Hockey night in the mining industry

The crowd cheers and stock market discussions fade to a gentle murmur, the sound of skates cutting the ice resonating throughout the arena. Tension builds as the players take to their positions on the red line; sticks on the ice, eyes on the puck. In the seconds before the puck hits the ice, it seems to hang in the air. The arena erupts with the snap of hockey sticks before the puck is swallowed by a sea of red and white –geologists pitted against First Nation chiefs, mining company CEOs against investors. This is the first annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Caracle Cup, and like all hockey championships in Canada, this one will be fought to the bitter end.

On March 1st, mining industry associates packed into CanLan arena in Toronto for a chance to see their colleagues play against each other in what is planned to be an annual event associated with the PDAC convention.

Three years in the making, the Caracle Cup was spearheaded by Sudbury, Ont.-based geological consulting firm Caracle Creek International Consulting’s (CCIC) Scott Jobin-Bevans, Terry Loney and Ray Quenville.

Quenville, marketing and sales manager at CCIC, says the idea came from a similar East to West hockey tournament run during previous years at the PDAC convention.

“It existed but no one ever showed up,” says Quenville, who played for CCIC. “So we decided to try our own.”

Among the six teams participating in this year’s tournament were: CCIC, Los Pendejos (featuring recently retired NHLer Shayne Corson), Ring of Fire, Massive Sulphides (featuring Ontario New Democratic Party leader Howard Hampton), Broadview Hawks and Nishnawabe Rock (featuring Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.)

“It was a good mix of people,” Quenville says.

Quenville, who has always played hockey, admitted he was surprised by the way Howard Hampton can move with the puck.

“He was great,” Quenville says. “I made the mistake of misjudging his skills.”

In the final game, Los Pendejos hammered CCIC, winning 8-5 to capture the Caracle Cup and become the first ever champions.

“(Corson) was a super-nice guy but he could just skate circles around us,” Quenville says. “He was just playing with us.”

Quenville isn’t afraid to swallow his pride and applaud the victory, saying the important thing is everyone had fun.

“Most of the teams were out there for good times.”

In the end, everyone walked away with a prize and even a few trophies, including Tyler Johnston, who was named MVP, geologist Steve Wetherup, who won Top Scorer, and Shayne Corson, named Most Sportsmanlike Player.

As for next year’s tournament, Quenville says the plan is to go big.

“We are growing the event to 12 teams and have already reserved two ice pads at CanLan,” Quenville says.

The event was sponsored by CCIC, IBK Capital, Foundation Markets, Aquiline Resources, Goldeye Explorations, Treasury Metals, Rainy River Resources, Mukuba Resources, Takara Resources, Irwin Professional Corp., Golden Valley Mines and the PDAC.