Lake Erie Minor Hockey holds tournament to honour two county legends

Tournament named for Sandy Repko and Joe Laframboise

The Lake Erie North Stars U18 team celebrate a goal against Kitchener.

In December, the Essex County hockey community lost a couple of huge supporters.

Their legacies were honoured this past weekend as the Lake Erie Minor Hockey Association (LEMHA) held a select tournament in memory of Kingsville’s Sandy Repko and Amherstburg’s Joe Laframboise.

There were a total of 31 teams in five separate divisions - U9, U11, U13, U15 - and U18. Games began Friday in both Harrow Arena and at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg and wrapped up late on Sunday with the championship games.

The Lake Erie Minor Hockey Association, nicknamed the North Stars, is the merger of two former minor hockey organizations which were the Amherstburg Minor Hockey Association and the Erie North Shore Minor Hockey Association.

“It’s a great opportunity, in our first year to show what we’re all about. I can’t say enough about (tournament director) Ashley Incitti and her committee and the work they put in,” said LEMHA co-president Wes Ewer.

Repko was a tireless volunteer who started her commitment to the sport back in 1971. A retired teacher, she was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a member of the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame.

From the 1970’s to the 2000’s, Laframboise coached countless teams in Amherstburg from house league to travel – including the town’s first OMHA championship team - and played a key role in helping to fundraise for the town’s first arena. He was also a small business owner and local realtor after finishing his playing career with the Toronto Marlies.

Talbot Trail was happy to win their semi-final game in the U9 division. The first annual Repko-Laframboise Memorial Select Tournament was held Feb. 6-8 in Amherstburg and Harrow.

Ewer, who was able to present Laframboise with a lifetime achievement award before his passing said that when he and Storm president Gary Toubin were talking merger, that the legacy of both groups was paramount.

“Anytime we have the opportunity to honour pillars of our community, we are going to. When Gary and I started talking merger, it was important we didn’t lose the history that made both of our organizations special,” said Ewer.

While there were local teams from Windsor-Essex County, the first and hopefully annual tournament drew sides from across Ontario including Kitchener, Etobicoke, Hamilton, Dundas, Sarnia and Halton Hills.

“We just put it out there on our website and they found us,” said Incitti. “We ended up with 31 teams,” said Incitti.

Both Incitti and Ewer thanked the numerous generous sponsors who stepped up, and predict that next year they will have to turn teams away.

“They love the tournament. They are very happy and said it is very well run. They like doing the medal presentations on the ice for the MVP’s that were picked by the other team’s coaches,” said Incitti.

On the ice, the host North Stars did very well as four of their five teams made it into the semi-finals last Sunday.

Winning the U9 division was the Etobicoke Bulldogs. The Jordan Lions won both the U11 and U13, and the Ayr Flames took the U15. Kitchener Rangers who edged Lake Erie North Stars 4-3 in the semis, were U18 champs.

Lake Erie Minor Hockey holds tournament to honour to county legends

By Fred Groves