4th Annual · September 11–13, 2026
A co-ed charity hockey tournament in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Every dollar raised supports mental health care that cancer patients at the QEII would otherwise cover on their own.
Registration closed
Where the money goes
A care provider at the QEII Health Sciences Centre applies on a patient's behalf. The grant covers up to $1,000 toward private counselling, so that when a patient asks for help it's there.
More than 100 patients have been funded this way. The fund ran dry in April 2025, which is the plainest argument we have for filling it again.
Since 2023
$108,000+
Raised since 2023
$33,000 in the first year, $39,000 in 2024, and more than $36,000 in 2025.
Every dollar goes to the fund
100+
Patients supported
Funded since the first tournament in 2023.
$1,000
Maximum single grant
Applied for by a QEII care provider, on the patient's behalf.
22
Teams in 2026
Up from ten at the first tournament.
“Hockey is the avenue to make a difference. It's really about helping cancer patients and this is just the vehicle to do it.”
How the weekend runs
Organizers place every team by looking at the roster it submits, weighing age and playing history. Teams are guaranteed three round-robin games, and the top six move on to three division finals.
01
Adult rec-league regulars who are athletic, read the game well, and skate and handle the puck comfortably. Roughly the stronger end of Bluenose Coed. Some skaters here have moved down from higher ranks as the years added up, and others carry a coached background from high school or junior.
02
Average in most areas of the game and here mainly for the weekend itself. This is where newer skaters land. Anyone with more skill in this division is expected to pass to them, give them shifts, and leave them room with the puck.
Please build a balanced roster. Stacking a team takes the fun away from everyone else in the division, and the organizers can move or remove a player whose skill level is out of place.
Who plays
Players are 21 and older, and every team dresses at least two female or non-binary skaters in each game. The 2SLGBTQ+ community and their allies have a place here, and organizers hold a firm line on disrespectful or intimidating behaviour.
Players with more skill are asked to make room: pass to the newer skaters on your bench, give equal shifts, and if you knock someone over, help them up.
From the weekend
Past supporters
Interested in sponsoring the 2026 tournament? Email the organizers.
Still a way in
All 22 spots for 2026 are taken and registration is closed. If you want to be part of the weekend anyway, the QEII Foundation page takes donations of any size and issues the tax receipt.