Reggie Leach to return to Regina for Oskana Cup

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Former National Hockey League (NHL) star Reggie Leach will once again be the feature attraction at an upcoming Regina-based Native hockey tournament.

The tournament will take place April 13 to 15. Simply dubbed the Oskana Cup last year during its inaugural running, the tournament is now officially called the Oskana Cup-Reggie Leach Hockey Challenge.

"I really enjoyed myself up there last year," Leach told Saskatchewan Sage during a telephone interview from his home in Newark, Delaware. "The people there in Regina were great to me."

Leach, who hails from Riverton, Man., participated in the tournament last year, but he didn't play for just one club.

In an effort to give more participants the opportunity to say they played with Leach, the former pro, best known for his years with the Philadelphia Flyers when they were the Broad Street Bullies, moved around from team to team throughout the tournament. Organizers are hoping Leach will do the same this year, but the 56-year-old said he is uncertain how much he will be able to play at this year's event.

"I hurt my ankle in the last game of the tournament there last year," he said. "It's still sore, but it's probably just old age."

Leach said he has yet to play a game since last year's tournament but he has been back on the ice, lacing up the blades for some practices as an assistant coach with a boys' hockey team at a private high school in Newark.

But Leach said, in all likelihood, he will play in this year's tournament.

"I'm too stubborn," said Leach, who earned 735 points (428 goals, 307 assists) in 1,028 NHL contests and scored a career high 61 goals with the Flyers during the 1975-76 season. "I'll probably go out there."

Leach said he's also hoping to talk his son Jamie, also a former NHL player, into playing at this year's tournament. The younger Leach is currently living in Winnipeg.

As was the case at the first Oskana Cup, the elder Leach is also looking forward to getting out and talking to various groups in the community.

A year ago he had four speaking engagements during the tournament. One of his talks, which focused on his past alcohol abuse, was at a Regina high school in front of more than 1,000 students.

Leach received a pair of standing ovations at that event and he recalled meeting a few teenagers at the school that he had spoken to a few years earlier.

"They had stopped drinking and everything else, which is really nice," said Leach, who, in addition to his days with Philadelphia also had stints with the Boston Bruins, California Golden Seals and Detroit Red Wings during his 13-season NHL career.

When speaking to groups, Leach believes it's best to be straightforward with his audience.

"I don't hide anything from the kids," he said. "Sometimes I tell them things that I probably shouldn't be telling them. But I think if you talk directly to them and you're honest, it's better."

Oskana Cup tournament organizer Milt Tootoosis is not sure yet which groups Leach will speak to this year while he's in Regina.

"We'll put the call out to the broader community and wait for the responses," he said.

As for the on-ice action, Tootoosis is hoping to attract 34 clubs this year, doubling the number of entrants in the tournament from last year's 17.

"The word is getting out there about the tournament," Tootoosis said.

This year's event will feature five divisions, an increase from the three in last year's tournament. There will be two senior men's divisions for players 20 and over-one for competitive squads and one for recreations clubs. There will also be 35-and-over and 40-and-over men's divisions as well as a women's category.

Leach is also expected to attend a fundraising dinner for the tournament at Casino Regina on April 12, the night before the tournament begins. Proceeds from the tournament will go to Aboriginal minor hockey development in Regina.