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Date: 8/18/2022
WESTFIELD – Hundreds of hockey players and fans converged on Westfield this past weekend for one of the most competitive charity tournaments in the area, the annual Kevin J. Major Memorial Hockey Tournament that benefits the KEVS Foundation.
“This is a hard tournament to get into because it’s so competitive,” said Wayne Dlugozima of Suffield, CT. “Our team was lucky to get a spot about five years ago when another team dropped out.”
For more than 40 hours – 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day – 21 teams played 50 minutes of hockey at Westfield’s Amelia Park Arena in three divisions: social, men over 35, and semi-pro. This year’s tournament ran Aug. 12 to 14.
This was the 11th time that players have taken to the ice to honor Major’s love of hockey and the foundation named for him. The tournament skipped 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Major’s mother, Susan Canning, created the foundation in his memory after he died from sudden cardiac arrest in 2011. A Westfield native, he was a rising star hockey player in Western Massachusetts until his untimely death at age 19.
The foundation’s mission is to increase knowledge of hands-only CPR and to increase awareness and availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) – portable, life-saving devices designed to treat people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest – for Western Massachusetts communities. The combination of AEDs and CPR can help prevent deaths in young adults and children.
The foundation’s cause is another factor that draws hockey players to the tournament, said Dlugozima, who plays on a team from Harlow Lumber in Northampton.
“Helping the foundation raise money is the most important reason we play,” he said. “A number of my teammates played hockey with Kevin when they were younger, and they still remember him.”
So did a number of players on the team coached by Joseph LaPlante of Chicopee. He has been involved with the tournament since the beginning – first as a player and now as a coach.
“Teams love to play hockey year after year, but they also want to support the cause. That’s why they’re here,” LaPlante said.
LaPlante called the dedication of the hockey community “amazing.” He said once players know it’s for a good cause, they will travel to play in a tournament. His team planned to raise enough money for the foundation to purchase two AEDs that cost about $1,200 each.
“Players come from all over,” added Dominique Scott of West Springfield. She has been coming to watch the tournament for about five years. “I have friends on multiple teams and some were Kevin’s friends or friends of his family. They come from all over – some of my friends from Merrimack College play and others come from Boston, Connecticut, and even Florida.”
She said the tournament is a an “awesome” tribute to Major.
“This tournament helps raise awareness of what the foundation does – even some of the players aren’t aware of the foundation’s mission,” she said. “It’s also a fun day for fans and players. I enjoy watching the games. It’s a great event that draws the community together for a good cause.”
Scott brought her friend Alexia Vincelette of Chicopee to the tournament. It was Vincelette’s first time.
“I saw it advertised on Facebook, but I didn’t know too much about the foundation. Now, I have a better understanding of why it’s such an important tournament,” she said.
During the past decade, the foundation has donated more than 350 AEDs. It also has conducted hundreds of heart screenings, free of charge, to detect sudden cardiac arrest in young people. The extensive examinations cost about $3,000 per screening.
“I thought we would be done after year 10, but we’re back again because of the support of the players and the community,” said Canning. “They’ve always supported us and wanted us back so they could continue to support our mission.”
Dlugozima said the tournament is so popular that one of his team’s players drove from New Jersey just to play hockey.
“This tournament is a great time to get together with your friends – even those on other teams – and play some hockey,” he said. “We battle on the ice against our competitors, but we can go out for dinner and drinks with them afterwards and still be friends.”
Canning said each team paid a registration fee of $900, which helps to defray the cost of the ice time.
“These games also help the arena, so it can continue to operate,” she added.
Fans and players also enjoyed some local food sold during the tournament from North Elm Butcher Block and Vlad’s Fried Pizza, which set up their food trucks and tents in the arena’s parking lot off South Broad Street. Hosting the Westfield restaurants is another way the foundation tries to support the community, said Canning.
The foundation’s goal is to help prevent young adults and children from suffering the same fate as Major. His cardiac arrest was related to an undiagnosed heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Canning said Kevin had no symptoms of HCM, an abnormally enlarged heart muscle, prior to his death.
The American Heart Association describes HCM as a common cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young people, including athletes. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions and the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating.
Canning said all the money raised during the games, including from the sale of tournament and foundation merchandise, goes directly to purchasing AED units with 24-hour security boxes and to provide CPR training to local youth coaches throughout the year. The tournament is the foundation’s major fundraiser and Canning hoped it would raise $5,000 this year.
The foundation concentrates on putting AEDs in the hands of organizations where children are involved, as well as community areas. Most occurrences of sudden cardiac arrest in youth occur in public places.
The chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest can rise dramatically with the increased availability of publicly accessible AEDs in schools and school-sponsored athletic events. Canning said she knows of at least five individuals whose lives were saved by AEDs that the foundation donated.