Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — In its four years, the Adele Dombrowski girls hockey tournament has seen its numbers surge and recede.

At this point, 2009 looks like a year in recession. Still, the event will take to the ice for the fifth time this weekend, and the sounds of nine teams in two classifications — more than 150 girls in the rink — will be as sweet as music.

“It will be great,” organizer Kristin Gorr said. “It’s a great way for the girls to go out and have a good time and remember what it means to be a teammate.”

The tournament will return to the Howelsen Ice Arena starting Friday afternoon and will wrap up Sunday with the finals. Steamboat again will field two teams.

Three teams, one of them local, will compete in a U12 class. Six will skate in the U19 division.

That’s a change from last year, and the result is fewer teams. Last year’s tournament featured 11 teams spread across the U12 and U14 divisions. There wasn’t enough interest for a U19 bracket. This year, a statewide dearth of U14 teams was the only thing that kept the tournament from fielding a full complement of divisions.

“The goal when we set out every year is to fill all three divisions, but it bounces around a lot,” organizer Bobby Yeager said. “There are only five U14 teams in the whole league this year, so getting them to come up this weekend was tough.

“All around we don’t have more, but it will be good girls hockey.”

This winter’s tournament received a significant bump forward on the calendar in hopes of keeping lodging costs low for visiting teams. Two years ago, it was a February event, and last year it took place in January.

Organizers hope to emulate and build upon the success of previous go-arounds.

The core of that effort is a focus on the best parts of local girls hockey, a point that again will be emphasized by the ADELE Award.

Adele Dombrowski died in 2005 at the age of 17. Soon after, the hockey tournament and accompanying award were established in her honor.

ADELE stands for attitude, determination, effort, laughter and enthusiasm. One player from each of the three Steamboat girls teams — the U14 team will be on hand throughout the weekend — will receive the award.

“Adele was big on no girl-on-girl drama and liked to have fun and laugh,” Gorr said. “This really makes the girls think about the fun aspects of playing hockey. It helps them remember it’s not all about the competition but the fun.”

The tournament’s other main goal is to raise money for youth hockey in Steamboat.

To that end, a spaghetti dinner and open skating session that debuted to rave reviews a year ago will return.

The dinner will start after the conclusion of the Steamboat U19 team’s 4:30 p.m. Saturday game, probably at about 5:30. The ADELE Awards will be presented, and a public skate will follow from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets for the dinner and skate cost $15.

“It was a huge hit last year,” Shannon Lukens said. “Lots of the girls got onto the ice, and they realized all the teams were out there skating around together.

“I have a recommendation to any high school boys, too: There will be tons of beautiful girls skating out there.”