During the weekend of Feb. 16-18, 80-plus Marblehead Youth Hockey families made the trip
to St. Lambert, Quebec, to complete the home and home annual hockey exchange tournament between these two communities. It’s the longest continuing youth hockey exchange in North America.
It all begins every year in November, when the St. Lambert youth hockey players visit Marblehead with their families for a series of fun games and skill competitions, before
returning the favor to host their newfound friends at the start of February school vacation. It’s been a six-decade labor of love for both youth hockey organizations. Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the youth hockey exchange tournament.
For three days, the players stay at each other’s homes to get a better understanding of the culture.
MYH president Michael Calabrese fully understands the history of the exchange.
“This is my second year as a part of this exchange, and now seeing it for a second time you really get to appreciate the history and tradition of it,” Calabrese said.
“I started out playing hockey in Framingham, and was never a part of a tradition like this one,” he added. “Although we didn’t fare well on the scoreboard in our collective games (this time around), this exchange isn’t really about that. Don’t get me wrong, our kids and coaches are competitive and want to win, but at the end of the day this exchange is about playing hockey and building lifelong friendships.
“My eight-year-old son Dylan now has a Canadian family that treats him like one of their own. Dylan’s Canadian buddy is also like our son when they stay here. That is why this exchange has lasted 60 years, and that’s why it will last for another 60. It really does come down to the people.”
For the record, the St. Lambert boys and girls players won the February skill competitions, 24-19, and most of the games between the two programs. The Marblehead coaches avenged their November loss with a narrow 8-7 triumph. The respective Bantam Triple-A squads split their games during the first couple of days of the exchange, before they mixed the teams up on the final day to give the Marblehead and St. Lambert players a chance to play with each other.
But in the end, the exchange tournament is never about wins and losses on the scoreboard, because everybody wins when these two cultures come together twice every year.
Playing in their last exchange a couple of weeks ago in St. Lambert, Quebec, were these MYH Bantam Triple-A players: Nate Johnson, Liam Wesson, Cameron Carnevale, Jackson Drayer, Asuka Keough, Will DePhillips, Evan O’Connor, Annie Wales, Parker Booth, Addie Co-Peeps and Jacob Greenway. They now move on to the high school level.
Calabrese’s counterpart, Audree Couture-Martel, sent this email to the Marblehead families after
another exchange came to an end earlier this month:
“It was a really fun week. I am still recovering from it with very little time to rest (as I) try to catch up with work. But (once again), there were so many good memories (from the exchange that make up for it).
“Bertrand De Feydeau, who was our master of ceremony, was participating in his 17th exchange. He dropped the puck during the ceremonial faceoff with his son François, who has also participated in every exchange alongside his dad, except for the COVID year.
“Thank you for all your help in finalizing the last minute details, and all the great collaborations we had together during the preparations. I believe we will have to do even more for the 60th anniversary (next year). Let’s start soon.”
