Fire Bears make triumphant return to Beaver Cup

The Esquimalt Fire Bear gather for a team photo after their gold medal win. Right: Fire Bears team captain Josh Peterson of Esquimalt Fire and Rescue raises the Beaver Cup trophy over his head in celebration of their win. Inset below: Blues guitarist Jesse Roper and member of the RPOps Thrashers belts out a rendition of O Canada on his guitar during the Beaver Cup opening ceremony at Wurtele Arena. Photo by Peter Mallett, Lookout

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

The Esquimalt Fire Bears engineered a 5-2 victory over 19 Wing Comox to capture the gold medal at this year’s Beaver Cup hockey tournament.

The latest edition of the annual recreational hockey competition for members of the military’s engineering community was played April 23 to 26 at Wurtele Arena and featured five co-ed teams squaring off in round robin play.

The Esquimalt Fire and Rescue team made a triumphant return to the tournament after a four year absence. Fire Bears team captain Josh Peterson raised the Beaver Cup trophy over his head as his teammates cheered during the post-game trophy presentation ceremony led by Real Property Operations (Pacific) Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Sandy.

“We didn’t come to lose but our opponents from Comox were also great competitors and the final score certainly didn’t reflect how closely matched the two teams were on the ice today,” said Peterson who works as a firefighter at the Base. “The most important thing is we got on the ice as engineers and focused on building friendship and camaraderie with our peers through hockey.”

LCol Sandy says the tournament is an effort to bring together civilian employees and military personnel who work in the DND engineering community at CFB Esquimalt and 19 Wing Comox for some friendly competition.

“The engineering community at military bases are a tight-knit family, so this tournament is a chance to unite our people through sport,” said LCol Sandy. “Quite often military and civilian employees don’t get that chance to interact when they are outside the workplace.”

The Beaver Cup tournament began in 1986 and is normally played each year with each base rotating as tournament host. LCol Sandy noted the tournament has a much longer history and that other Beaver Cup competitions also exist within the engineering communities at other military bases across Canada.

This year’s tournament was buoyed by some star power.

Victoria Blues musician Jesse Roper and retired Canadian Football League Centre Tim O’Neill suited up to play for the RPOps Thrashers. Moments before the tournament’s opening puck drop on April 23, Roper, with his guitar and amplifier, delighted participants with his rendition of O Canada.

Roper’s guitar picking earned widespread cheers and the slapping of sticks on the ice after he completed the anthem, and he also earned praise for his play on the ice.

“He was quick and fit and fast, was taking a lot of hard shots at our defence and was really quite a hockey player,” said Peterson.

The tournament featured three teams representing Real Property Operations (Pacific) and included the RPOps Bandits, Thrashers and Beavers. The Beavers celebrate third-place honors in the bronze medal game when they shut out the Bandits 6-0.