For the first time since before COVID hit the world hard in March 2020, the Marblehead Youth Hockey Association hosted the annual Friendship Exchange Tournament with its counterparts from St. Lambert, Quebec the weekend before Thanksgiving at Lynn’s Connery Rink.
The long-running event got its start in the 1960s as the brainchild of MYHA coach Bill Haskell. Originally, it was Marblehead going north of the border, but through the efforts of Bud Orne and Haskell, they brought their St. Lambert neighbors to Marblehead several years later, and thus the much-anticipated exchange program was born.
Much more important than the competition over the years on the ice have been the everlasting relationships that have been forged. When it’s all said and done, the two programs end up knowing each other quite well, once they play a series of games in November in Marblehead and then meet up again a few months later in Quebec in February, while staying with the host team’s families.
The Marblehead Bantams and Squirts from 8-14 participate in the exchange program. They play one-hour games against each other throughout the three-day extravaganza, which also included NHL-style skills competitions from a relay race to a shooting drill.
At the end of the weekend, the Casper Cup is awarded to the winning program. Host Marblehead took it home this year, but the St. Lambert players have a chance to secure the trophy come February.
By the time these players are Bantams, they will have played several years against each other, and their friendships are sure to be are stronger than ever.
