The annual Hockey For Hospice tournament returns for its 28th year.
The three-day tournament features 124 teams, with approximately 2,000 young hockey players, ranging in age from four to 14-years-old, at a number of local arenas.
Each player collects pledges from friends and family, with the event teaching players the importance of giving back to their community from a young age while having fun in a hockey tournament.
Last year was a record breaking year for the tournament, with $587,780.29 raised for The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County.
Co-chair Paul Pietrasko says to date, the event has raised nearly $5.3-million.
"We never set a goal because people hit a goal and stop, and every year the kids have always exceeded the previous year, so we don't want to jinx ourselves."
He says he often sees players return to the tournament year after year.
"Once they start, they don't stop until they age out. Then we also have a scholarship fund set up that if you have participated in the tournament, when you're ready to go to college or university, you can actually apply for part of the scholarship."
Pietrasko says the hard work to put on the event always pays off.
"It's a lot work leading up to it, and all that work tends to fade away when you see the donations coming in, and the kids running around just smiling wearing their hoodies that they earned from getting donations, and just having a ball for three days."
The tournament begins Friday Dec. 27 to Sunday Dec. 29 at arena's in Tecumseh, Essex, LaSalle and Amherstburg.
Schedule and donation information can be found here: https://www.hockeyforhospice.com/about/.