Engineering victory for all at Beaver Cup

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Family ties ran strong on the ice at this year’s Beaver Cup hockey tournament in Esquimalt. 

While the two father-son duos that played in this year’s tournament did not capture the coveted Beaver Cup tournament trophy, they say their love of hockey, family and community embodies the true spirit of the recreational hockey tournament.

“Playing on the same sheet of ice with your son or dad is just the hockey mentality as hockey is in our blood in Canada,” said Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) (ret’d) Doug Foreman.

Foreman, former Chief Engineer at CFB Esquimalt, retired from the military in 2000. Today, he helps run the tournament with Warrant Officer (WO) Robert James Kerr of Real Properties Operations (RPOPs) Pacific. The Beaver is a symbol representing the Canadian Military Engineers (CME). It is also the name of the CME’s hockey, golf, and curling tournaments, which military and civilians in the unit have competed in for over 50 years at bases and wings across Canada.

Foreman has played in Beaver Cup hockey tournaments at various locations nationwide since the 1980s. For the first time, both of his sons joined him on the ice simultaneously for this year’s competition at Wurtele Arena. WO Ian Foreman of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in Edmonton and Scott, a high school teacher, formed the Foreman family forward line for their team, the Pioneers, one of the tournament’s five teams.

The 77-year-old retiree is also one of the two oldest players in the tournament. It’s an honour he shares with teammate and Pioneers goaltender Chief Petty Officer Second Class (ret’d) Butch Boucher, who was recruited to play in the tournament at the Base back in 1998.

“Everyone seems to love the thought of having fathers and sons playing in the tournament and you can’t beat the feeling of playing hockey with your own son,” said Boucher.

Boucher is an Educational Advisor with the Victoria Grizzlies Junior ‘A’ hockey team. He once helped guide his son Nick to an Ivy League Scholarship in the NCAA and a professional career with the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League.

The third father-son duo on the ice was LCol Jeff Barr, a retired member of the Canadian Army’s armoured regiment the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and his son Lt(N) Mitchell Barr, Deck Officer of HMCS Ottawa, who played for the tournament finalists, the Sappers.

“I have been playing hockey with my dad since I was four years old and he was coaching me but this is the first time we have played together in the Beaver Cup so a very special feeling to be on the ice with him,” said Lt(N) Barr.

 

The Esquimalt edition of the Beaver Cup hockey tournament began in 1996 but has not been staged since 2019. This year’s tournament spanned three days starting on Apr. 16, including five teams playing 13 games. The tournament attracts military and civilian engineers and their families and friends while promoting physical fitness and camaraderie within the engineering community.

A late-game rally helped the Bandits defeat the Sappers 2-1 in the tournament final on Apr. 19. The Sappers scored early in the first period and held on to a one-goal lead behind the solid goaltending of Jeff Clarkson. Then, midway through the third period, the Bandits equalized. The Sapper’s short bench and a pair of penalties late in the third period helped drain their energy and helped seal their fate. Alex Hall, a senior Contracts Inspector with Defence Construction Canada, scored the winning goal with just 30 seconds remaining in the game to give the Bandits the victory.

After the final buzzer, Bandits Team Captain Jordan Semeschuk, a civilian employee of Defence Construction Canada, accepted the tournament trophy on behalf of his teammates from tournament sponsors LCol Michael Ulloa, Commanding Officer RPOPs Esquimalt, and Master Warrant Officer Drew Scott, RPOPs Section Esquimalt.

“It feels great to be champions after a long stretch of hockey and six games over three days but hats off to our opponents, the Sappers, who gave it a great fight,” said Semeschuk.