The 2012 Horsemen's Hockey Tournament saw Team Paralyzers re-emerge as the champion of the Open Division while Mortgage Titans earned bragging rights in the Oldtimer Division on Wednesday at Western Fair Sports Complex in London, Ont.
"It was a good day, quiet by horsemen standards -- not too much fistacuffs or rough housing," said tournament organizer Dan Creighton. "It's good for everybody to get together and play a little hockey and drink a little beer."
Team Paralyzers defeated the Ottawa Colts 7-1 in their championship game. The 2009 and 2010 champions rebounded after a close loss in last year’s tournament for another title.
"It's great to get together with horsemen from all over the country once a year for a fun day... special thanks to Danny Creighton for helping to make that happen," said Paralyzers' captain Dan Fisher. "And under J.R. Plante's great management (and play), and with a great bunch of character guys, we've been lucky enough to win it three of the last four years... that's just icing on the cake."
"This year all the teams matched up very well, the games were close and we ran into some very hot goaltenders," added right wing Nicholas Boyd. "Fortunately, our goalie [Brad Powell] was equally as sharp and our team turned it on when necessary."
The Open MVP was Paralyzers’ Ali MacEachern of Cape Breton, N.S.
First time entry in the Oldtimer Division, Mortgage Titans defeated 2010 champions Georgian Downs 5-3 in their playoff game.
"It was just a good team effort and all in all a great day," said Oldtimer Division's MVP Kevin Kerr of the Mortgage Titans. "Dan Creighton did a great job putting it all together."