Gibson Lake Winter Classic

The Gibson Lake Winter Classic (GLWC) is an outdoor ice hockey tournament held annually on Gibson Lake in Georgian Bay Township, District of Muskoka, located 45 minutes north of the city of Barrie, Ontario.

Established in 2008 the tournament has seen growth in the number of teams and participants since its inception. The tournament is typically held the first weekend of February with teams battling for the Gibson Lake Winter Classic Trophy. Names of the winning players and coaches are engraved in duct tape and placed on the Trophy in honour of current and past champions. During the months leading up to the tournament the trophy is protected by the Masson's.

Notes

- The tournament was founded in the summer of 2008 by L.Munro and G.Cooke while vacationing at the Lake. The first tournament was held that winter in early 2009.

- Construction of the rink begins a month before the tournament. It is built by D.Beedie, J.Walsh, J.Crow and D.Masson.

- P.D'Angelo and L.Munro are the current Convenor's of the tournament.

- 2013 will mark the 5th Anniversary of the tournament.

The Rink

Construction

Construction of the rink begins one month prior to the annual event. Gibson Lake typically provides perfect weather conditions for formation of the ice but countless man hours are required to sculpt the ice surface into a suitable playing surface for the tournament. Unseasonably high temperatures in the area has made this more difficult in recent years. The builders work tirelessly around the clock to provide a solid ice surface for the highly competitive tournament.

The Builders

The tournament would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the builders: Dave 'Grampie' Beedie, John 'Dubby' Walsh, Jim Crow and Don Masson.

Zamboni

For the 2011 tournament a homemade Zamboni (ATV, trailer, drum and mop) was created in order to keep the ice at near perfect conditions throughout the tournament. The Zamboni will be utilized for all future tournaments.

Tournaments

(2009) 1st Annual GLWC

Date: January 31, 2009

Weather: Overcast. Snow. -18°C.

Champions: Team 1

Runner Up: Team 2

MVP: Layne Chambers

Participants/Teams:

Tournament Notes and Highlights:

The 1st annual tournament featured 9 participants. 4 teams of 2 were created with one goaltender. The teams were designated 1 through 4. The tournament was played round robin style with each team playing each other twice. Rules consisted of games up to 5 with take backs required to a designated spot by the defensive team after a shot from the attacking team was registered on goal. Points were totaled at the end of the round robin with the last place team being eliminated from the playoffs. The 2nd and 3rd place teams faced off in a 1 game playoff up to 5. 1st place received a bye to the finals where they would meet the winner of 2nd vs 3rd.

Team 1 was victorious over Team 2 in the finals on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

(2010) 2nd Annual GLWC

Date: February 6, 2010

Weather: Clear. Sunny. -12°C

Champions: Team Black

Runner Up: Team Red

MVP: Andrew McLaughlin

Participants/Teams:

Tournament Notes and Highlights:

The Gibson Lake Winter Classic Trophy was created prior to this tournament to honour the winning team members each year by engraving their names in duct tape and securing them to the trophy forever. A ceremony was held for the 2009 champions prior to puck drop in 2010.

The 2nd annual tournament featured 10 participants. 3 teams of 3 were created with one goaltender. The teams were split by jersey colour (black, red, white). The tournament was again played round robin style with each team playing each other twice. Rules remained unchanged. Points were totaled at the end of the round robin with the 2nd and 3rd place teams facing off in another 1 game playoff up to 5. 1st place received a bye to the finals where they would meet the winner of 2nd vs 3rd.

Team Black was victorious over Team Red in overtime on a controversial game-winning goal still debated to this day. The Gibson Lake Winter Classic Trophy was raised for the second time by Andrew McLaughlin on Saturday, February 6, 2010.

(2011) 3rd Annual GLWC

Date: February 5, 2011

Weather: Clear. Sunny. -5°C.

Champions: The Canadians

Runner Up: The Penguins

MVP: Adam Montgomery

Participants/Teams:

Tournament Notes and Highlights:

The 3rd annual tournament featured the most participants to date. 13 players (split into 3 teams of 4 with one goaltender), played in yet another round robin with each team playing each other twice.

Jerseys were created for the first time at this year's event (previously all jerseys were donated by Andrew McLaughlin). Each team was given a name and jersey crested with the now official Gibson Lake Winter Classic Logo (seen above).

The teams consisted of: The Canadians, The Penguins, The Blackhawks and The Leafs.

Sadly three jerseys were lost on transport to the tournament and never recovered. Additional jerseys were created after the tournament and provided to the players who went without during the tournament.

Rules remained unchanged. Points were totaled at the end of the round robin with the 2nd and 3rd place teams facing off in another 1 game playoff up to 5. 1st place received a bye to the finals where they would meet the winner of 2nd vs 3rd.

The Canadians were victorious over The Penguins in a thrilling overtime shootout. Adam Montgomery playing in his first GLWC netted the game tying goal as well as the shootout winner in the final to secure his spot as tournament MVP. He famously snubbed Layne Chambers after his game tying goal to also receive the nickname "Montsnubery". Captain Nick Leonard hoisted his first Gibson Lake Winter Classic Trophy on Saturday, February 5, 2011 along with Adam, Jeremy Clough and Brandon Young.

(2012) 4th Annual GLWC

Date: February 4, 2012

Weather: Clear. Sunny. -8°C

Champions: The Canucks

Runner Up: The Flames

MVP: Pierre D'Angelo

Participants/Teams:

Tournament Notes and Highlights:

The 4th annual tournament featured a total of 14 players (split into 3 teams of 3 and 1 team of 4). The teams consisted of: The Canucks, The Jets, The Oilers and The Flames. One goaltender was utilized again.

With the addition of a fourth team the round robin format was changed slightly with all teams making the playoffs and the first place team being granted home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The 1st Place Flames played the 4th place Oilers, while the 2nd Place Jets Played the 3rd Place Canucks. Both semi-finals went to multi-round shootouts with the Flames and Canucks coming out on top. The highlight of the semi-finals was the Canuck's stay at home defenseman, Tim Hinschberger, scoring the decisive sudden death shootout goal in the 8th round of the shootout to seal his teams trip to the final.

The finals saw The Canucks shock the 1st place Flames in regulation 4 - 2. The game was delayed several times as Chris Prosia was hurt multiple times after being hit with errant pucks. Adam Taylor scored the final goal from behind the net on a noticeably tired and confused Pierre D'Angelo, playing in his 15th straight game. Despite his poor performance in the finals, his strong play throughout the tournament earned him MVP honours as voted by the fans and all participants. Captain Andrew Slomka raised his first Gibson Lake Winter Classic Trophy on Saturday, February 2, 2012 along with teammates and first time Champions Adam Taylor and Tim Hinschberger.

(2013) 5th Annual GLWC

Date: February 2, 2013

Weather: TBA

Champions: TBA

Runner Up: TBA

MVP: TBA

Participants/Teams:

Tournament Notes and Highlights:

The 5th annual tournament will feature a total of 13 players (split into 3 teams of 3). 1 goalie will be used again with take backs to a specified line on the day of the tournament. Each team will wear a commemorative 5th Anniversary Patch on the right shoulder of their jersey in celebration of 5 great years.

The round robin format will change slightly. It will now feature a standings format similar to the Memorial Cup in an effort to reduce the number of games (giving much needed relief to the single goaltender) and increase competition throughout the tournament. First Place after the round robin will be placed immediately in the Finals while the second and third place team will compete in the semi-finals. A "tiebreaker" game will be played between the 3rd and 4th place team if a tie in the standings occurs between the two teams.

Champions and Challengers (2009 to Present)

Participants (2009 to Present)

See also

• Barrie Examiner
• Barrie Advance

External links

• http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Gibson+Lake,+Georgian+Bay,+ON,+Canada&hl=en&sll=44.969656,-79.745636&sspn=0.147922,0.308647&oq=gibson+l&hnear=Gibson+Lake&t=k&z=15