BARRHEAD - Fellow hockey players from across the region came together to help the family of a fallen brethren at the Bourgeois Memorial Hockey Tournament.
The two-day tournament raised an estimated $25,000 for his widow, Vanessa, and their two daughters, Nova and Stella.
Nova is now three, and Stella is six.
Nic passed away due to a tragic workplace accident in December 2022 at 31 years old.
The tournament, which just completed its third year, is organized by Nic's brother Steve and a long-time friend of Bourgeois, Nolan Gibbons, and featured 20 teams, up four from last year.
The difference, Nolan said, was the addition of a new women's division.
"The tournament has grown every year," Nolan said, adding the first year of the tournament had 12 teams and only one division.
There were 16 teams in its second, allowing them to create two divisions, a competitive stream and a recreation stream.
Nolan said they patterned the tournament after the beer league tournament they had been playing with Nic, the Beer Hogs.
"The Bear Hogs always played out of Fort Assiniboine. That's why when we decided to have a tournament honouring Nic, we knew we wanted to have it in Fort Assiniboine," he said.
Gibbons added that, in addition to growing the tournament, he said they are constantly adding new features to bring Nic's personality to the event.
"Nic was a wrestling fan, so we thought it would be fun if we created a belt that we could also give out," he said, adding the belt included one of his favourite sayings.
"'If you don't live for something, you'll die for nothing', he had it tattooed on his chest," Gibbons said.
In a 2024 interview with the Barrhead Leader, Steve said a hockey tournament was the natural choice for a fundraiser.
"Nic loved hockey," Steve said, adding it was the only sport the two siblings played growing up on their Barrhead area farm.
Steve noted that his brother was not only a passionate and devoted hockey player, but he was also a talented one.
Nic started his minor hockey in Barrhead, but as he advanced to the 'AAA' level, he completed his under-18 minor hockey career in Spruce Grove and Leduc system before making the jump to Junior 'A' and the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), where he played three seasons with the Olds Grizzlys and two seasons with the Spruce Grove Saints.
Gibbons noted that one of Nic's favourite hockey memories was being part of the AJHL 2010 championship team with the Saints.
Following Nic's junior career, he moved on to play in the NCHL, where in his first season, he was voted to the league's First All-Star Team and was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
However, Steve said after playing a dozen years of competitive hockey, Nic needed to devote more time to his wife and his young family.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
