People from outside of Halifax, like the U.S., come to compete
The first games of the Halifax Pride Cup started when the puck dropped. Before that, the players warmed up and took practice shots at their goalie.
The three-day hockey tournament started Friday night with three games and six teams. All of the players were LGBTQ. This is the first tournament put on byQueer Hockey Nova Scotia.
The games are free and anyone can come, but the organizers are asking for donations.
Seventy-five people signed up for the tournament, and it’s not just people from the area who are playing.
Kriona Hagen, a center for Team Trans, moved up from Madison, Wisconsin. Her best friend, who is one of the organizers of the Pride Cup, told her about it.
“Playing with Team Trans and being on a team where everyone else is transgender is almost like a spiritual experience,” she said.
Hagen said that she started playing hockey as an adult because she wanted to meet other gay people.
“I was so desperate, I was even willing to try team sports,” she said.
Hagen said that the chance to play with other LGBTQ hockey players is reassuring.
“It’s so nice being in the locker room where you don’t have to explain anything,” she said. “People there know and understand already.”
O. Stonehouse feels the same way when they play with people like them.
“This is the most excited I’ve ever been about a sports game,” they said.
Stonehouse is on team Golden Goals, which is a joke about the TV show The Golden Girls. Team Trans-Canada Express played the team yesterday in a very exciting game.
In the first period, Trans-Canada Express took the lead with a score of 1-0. But the Golden Goals tied it up with just over eight minutes left in the third.
Stonehouse scored a goal as his team went on to win the game 3-2.
Stonehouse said after the game, “It was a lot of fun to play against Team Trans Canada Express. They were very friendly.” “Every time we faced off, we talked—it was so nice.”
At the end of the game, players line up at center ice to shake hands.
After putting in a lot of time and effort to plan the event, the founder of Queer Hockey Nova Scotia, Jay McKellar, said that the tournament was “very overwhelming but very exciting.”
McKellar, who plays for Team Trans, said he was excited to play against friends and family.
“It’s amazing to see these six teams and athletes from all over the world come together to celebrate Pride and queer joy,” said McKellar.
Sunday at 10:30 a.m., at Centennial Arena, the Pride Cup will end with the championship game.