by Matt Radford, OMA Public Affairs and Communications Department
Ontario doctors will be hitting the ice in Hamilton this coming spring for the 25th anniversary of the “Doctors of Ontario Charity (DOCS) on Ice” hockey tournament.
The event, which takes place from April 12-14, 2007, is being organized by the Hamilton Academy of Medicine, and chaired by Hamilton family physician Wally Owsianik, who has played in the tournament since its inception in 1983.
“I’ve been playing hockey recreationally forever,” said Dr. Owsianik. “I’m Canadian, I was born with skates.”
The tournament was started by Peterborough family physician Peter Clark as a memorial for his friend and fellow hockey enthusiast, Dr. Peter Howes, a urologist from Peterborough who was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1981.
Each year, the tournament is held in a different city to reaffirm its founding principles of charity, camaraderie and sportsmanship.
Originally known as the Doctors of Ontario Hockey Tournament, the organization took its current name, Doctors of Ontario Charity (DOCS) on Ice, in 2000.
From its early years as an eight-team tournament, DOCS on Ice has grown to 45 teams consisting of nearly 750 Ontario physicians who play in eight divisions.
The teams have come up with creative names for themselves, such as the “Burlington Butthawks,” the “Durham What’s-Up-Docs,” and the “Peterborough Quacks.”
“Peter Clark named our team the Quacks,” said Dr. Rick Binette, who has been playing with the Quacks since he joined the tournament in 1984. In jest, he added, “the Anaheim Mighty Ducks have shortened their name to the Ducks this year, which comes perilously close to name infringement.”
Dr. Owsianik named one of the Hamilton teams the “Hamilton Mountain Men,” to alleviate concerns about being referred to as the “B” team.
“I used to think being called the Hamilton ‘B’ team was like being called a ‘B’-grade actor. So I took it upon myself to give us a classy name — so now we’re not a bunch of ‘loser B-team guys,’ we’re the Hamilton Mountain Men!”
Beyond the fun and regional rivalries, the tournament’s three founding principles bring a depth to the game that keeps physicians coming back year after year.
“This tournament is geared to playing hockey at our best level — whatever that may be — while having fun, exploring the host town, and renewing old friendships with colleagues across the province,” said Dr. Owsianik. “Equally important is the second aspect that has evolved — raising funds for local charities.”
DOCS on Ice began donating to charities in 1992, the same year that Peterborough hosted the tournament’s 10th anniversary. On that occasion, former NHL player and four-time Stanley Cup winner Eddie “The Entertainer” Shack was brought in as a guest speaker. When DOCS on Ice organizers discovered they had a $500 surplus from the event, they decided to donate it to the Easter Seals Society. The tournament has partnered with local charities to raise money ever since.
Each participant pays an entry fee to play in the tournament, which covers the ice time and meals, with any money remaining at the end of the event going to a local charity. Pharmaceutical companies have also been approached in recent years to generate larger donations.
For the 2007 tournament, DOCS on Ice has teamed up with the Mark Preece Family House (www.markpreecehouse.ca), a charitable organization that plans to build a home adjacent to the Hamilton General Hospital that will offer assistance to the families of adult patients who require affordable, accessible and safe accommodation while visiting a loved one.
The house is named after a local physician who was a member of the critical care medical team in Hamilton, who died in 1997 of cancer.
“It’s a charity that is close to our hearts, and named after a doctor that we certainly knew,” said Dr. Owsianik.
Along with the Mark Preece Family House, some of the monies raised will go toward funding the Hamilton Sledge Hammers (www.hamiltonsledgehammers.ca), a local sledge hockey team for children living with cerebral palsy.
The 2006 DOCS on Ice tournament — which was held in Windsor, and saw more than 600 physician participants — raised over $53,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation of Southwestern Ontario. The money collected helped approximately 10 “wishes” come true.
Dr. Owsianik says physicians who are thinking of getting involved in the tournament should not “let life pass them by. It’s like being a child again — reliving your youth — it’s fun, it’s healthy, it’s a great game.”
For more information on the 2007 DOCS on Ice hockey tournament, contact tournament chair Dr. Wally Owsianik (wally@hamiltondoctors.ca) or executive administrator Maryann Vasic (maryann@hamiltondoctors.ca).