The St. Ignace Pee Wee hockey team poses for a picture at Little Bear East Arena. Pictured are (front, from left) Andrew Christian, Jack Styes, Trevor Bailey, Austin Marshall, Toby Ferguson, Garrett Kellan; (second row) Austin Wachnicki, Lukas Riordan, Dalton L'Allier, Zak Lasley, Derek Crane, Anne Eberts, Kameron Fulgenzi, Dylan Danielson, Alley Wackley, Head Coach Rick Eberts; (back) Assistant Coaches Jim Wachnicki, Mike Danielson, and Ben L'Allier. The pee wee team will play with seven other teams during the "Bridge Brawl" tournament from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8, at Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace. Pee Wee hockey players from as far away as Grand Blanc and White Lake will take to the ice at Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace this weekend as a part of the "Bridge Brawl" hockey tournament Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8. This weekend's tournament is part of a larger St. Ignace tournament series, with six weekends already scheduled.

Eight teams will compete in two Pee Wee House B divisions, the Lake Michigan Division and the Lake Huron Division, during the three-day Pee Wee tournament, hosted in St. Ignace for the first time this year. House B means the teams registering do not hold tryouts for their players.

The St. Ignace Saints Pee Wee team, consisting of 15 players ages 11 and 12, is sponsored by the West US-2 Shell gas station. Other teams at the tournament will be the Escanaba Hawks, Lapeer Lightning, Ice Mountain Mountain Cats from Grand Blanc, Soo Builders, Sault Printing, Lakeland Cyclones from White Lake, and Top Line Electric from Traverse City.

The St. Ignace Saints team will play Soo Builders at 4 p.m. Friday, November 6, then face Top Line Electric at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, November 7, and Lapeer Lightning at 3 p.m. Saturday. A skills competition will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday. Semi-finals will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday, November 8, and winners of the 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. games will face off in the championship game at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Pee Wee tournament is part of the "Battle at the Bridge Tournament Series," made up of six tournaments for six different classes of hockey teams, spread from late October to mid-March.

From October 30 through November 1, Midget J.V. Prep Teams played in the "Bridge Brawl" tournament. In December, teams of Squirts House B (ages 9-10) will face off December 4 through December 6, and Bantams House B (ages 13- 14) will play in a tournament December 11 through December 13. February will bring the U.P. Youth Pond Hockey tournament February 27 and February 28. Mites House B (ages 7-8) will hold a tournament March 12 through March 14. The Squirt and Pee Wee tournaments are both full at eight teams, but applications are still being accepted for the other events.

The idea of a "battle of the bridge" tournament was first suggested by Kelly Simmons at a Recreation Advisory Committee meeting in 2006. Mrs. Simmons suggested the tournament as a way to allow U.P. and lower peninsula teams to meet in the middle, while helping to make the St. Ignace arena profitable.

For the upcoming Pee Wee tournament, all teams except those from Sault Ste. Marie will be staying at local hotels for discounted rates. Stated on the tournament application, all teams from 60 miles away or more must either stay at a St. Ignace hotel or pay an additional tournament charge of $200. Recreation Director Scott Marshall estimated that with families and coaches, about 1,000 people will attend the Pee Wee tournament.

The special hotel rates, combined with gift baskets full of goods donated by local businesses and specials for hockey players at businesses around town, are an attempt by the business community in St. Ignace to bring in people for tournaments like this and to keep them coming back.

"The hospitality in St. Ignace is top notch, and that is one of my selling points," Mr. Marshall said. "The business community has been great to us."

Entry fees range from $350 for the Mite league to $700 for the Midget/J.V. Prep tournament and will include a tournament medal as a key chain for every player, team trophies and individual medals for first and second place teams, and most valuable player trophies.

Mite, Squirt, and Pee Wee tournaments include skills competitions including fastest skater, shooting accuracy, hardest shot, and goalie competitions at no additional cost. Awards are given for first through third place.

Last year, the St. Ignace Visitors Bureau hosted squirt and bantam tournaments, with help from the Recreation Department and the St. Ignace Hockey Association. This year, all tournaments will be run by the Recreation Department, with help from the association, and the visitors bureau is coordinating specials with area hotels.

Many cities across the state have been doing tournaments like this for a long time, Mr. Marshall said, which can be both a disadvantage and advantage for St. Ignace as it tries to build its tournament series.

"These other large arenas throughout the state have been doing it a long time," he said, "and they already have a name for themselves." Also, though, he said, many of these communities raise hotel rates for the events and have higher tournament fees, fewer games, and shorter periods.

"We run a really good tournament," Mr. Marshall said. "We're going to build up a good name for ourselves and it will just grow."

After the March 2008 Mite tournament in St. Ignace, he said, all teams in attendance sent thank you letters to Little Bear, saying it was one of the best tournaments they had ever attended.

"We worked all year planning these tournaments," he said. "We want St. Ignace to become an elite tournament location."

Part of accomplishing this goal, Mr. Marshall said, is filling seats in the arena and creating an atmosphere of excitement that the players and their friends and family will remember.

"I am asking the public to come out and support these tournaments by simply attending a couple games," he said. "I want the stands packed full of people for every game."

This year's tournament games will feature a "chuck a puck" contest, in which spectators pay $1 for a hockey puck and get the chance to throw it on the ice between periods. The thrower of the puck closest to the center ice face-off will receive half the entry fee; the other half will go to the city recreation department.

On top of supporting the program, Mr. Marshall said a hockey game at Little Bear East is a free, enjoyable activity for local residents. There is no gate fee for spectators at any of the tournaments.

"It's good family entertainment," he said. "They will have a lot of fun, and it will help build up our tournaments."