Snoopy's Senior World Hockey Tournament (commonly known as the "Snoopy Tournament") is a major amateur senior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

tournament held every summer at

Redwood Empire Ice Arena The Redwood Empire Ice Arena (commonly known as Snoopy's Home Ice) is an indoor ice rink in Santa Rosa, California, United States. It was owned and built by ''Peanuts'' cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, and it opened on April 28, 1969. It was origi ...

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wid ...

, creator of the comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' and owner of the arena, started the tournament in 1975.

Tournament structure

The entire tournament consists of over 60 teams split up into many different divisions. The teams are divided up by age group: 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, and 75. A player is able to play in a younger division but not an older one. For example, a 50-year-old

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

can play in either the 40-, 45- or 50-year-old division, but he is not eligible to play in the 55 or higher.

Goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

s are the only exception to this rule. They can be 10 years younger than the requirement for a division, but have to be at least 40 years of age. The teams in each division play a round-robin series, playing each other only once. Gold, Silver and bronze medals are awarded for the winners in each division.

Countries represented

Teams from all over the world participate in the tournament. United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan have all been represented in past years. In the 36th Annual tournament in 2011, there were teams from 12 different states within the U.S.,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

in Canada, and a team from

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, Norway.

Ex-pros and celebrities

Schulz played in the tournament every year up until his death. He was a member of the Diamond Icers team that played their final game in the 75-year-old division. His son Monte Schulz also has played in the tournament. The Snoopy Tournament has also attracted the attention of some retired pro

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

players as well as some celebrities. Some of the former NHLers who have played in the tournament are

Red Berenson Gordon Arthur "Red, The Red Baron" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team from 1984 to 2017. Berenson was inducted into Canada's Sports ...

Ernie Hicke Ernest Allan Hicke (born November 7, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Oakland Seals, Atlanta Flames, New York Islanders, Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Ki ...

Terry Harper Terrance Victor Harper (born January 27, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Harper played in the National Hockey League from 1962 to 1981. During this time, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroi ...

, and

Mel Bridgman Melvin John Bridgman (born April 28, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1975–76 until 1988–89. Bridgman was born in Trenton, Ontario, but grew up in Thund ...

, as well as the current general manager and Head Coach for the

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of three leagues making up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Prior to the 2021-22 season, the Winterhawks split thei ...

, Jamie Kompon. Other notable participants in the tournament are television producer

David E. Kelley David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney, known as the creator of ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Picket Fences'', ''Chicago Hope'', ''The Practice'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Public'', ...

, creator of ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1 ...

'' and '' Ally McBeal'', and

Dave Filoni David Filoni (born June 7, 1974) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor. He has worked on ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''The Mandalorian'', and on the theatrical film and television series of '' Star Wars: The Clone ...

, animation director for ''

Star Wars Rebels ''Star Wars Rebels'' is an American 3D animation, 3D animated science fiction on television, science fiction television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation and set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. It takes place over a decade after ''Episode ...

''. Mark Sertich, the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

holder for being the oldest hockey player, also played in the tournament into his mid-90s. He died in August 2020 at the age of 99.

Tournament dates

The 2019 tournament was cancelled due to renovations and ice repairs, and both the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Recent years tournament dates: * 6–15 July 2018 * 14–23 July, 2017 * 15–24 July 2016 * 10–19 July, 2015 * 11–20 July 2014 * 12–21 July, 2013 * 7–15 July 2012 * 9–16 July, 2011

References

* * * {{Citation , last = Powers , first = DJ , title = Hockey alums regroup on ice for Snoopy seniors tourney , date = 2 July 2007, url = http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2007/07/2007-07-25-hockey.html , access-date = 27 September 2007

External links

Snoopy's Home Ice

Snoopy's Senior World Hockey Tournament promo
on YouTube Ice hockey tournaments in the United States Peanuts (comic strip) Sports in Santa Rosa, California Sports in Sonoma County, California