Games were tight at the 100 Mile Old Stars 25th Annual Hockey Tournament, played at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre on Nov. 9-11, with 12 teams in three age divisions playing for bragging rights.
Several of the games played out to 1-0 and 2-1 results, showing how closely matched the teams were.
In the 35-plus division, 100 Mile Old Stars 35 were the winners, coming out ahead of 100 Mile RE/MAX, Kanstam Bruins and Hansen Bros. in round-robin play.
Free Radicals from Kamloops took first place in the 45-plus pool, followed by Salmon Arm Cavaliers, 100 Mile Old Stars 45 and 100 Mile Old Cats.
In the most senior 55-plus division, Merritt was the leader, beating out Kamloops Old Radicals, 100 Mile Old Stars 55 and 100 Mile Bruce's Boys in that order.
Old Stars League co-president Shawn Reid notes that other than the usual bangs and bruises, there were no injuries to speak of.
"There was a fantastic atmosphere on the ice, with just the regular pushing and shoving."
The minimum age for players to participate was 35 and there were no boundaries on the other end of the scale.
Ron Graves of 100 Mile Old Stars 55 was the oldest at 76 years of age and he is also an original member of the league. Graves plays left wing and had one assist in his team's last game of the tournament, played Sunday against Merritt.
The tournament was highlighted by a dinner and dance on Saturday night at 100 Mile Community Hall where the men were joined by players from the South Cariboo Female Hockey League Invitational Tournament, which ran the same weekend in Lac la Hache.
Reid says it was a huge success, with the party going strong to the end at 1 a.m.
He's already looking forward to next year's tournament and says he hopes to see some new blood join the league.
"We need those younger guys coming in to keep it going. Already we're getting the second generation of Old Stars coming through and it's nice to see."