be junior teams playing pro teams (so to speak) but it’s all in honour of the family,” says tournament organizer Al Sim.

Joining three Red Deer midget teams for this year’s tournament are squads from Lacombe, Rocky Mountain House, Devon, Okotoks and Hinton.

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“These are the kids that have been through our house league system and Red Deer Minor Hockey. They’re at the Midget B level and are playing the game because they love it,” Sim explains.

“A lot of them have aspired to play at the AA or AAA level but just the talent maybe isn’t quite there so we wanted to give them something that’s really cool at this level and my goal is to give them something that in their forties they’ll be talking about.”

In addition to the eight midget teams, eight novice teams will again be playing this weekend in a Canada versus Russia Summit Series tournament. This year, Sim says they’ll be playing for something extra special as the actual Canada Cup trophy will be here all the way from the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

“My goal is to give them something that in their forties they’ll be talking about,” said Sim.

The Centennial Cup national Junior A championship trophy will also be there this weekend in honour of the Rustlers.

Festivities begin on Friday with the Rustlers versus the Sharks and the first of four Summit Series games. There will also be live music and barbequing throughout the weekend along with the usual array of raffle and silent auction prizes.

For more information visit tommygunswinterclassic.com