Cape Breton's Red Cup hockey tournament cancelled as more teams withdraw
High school hockey tournament hosted by Riverview Rural High School had been scheduled for Fe. 2-4
The Red Cup Showcase high school hockey tournament hosted by Riverview Rural High School in Coxheath, N.S., has been cancelled for the second time in a month.
The school sent out a release on Thursday saying the action had to be taken "due to the withdrawal of teams." The tournament had been set to run Feb. 2 to 4.
A fixture in the Cape Breton sports calendar for the past 39 years, the event was first called off Jan. 16 because of a work-to-rule campaign by teachers. Under work-to-rule, teachers did not take part in extracurricular activities.
But when a tentative contract agreement was reached on Jan. 20, organizers made plans to resurrect the tournament with four local high school teams. Four other teams, from the Moncton and Halifax areas, were not longer able to attend after making other plans.
Now some of the remaining teams have also pulled out. Red Cup chair John Hanna declined to say which ones.
"We decided it's not in our best interests," he said. "It's been a pretty trying situation. It's very disappointing, that's all."